Matt Morgan (Kirk Douglas) is the ultimate lawman, on a collision course with his best friend (Anthony Quinn), whose outlaw son raped and killed Morgan's wife. Justice goes home on the last train. Excellent western that clearly inspired many to follow.

Even though it shares the same plot line of 3:10 to Yuma, this tense western relies on its stars to get through its basic plot. Matt Morgan (Douglas) is a town marshal, and his son is traumatized when his native wife is raped and killed by two riders. The perpetrator happens to be the son of Craig Belden (Quinn), who rules the town with an iron fist. It makes it even worse that these two used to be friends. Morgan kidnaps the perp and now Belden and his small platoon of hired hands are itching to stop him from reaching a 9pm train out of town, and this movie about fathers/sons, justice/revenge hits all the right notes.

good solid 'psychological' western

Solid western with good performances across the board but Carolyn Jones is a particular standout.

I'm not sure why, but this film and "The War Wagon" are two western that stuck with me as a kid. Keither are classics, but both are better than average westerns with quite a lot of action. The film is essentially a tougher, more action packed, and lighter on metaphorical version of "High Noon" or "3:10 to Yuma." Kirk is a lawman determined to get a murderer on the last train from a town called Gun Hill in order to take him to trial. Things are complicated when the accused's powerful father, Anthony Quinn, uses his guns and control of the local law to stop Douglas from leaving with his son. Director John Sturges certainly knows his way around an action scene and delivers some terrific action sequences. Douglas is great as always and Quinn is a equally commanding screen presence and able to hold his own with the scene hogging Douglas. The film is nothing original but it's a solid piece of work.

Watching this was a tour to the land of nostalgia and an enjoyable one at that. This movie is really one of the god old classical Westerns telling the story of two brave men confronting each other. No special effects, no aliens, no choleric outbursts and no foul-mouthed brats.It was really enjoyable to watch Kirk Douglas and Anthony Quinn in this movie. Both were well suited for their roles and I have always liked them as actors. Maybe this is just some nostalgic connection I have though since I am sure that their performance would not wind them any Oscars today.The story is as classical as the movie. The young brat of a wealthy cattle owner gets himself in big trouble and said cattle owner tries to prevent him, being the only son, getting what he deserves. Unfortunately the other side is not only as tough as the cattle owner but also happens to be the law. The story is well executed by John Sturges. It has the usual elements that you would expect from this kind of movie, two men posturing against each other, a bad guy who also ends up being a prisoner, a girlie torn between the two men, a few gun and fist fights and of course a grand finale.I was enjoying every minute of this old classic.

Probably not a very well-known movie, but this is one of the best Westerns that I have seen. Kirk Douglas is a powerhouse, as the determined lawman, hell-bent on bringing cattle-baron Quinn's son to justice, after he raped and killed Douglas's Indian wife. Powerful, suspenseful, reminds one of another great Western, 3:10 to Yuma.

A marshal tries to bring the son of an old friend, an autocratic cattle baron, to justice for the rape and murder of his wife.

Make the Extraordinarily Suspenseful visit to "Gun Hill"--An Old and Competent Western!!

''Two old friends, Matt Morgan (Douglas) and Craig Belden (Quinn), now find themselves on opposite sides of the law. Belden is the de facto ruler of the town of Gun Hill, a rich cattle baron. Morgan is a U.S. marshal living in another town with his Native American wife (played by Ziva Rodann) and young son, Petey.''Kirk Douglas and Anthony Quinn. Hardly easy to find out these quality actors nowadays.

Out from the bargain bins comes the Last Train From Gun Hill, a classic western which does not boast with fancy plot twists, instead it leaves the whole show for the main star and as expected, Kirk Douglas does not disapoint.Storywise the Last Train From Gun Hill is simple and even too simple for some. The whole movie is pretty much wholly predictable after the first 15 minutes as Matt Morgan (Kirk Douglas) sets out to hunt his wife's killer with only few clues to guide him. Even for the obvious simplicity of the movie, which no doubt turn some people off, the venerable Kirk Douglas and his stage charisma alone are enough to make the movie well watchable for most. The Last Train From Gun Hill might not be the most awarded westerns out there, in fact it is little known, but it turned out to be a solid western true to its roots with straight to the point attitude. Thanks to the simple story and the talented Kirk Douglas the movie does not waste anybodys time and proves to be a solid western.

The John Sturges western "Last Train from Gun Hill" is another one of those chamber westerns from the 1950s where the villains corner the hero in an urban setting and both sides have to count down to their inevitable showdown based on a ticking clock. Aside from some early scenes shot outdoors, most of "Last Train from Gun Hill" occurs within the city limits of the frontier western town of Gun Hill. Furthermore, the story pits two long-time friends, a courageous lawman Kirk Douglas against a powerful cattle baron Anthony Quinn. When the story opens neither man has seen the other in years, but both have sons. Russian composer Dimitri Tiomkin provides "Last Train from Gun Hill" with another one of his brilliant, evocative orchestral scores that enlivens the drama.The stalwart hero, Matt Morgan (Kirk Douglas of "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral"), serves as marshal in the peaceful town of Pauley. One day Matt's wife, Catherine Morgan (Ziva Rodann of "King Creole"), and their young son, (Ricky William Kelman), are on the way back from the Indian Reservation where they have just visited her father when two drunken cowpokes, Rick Belden (Earl Holliman of "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral") and Lee Smithers (Brian G. Hutton, future director of "Where Eagles Dare"), frighten them. Catherine whips Rick so violently that it leaves a scar on his face. Enraged, Rick runs them down, and their carriage overturns. Rick knocks aside her boy and rapes her in the woods. During the rape, Matt's son steals Rick's horse and rides back to town to alert his father. Meanwhile, Matt is in town describing a famous gun battle that took place years ago between the infamous Bradley boys and him. At a properly dramatic moment, his son coming thundering into town on the stolen horse crying his eyes out. Matt rides back to where the carriage overturned and finds the partially nude body of his raped wife who lies dead in the woods. When Matt walks back to the horse with his wife in his arms, he notices the elaborate leather saddle and raises one of the flaps. Tiomkin's score singles out this moment with a melodramatic tone when Matt discovers the initials C.B. in the saddle. He recognizes those initials and heads back to town to prepare for his journey to Gun Hill to see his own friend about the stolen horse.At the Belden ranch, Rick and Lee return and complain to Craig Belden about the loss of Rick's horse. Craig (Anthony Quinn of "The Ride Back") could care less about the loss of the horse, but he demands that Rick find his saddle. Moreover, Craig refuses to settle for any substitute for that saddle. He makes a big deal out of it and this is the point where we see that father and son are not on the same wavelength. Later, we discover that they like to batter women. At one point, Craig's foreman Beero (Brad Dexter of "The Magnificent Seven") makes a joke about the scar on Rick's father. Craig interprets the comment as a slur on the Belden name and forces Rick to fight with Beero. Predictably, Beero knocks out Rick in no time. Craig roars about Rick not having enough pride. Win or lose, whenever anybody disgraces the name of Belden, Craig expects his son to fight back. Afterward, they share a chuckle about the 'she-bears' in Pauley, the peaceful town, where Rick lost the horse and saddle.Matt takes the train to Gun Hill and rents a buggy to see Craig Belden. He returns the saddle to Craig, and they reminisce about old times. Craig tells Matt that his son lost the horse in Pauley, but by now Craig knows that his son raped and killed Matt's wife. Furthermore, Craig knows that nothing in the world will prevent Matt from taking Rick back in irons to stand trial. Matt returns to Gun Hill where he receives a chilly reception and Craig sends Beero and another cowpoke, Skag (Bing Russell of "The Magnificent Seven") to town to watch over Rick. Matt snoops around, then enters the saloon from the rear by a tree and catches Rick hiding behind some curtains, slugs him and takes his prisoner. The Gun Hill sheriff, Bartlett (Walter Sande of "Bad Day at Black Rock") refuses to let Matt use his jail cell until the train arrives, so Matt holes up with Rick in the local hotel. Meantime, Craig rounds up all his gunhands and they lay siege to the hotel. Craig's old girlfriend (Carolyn Jones of "The Addams Family") has just returned to Gun Hill from a long stay in the hospital. Craig uses her as a go-between, but she goes behind his back and smuggles Matt a shotgun. Neither man plans to back down in this duel of the titans.When "Last Train to Gun Hill" appeared theatrically in 1959, interracial romances in westerns were nothing new, but this western contained a rape scene that occurred partly on camera, though by the time that Rick had ripped off Catherine's clothing, the camera has retreated to a long shot. "Last Train from Gun Hill" represented a new spate of westerns that dealt with frank subject matter because the western had encountered flak from its television counterparts and film producers were looking from material of a more adult nature. Charles Lang's cinematography is exemplary and Tiomkin's theme music knows where to highlight segments of the plot for maximum impact. John Sturges paces the momentum so that things never get boring. The speech about hanging is superb from a top-notch screenplay by James Poe. Hal Wallis produced this above-average oater for Paramount Pictures.

It's good movie about western.

1959 Western proves blood really is thicker than friendship. These two former outlaws are now older and settled down and best of friends. Even so, their reuniting is bitter sweet as they battle it out when one of their son's kills the others wife. Wonderfully shot in the wide open spaces of the West by famed director John Sturges. Tends to be a traditional American Western with the lawless West pitted against a lone lawman. Apparently set in turn of the century times, gas lights are seen on the streets of town as well as 4 wire telephone poles. One can even see power lines? in the distant background, no doubt a mistake by somebody. I fully expected to see a model T Ford come down the unpaved streets. This late fifties film is so cliche, even the town's name "Gun Hill" is preposterous. That said, casting Mexican born Anthony Quinn in his role of cattle baron was not the best choice for me. Kirk Douglas, of course, is a natural as the lonesome lawman. Beauty Carolyn Jones is the lone woman in the cast who knows Quinn all too well. Slow paced and in color at 94 minutes, this still ranks as one of the better American Western dramas I have seen, if only for the cinematography and great acting performances of Douglas, Jones and Quinn. The son, Earl Holliman I never did like in anything he did as he was usually a liar or scoundrel. NOTES: The script is by James Poe, based on a story by Les Crutchfield. The film contains elements of High Noon, 3:10 to Yuma and Sturges' own Bad Day at Black Rock. CAST: Kirk Douglas as Matt Morgan Anthony Quinn as Clay Belden Carolyn Jones as Linda Earl Holliman as Rick Brian G. Hutton as Lee CREW: Directed by John Sturges Produced by Hal B. Wallis Written by James Poe from a story by Les Crutchfield Music by Dimitri Tiomkin Cinematography Charles B. Lang Jr. Distributed by Paramount Pictures 1959 Running time 94 min.

Thursday, September 30, 2010 (1959) Last Train To Gun Hill WESTERN Kirk Douglas as Sherriff Morgon attempts to transfer murder Rick Beldon(Holliman) by taking him to the next 9:00 train despite odds to have him stopped especially from the father played by Anthony Quinn! Excellent budget in terms of screen with many similarities from such films as "High Noon" and "3:10 To Yuma"! 3 out of 4 stars