The Last Outpost (1951 film)
| The Last Outpost | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Lewis R. Foster |
| Produced by | William H. Pine William C. Thomas |
| Written by |
Winston Miller Daniel Mainwaring (as Geoffrey Homes) George Worthing Yates David Lang (story) |
| Starring |
Ronald Reagan Rhonda Fleming Bruce Bennett Bill Williams Noah Beery, Jr. John Ridgely |
| Music by | Lucien Cailliet |
| Cinematography | Loyal Griggs |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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89 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Last Outpost is a 1951 Technicolor film Western directed by Lewis R. Foster, set in the American Civil War with brothers on opposite sides. The cast includes Ronald Reagan.
The film earned an estimated $1,225,000 at the US box office in 1951.The Last Outpost had the distinction of being the most successful film for the prolific B movie company, Pine-Thomas Productions. The film was re-released in 1962 under the title Cavalry Charge.
In 1862 Confederate Army Captain Vance Britton (Reagan) and his cavalry force are capturing most of the supplies sent East along the Santa Fe Trail before they are able to reach the Union Army outpost at San Gil, Arizona, where trading post owner Sam McQuade (Ridgely) deals with the Apache Indians. Union Colonel Jeb Britton (Bennett), Vance's brother, is sent West to stop the Confederate raids, unaware that his brother is his adversary. When he arrives with only a small detachment of troops, McQuade tries to persuade Jeb to use the Apaches to subdue the Rebels, but Jeb rejects the idea, certain the Indians would kill settlers as well as Confederate soldiers.
That evening McQuade, believing that Jeb rather than Vance is the Britton who was once the fiancé of McQaude's lonely and unhappy wife Julie (Fleming), tries to embarrass them both socially. McQuade angrily tells Julie that she is still pining for Vance and she leaves him. Vance turns the tables on Jeb’s attempt to trap the Rebels and humiliates him. Returning to the fort on foot and bootless, Jeb is informed by McQuade that he has persuaded the government to negotiate with the Apaches. Soon afterward, McQuade is attacked and killed by Apaches. Vance finds a letter on McQuade’s body that a Union officer is on his way from Washington, D.C. to parlay with the Apache chiefs. Vance waylays the officer and takes his place, discovering that Chief Grey Cloud is actually a disgraced former Army general who married an Apache. Gray Cloud knows the real emissary and Britton admits that he is a Confederate officer trying to keep the Apaches out of the war.
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