8mm Forum: Last Train from Gun Hill

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Topic: Last Train from Gun Hill

Paul Adsett
Film God

Posts: 5003
From: USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted October 30, 2006 08:43 PM

Last Train from Gunhill , 1958
Color, 100 mins, 2000 ft
Viacom

There are quite a few Westerns available on Super 8, and Last Train From Gunhill is one of the best. Kirk Douglas stars as Matt Morgan the courageous marshal determined to bring to justice the two men who raped and murdered his beautiful half- breed Indian wife. One of the guilty men turns out to be the son of Cole Belden (Anthony Quinn) who is a life –time friend of Morgan’s. Belden has made it to the top as a cattle rancher, and he owns the town of Gunhill and everything and everybody in it. Thus the conflict is set up between Morgan and Belden, as Morgan tries to arrest Belden’s son for murder, and Belden is torn between his friendship for Morgan and his instinct to save his son. Earl Holliman gives a persuasive portrayal of the cowardly rapist , and Brad Dexter is good as Belden’s chief ranch hand. Kirk Douglas is terrific as the good guy, but the stand out performance is by Quinn who steals every scene as the intensely ruthless Belden.
A very taught and different kind of Western, which all builds up towards the final showdown, timed for the last train leaving Gunhill.
The S8 print was distributed by Viacom, who turned out some astonishingly good S8 prints of many films, notably the Elvis Presley features. My particular print, which I got off eBay is very sharp indeed, but the color is somewhat faded. Still it is very enjoyable, and my audience thought it looked fine and enjoyed the movie very much. I can only imagine how stunning the print must have been when new.

Print A
Sound A

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Robert Wales
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 100
From: Toronto
Registered: Nov 2005

posted October 31, 2006 07:13 AM

I remember this print when it was new and it was as good as it gets for Super 8, as were all the Viacom titles of this era. I always felt this film, while set in the west, was more of a suspense film than a true western, so even if you're not a true western fan this title is highly recommended.

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Jean-Marc Toussaint
Film God

Posts: 2392
From: France
Registered: Oct 2004

posted October 31, 2006 07:22 AM

Wow, Paul is on a reviewing spree! Doug has some serious work to do to update the index [Wink]

Thanks for another great article.

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The Grindcave Cinema Website

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Dan Lail
Film God

Posts: 2110
From: Loganville, Georgia, USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted October 31, 2006 04:51 PM

Great review, Paul! I picked up a very good print of this on super eight from Julie Geisler. After watching it my wife(Jerrye) and I dicussed the same perspective as in your review. [Cool]

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Douglas Meltzer
Moderator

Posts: 4554
From: New York, NY, USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted December 19, 2015 03:19 PM

Additional Posts regarding this film can be found here.

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I think there's room for just one more film.....

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