The Weekend Western: The Last Sunset
Kirk Douglas is Brendan O’Malley, who arrives at the Mexican home of his ex-sweetheart (Dorothy Malone) and her husband (Joseph Cotten) on the run for murder. On his trail is Dana Stribling (Rock Hudson) whose brother-in-law O’Malley murdered.
If that all sounds a touch melodramatic that’s because it is, and things get worse when Cotten is murdered and Douglas and Hudson compete for Malone’s affections on a cattle drive from Mexico to Texas. Hudson has vowed to kill Douglas when they cross the border and it’s this confrontation that the film builds too. Unfortunately it seems to take an age getting there.
Douglas is the films biggest plus. He’s playing the sort of snappily dressed charmer we’ve seen him do often before but there is an undercurrent of violence too O’Malley that gives Douglas a little more to work with. Top billed Hudson’s character is too straight-laced to be really interesting but it’s a solid performance.
It’s a shame Joseph Cotten is dispatched so soon as his is by far the most interesting character, an alcoholic ex-Confederate officer with a shameful past. His first scene with Douglas is the best the film has to offer, with the two sparking off each other in a way that Hudson doesn’t even come close too.
Adding to the melodramatic nature of the film, Douglas hooks up with Malone’s daughter near the end of the film which leads to a surprise revelation (surprising but completely in keeping with the tone of the film) that provides the impetus for the long awaited showdown. After over 100 minutes of build up it’s an almost inevitable letdown with the winner coming as no surprise at all.
Robert Aldrich is too good a director for The Last Sunset to be completely without merit but it doesn’t come close to his best work.
