The Last Challenge (1967)

Glenn Ford is Dan Blaine, a quick gun who has settled down as marshal of a Western town and found love in saloon owner Lisa Denton (Angie Dickinson).

Then Lot McGuire (Chad Everett) arrives in town, eager to prove he’s the fastest gun around — eager to make that point by killing Dan Blaine.

Problem is Dan takes a liking to the young man. Lot reminds Blaine of himself when he was young. Or perhaps of the son he never had.

Dan tries to convince the young man there’s more to life than a reputation as a fast gun.

And that there’s no way he’ll win a showdown between the men. That to try is a sure path to boot hill.

Lisa’s not so certain. And she’s scared of the impact on Blaine even if he wins the gunfight.

In fact, she’s scared to the point that she hires a stranger to gun down Lot and even considers killing him herself.

Glenn Ford as Marshal Dan Blaine, an ex-con turned lawman and confident in his ability to outdraw any man in The Last Challenge (1967)

Chad Everett as Lot McGuire, a young man out to prove he’s fastest with a six-gun in The Last Challenge (1967)

Review:

A film that never quite jells and, because of that, the ending doesn’t pack the emotional punch that it should.

Angie Dickinson turns in a tepid performance as Blaine’s lover. She might rule her saloon with gusto, but she can’t muster the same fortitude when it comes to dealing with him.

And her hiring of a man (Jack Elam as Ernest Scarnes) who’s just tried to blackmail her to eliminate the threat Lot poses to Blaine strikes a false note.

Oh, Lisa Denton does have a plump saloon girl named Outdoors. She’s says it’s because her heart is as big as the outdoors; her colleagues say it’s not her heart, but her bottom, that earned the nickname.

That’s about as original as this film gets. Otherwise, it all feels like we’ve been down this road before, repeatedly.

Angie Dickinson as Lisa Denton, a saloon owner in love with a marshal in danger in The Last Challenge (1967)

Jack Elam as drifter Ernest Scarnes, in need of money and trying to blackmail Lisa Denton in The Last Challenge (1967)

Directed by:
Richard Thorpe

Cast:
Glenn Ford … Marshal Dan Blaine
Angie Dickinson … Lisa Denton
Chad Everett … Lot McGuire
Gary Merrill … Squint Calloway
Jack Elam … Ernest Scarnes
Delphi Lawrence … Marie Webster
Royal Dano … Pretty Horse
Kevin Hagen … Frank Garrison
Florence Sundstrom … Outdoors
Marian Collier … Sadie
Robert Sorrells … Harry Bell
John Milford … Turpin
Frank McGrath … Ballard Weeks

Runtime: 105 min.

Music: Richard Shores

Robert Sorrells as Deputy Harry Bell, talking to his boss about a just-completed gunfight in The Last Challenge (1967)

Frank McGrath as Ballard Weeks, the gossiping blacksmith in The Last Challenge (1967)

Memorable lines:

Turpin, as Dan Blaine pins on his badge: “That’s a pretty target, marshal.”
Blaine: “Now I told you that you were a third-rate pistolero. Now I’m going to tell you something else: I’m not. Now you best turn around and walk out of here while you’re still alive.”

Blaine, upon coming across a wounded Ernie Scarnes: “Of all the people I know who ain’t worth saving, you’re the first one who comes to my mind.”

Blaine: “I don’t want to kill you, Lot. I don’t want to kill you cause you ain’t been born yet.”

Blaine to young McGuire: “Shooting that gun won’t get any ground plowed up, won’t get any steers raised and won’t get any children born.”
McGuire: “Which makes me good as you.”
Blaine: “Hell’s fire. I’m not someone to be as good as. I’m someone to be better than.”

McGuire to Lisa Denton: “A man who’s not best at something is dead anyway. The best might not live long, but while he’s the best, he’s alive.”

Blaine, about the lessons he learned during a five-year stint in prison: “A man either gets smart or he gets dead.”

Angie Dickinson as Lisa Denton and Glenn Ford as Dan Blaine in The Last Challenge (1967)

John Milford as Turpin, a hired gun and bully who won’t back down from Dan Blaine in The Last Challenge (1967)

Gary Merrill as Squint Calloway, the gambler caught cheating and forced to pay a heavy price in The Last Challenge (1967)

Delphi Lawrence as Marie Webster, the former saloon girl who’s settled down and raising a family in The Last Challenge (1967)

Angie Dickinson as Lisa Denton, visiting with a former saloon girl and her infant in The Last Challenge (1967)

Chad Everett as Lot McGuire, refusing to be talked out of a showdown in The Last Challenge (1967)

Glenn Ford as Marshal Dan Blaine, looking for answers about a dead man in the desert in The Last Challenge (1967)