Last of the Fast Guns (1958)

Jock Mahoney is Brad Ellison, a tired gunfighter eager for a chance to earn a bundle so he can buy a ranch in Oregon, far away from his reputation. In steps John Forbes, a rich businessman slowly dying of disease.

Seems he had two partners in his business venture — a greedy friend and a long-lost brother, who was somehow squeezed out of the deal and fled to Mexico. Now the greedy friend stands to make out big time if the brother doesn’t surface.

For a change, Ellison is hired not to kill someone, but to find a man and bring him back to the U.S. to claim a fortune. And in return, Ellison will get the $25,000 he needs for a fresh start.

During his search, he meets King O’Reilly (Lorne Greene), an American who has established a successful ranch south of the border; Maria (Linda Cristal), O’Reilly’s lovely daughter; and Miles Lang (Gilbert Roland), a trusted ranch-hand.

Miles agrees to take Ellison into the hills of Mexico in search of Forbes, though he and a padre they meet warn that the likelihood of finding Forbes’ brother is a whole lot less than the likelihood of winding up dead in the process.

Review:

Snappy dialogue, an unusual plot and unusal locations make this a step above your average 1950s Westerns. A couple of unexpected twists in that plot help out as well.

This was one of the last in a series of 1950s Westerns starring Mahoney, who at about the same time was starring in his own Western TV series “Yancy Derringer.” Lorne Greene was just a year removed from an even bigger TV role, as Ben Cartwright on Bonanza, of course. Linda Cristal would have to wait nearly a decade for her own big break in a TV Western, as Victoria Cannon in “The High Chaparral.”

Directed by:
George Sherman

Cast:
Jock Mahoney … Brad Ellison
Gilbert Roland … Miles Lang
Linda Cristal … Maria O’Reilly
Lorne Greene … King O’Reilly
Eduard Franz … Padre Jose (Ed Forbes)
Carl Benton Reid … John Forbes
Edward Platt … Sam Grypton
Eduardo Noriega … Cordoba
Jorge Trevino … Manuel
Rafael Alcayde … Alcalde
Lee Morgan … Johnny Ringo
Milton Bernstein … James Younger
Stillman Segar … Ben Thompson
Jose Chavez … Jose Garcia
Francisco Feiguera … Pablo

Runtime: 82 min.

Memorable lines:

Brad Ellison: “You wanted to see me?”
John Forbes: “I wanted to see the winner.”
Ellison: “Nobody wins in a gunfight.
Forbes: “You seem to be quite careful.”
Ellison: “They give you a choice. Get careful or get dead.”

Brad Ellison: “You’re pretty careful for a man who’s supposed to own this range.”
King O’Reilly: “The richer I get, Mr. Ellison, the more careful I have to be.”

Brad Ellison: “The money you make with a gun you have to spend fast, before it starts to stare back at you.”

Maria O’Reilly: “Do you know that every time you look at me, I feel as though I am running around without any clothes on.”
Brad Ellison: “It’s going to get mighty chilly when the sun goes down.”

Miles Lang to Brad Ellison: “This tequila will make you feel 10 feet high and 6 feet wide.”

Maria O’Reilly; “You’re a long way from home.”
Brad Ellison: “A man always is until he has one of his own.”