LAST TRAIN FROM GUN HILL
DIRECTED BY JOHN STURGESS
PRODUCED BY PAUL NATHAN/HAL WALIS/KIRK DOUGLAS
MUSIC BY DIMITRI TIOMKIN
BRYNA PRODUCTIONS
HAL WALLIS PRODUCTIONS
PARAMOUNT PICTURES
INFORMATION FROM IMDb
Plot Summary
The wife of marshal Matt Morgan is raped and murdered.
The killers leave behind a distinctive saddle, that Morgan recognises as belonging
to his old friend Craig Belden, now cattle baron in the town of Gun Hill.
Belden is sympathetic, until it transpires that one of the murderers is his own son Rick,
whom he refuses to hand over. Morgan is determined to capture Rick
and take him away by the 9.00 train; but he is trapped in the town alone,
with Belden and all his men now looking to kill him.
Written by David Levene
Cast
Kirk Douglas ... Marshal Matt Morgan
Anthony Quinn ... Craig Belden
Carolyn Jones ... Linda
Earl Holliman ... Rick Belden
Brad Dexter ... Beero
Brian G. Hutton ... Lee Smithers (as Brian Hutton)
Ziva Rodann ... Catherine Morgan
Bing Russell ... Skag
Val Avery ... Steve, Horseshoe Bartender'
Walter Sande ... Sheriff Bartlett
Ty Hardin ...
Henry Wills ... Jake (uncredited)
Directed
John Sturges
Writing Credits
Les Crutchfield ... (story "Showdown")
James Poe ... (screenplay)
Produced
Paul Nathan ... associate producer
Hal B. Wallis ... producer
Kirk Douglas ... executive producer (uncredited)
Music
Dimitri Tiomkin
Cinematography
Charles Lang ... (as Charles Lang Jr.)
Trivia
Kirk Douglas 's salary was $325,000 against ten percent of the gross.
For the sequences showing the train in Gun Hill, Paramount installed 600 feet of track
snaking in and around their western street located at their Hollywood studio.
At one point the steam engine traveled right under the window of
Paramount chief executive Y. Frank Freeman who protested so much about the resulting noise
that the tracks had to be moved.
Anthony Quinn was only thirteen years older than Earl Holliman, who plays his son.
During the final shootout, Morgan was supposed to beat Smithers to the draw.
however, the actor playing Smithers, Brian g. Hutton kept beating Douglass to the draw.
finally it was decided the Douglas should be holding a shotgun thereby ending that argument.
afterwards Douglas remarks can you imagine that Up start beating me to the draw?.,
Anthony Quinn said, "don't worry about it Kirk will get him in the editing room."
Hal B. Wallis bought Les Crutchfield 's story in March 1954 and planned it
as a possible starring vehicle for Charlton Heston or Burt Lancaster.
During the fight between Rick and Beero, Brad Dexter swings a left at Earl Holliman.
Although Holliman falls as though hit, the actual punch misses,
but Dexter follows through and hits the wooden wing of the chair he had been leaning on,
and the chair visibly moves.
For the rest of the scene, Dexter shakes and massages his left hand to relieve the pain.
Additional filming took place on May 28th and 29th, 1958.
Goofs
Continuity
On its way to Gun Hill, the train has four cars.
By the time it reaches the station, there are only two,
and the baggage car is a different one than before.
The train that Morgan takes to Gun Hill is seen to go round the same corner twice,
once at night and once during the day.
When Linda changes clothes, a white strap suddenly appears then disappears on her left shoulder.
Near the end of the movie when Marshal Hogan leaves the hotel with ick Belden,
the sheriff is shown standing in a group wearing a dark hat, coat and tie.
A few moments later he unties the horse and wagon that Hogan uses to go to the train station.
Now he is wearing a tan hat and shirt.
Filming Locations
Old Tucson - 201 S. Kinney Road, Tucson, Arizona, USA
Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA (studio)
Empire Ranch, Sonoita, Arizona, USA
Elgin, Arizona, USA
Patagonia, Arizona, USA
San Pedro River, Arizona, USA
St. David, Arizona, USA
Monogram Ranch - 24715 Oak Creek Avenue, Newhall, California, USA (Placerita Canyon)
Fairbank, Arizona, USA