The Last Outpost Reviews

Reagan and Bennett are brothers who choose opposite sides during the Civil War, Reagan going to the defense of the Confederacy and Bennett fighting for the Union. Both become cavalry officers and come into conflict when Bennett is sent out to Arizona to defend gold shipments that Reagan is raiding. Some of the northerners try to persuade local Apaches to attack the Confederates, but Reagan confers with the Apache chief and tells him not to get involved in the fight, realizing that once the Indians take to the warpath they will wipe out every white man and woman in the territory, including his ex-fiancee, Fleming, and her husband, Ridgely. However, after a white murders one of their leaders, the Indians attack the Union fort that Bennett is defending and in which Fleming and Ridgely are seeking protection. Things look grim for the besieged outpost until Reagan and his men charge to the rescue and, fighting side by side with the Yankees, put the Apaches to rout. The red menace vanquished, Reagan and his men ride back to Dixie. Producers Pine and Thomas were the resident B-movie unit at Paramount, known as "The Dollar Bills" for their penny-pinching ways, but they occasionally veered into minor A pictures like THE LAST OUTPOST, their biggest-budgeted and biggest-grossing picture to that time. Reagan had his own horse, Tarbaby, shipped to the Arizona location at Paramount's expense for the film. The fine thoroughbred was looked at dubiously by the wranglers acting as extras, who doubted the horse's ability to stand the desert heat and constant action. By the end of the first day of shooting, so many of the other horses were out of commission they had trouble getting enough together for some of the shots, while Tarbaby was still going strong. An enjoyable action western with some excellent color photography and solid performances by Reagan, Bennett, and the supporting cast, particularly Beery as Reagan's aide.