The Last Hunt
| The Last Hunt | |
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Theatrical Film Poster
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| Directed by | Richard Brooks |
| Produced by | Dore Schary |
| Written by | Richard Brooks |
| Based on | novel by Milton Lott |
| Starring |
Robert Taylor Stewart Granger |
| Music by | Daniele Amfitheatrof |
| Cinematography | Russell Harlan |
| Edited by | Ben Lewis |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
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Release date
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Running time
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108 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $2,121,000 |
| Box office | $2,983,000 |
The Last Hunt is a 1956 MGM western film directed by Richard Brooks and produced by Dore Schary. The screenplay was by Richard Brooks from the novel The Last Hunt, by Milton Lott. The music score was by Daniele Amfitheatrof and the cinematography by Russell Harlan.
The film stars Robert Taylor and Stewart Granger, with Lloyd Nolan, Debra Paget and Russ Tamblyn.
Sandy McKenzie (Stewart Granger) sets out on his last hunt with his new partner, the obsessive Charles Gilson (Robert Taylor). While McKenzie has grown tired of buffalo hunting, Gilson derives a pleasure from his "stands" – killing an entire herd of buffalo at one time. When Gilson chases down and kills an Indian raiding party, he takes an Indian woman and her child captive. The presence of the native woman causes tension and Gilson becomes increasingly paranoid and deranged, leading to a stand-off between the two former partners.
In the final scene, Granger and the woman emerge from shelter to find that Gilson, though wearing a buffalo hide as protection from the cold, has frozen to death during the night, while waiting to ambush them.
The New York Times said "except for A.B. Guthrie's "The Big Sky" and "The Way West" I can think of no novel about the Old West published within the last fifteen years as good as "The Last Hunt," by Milton Lott. This is the real thing, a gritty, tough, exciting story reeking with the pungent smells of dead buffalo and of dirty men."W.R. Burnett called it an "undeniably able and interesting book."
MGM bought the film rights and announced it as a vehicle for Stewart Granger in February 1955. "It's real Americana," said the star. Richard Brooks was assigned the job of adapting and directing. The film was the first of only three westerns directed by Brooks, and was his first film following the critically acclaimed Blackboard Jungle (1955).
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Wikipedia