The railroad comes to Cedar City, putting stage line operator Rand McCord (Victor Jory) out of business. Before long, the railroad is hit with a series of holdups, and detective Bill Cameron (Jim Davis) is sent to investigate.
He finds himself drawn to McCord’s pretty daughter (Mary Castle).
But his suspicions are aroused by Steve Margolis (Lee Van Cleef), the foreman on McCord’s new ranch, who also has eyes for Louise McCord.
This much is clear. Someone is getting the bandits inside information.
Bill figured on arriving in Cedar City undercover, pretending to be a snake oil salesman.
But no sooner has he arrived in town than someone starts shooting at him.
And once he corners the bandits, a masked man in black shows up to help them escape.
Jim Davis as Bill Cameron, a railroad detective trying to pass himself off as a snake oil salesman in The Last Stagecoach West (1957)
Victor Jory as Rand McCord, pondering his next step after the railroad’s arrival puts his stage line out of business in The Last Stagecoach West (1957)
Review:
The film packs lots of action and shootouts in its 67 minutes. Unfortunately, none of the characters can rise above a plot that comes off as tired and predictable, not even Van Cleef, who’s given a bigger role than he normally found himself in early in his career.
Castle was on the downside of a career that saw her appear in several Westerns. The same year this film was released, she was arrested for public intoxication. Two years later, she was arrested for public drunkenness and reportedly tried to hang herself in her Beverly Hills jail cell. She made just two more films after this one.
Mary Castle as Louise McCord, reacting to a startling revelation in The Last Stagecoach West (1957)
Lee Van Cleff as Steve Margolis, Rand McCord’s right-hand man, growing concerned about Bill Cameron’s persistence in The Last Stagecoach West (1957)
Directed by:
Joseph Kane
Cast:
Jim Davis … Bill Cameron
Mary Castle … Louise McCord
Victor Jory … Rand McCord
Lee Van Cleef … Steve Margolis
Grant Withers … Jack Fergus
Roy Barcroft … Bart Ketchum
John Anderson … Angus MacKendrick
Glenn Strange … Sheriff
Francis McDonald … Old Man Colter
Willis Bouchey … George Bryceson
Lewis Martin … Ben Hardy
Tristram Coffin … Gibson
Runtime: 67 min.
Glenn Strange as the Cedar City sheriff, pinned down in his pursuit of the bandits in The Last Stagecoach West (1957)
Willis Bouchey as George Bryceson, the railroad executive who sends Bill Cameron to Cedar City in The Last Stagecoach West (1957)
Memorable lines:
McCord to Margolis: “I reckon we both know a couple of tricks those people who ride on plush-cushioned trains will never savvy.”
McCord to his daughter: “I’ll tell you one thing, if the West had to wait on the banks and the railroads to get settled, Chicago would still be a frontier.”
Rustler #1: “They’re sure a skinny bunch.”
Rustler #2: “Rustlers can’t be choosers.”
Rand McCord, explaining one of his objections to the railroad: “Just making it easy for a bunch of tenderfeet with dollars instead of muscles to come out West ain’t, in my opinion, gonna improve the country much.”
Roy Barcroft as Bart Ketchum, trying to sell a railroad man stolen cattle to feed his construction crew in The Last Stagecoach West (1957)
John Anderson as Angus MacKendrick, the Cedar City railroad man relying on Bill Cameron to end the rash of holdups in The Last Stagecoach West (1957)
Glenn Strange as the sheriff and Jim Davis as railroad man Bill Cameron, on the trail of the bandits in The Last Stagecoach West (1957)
Mary Castle as Louise McCord and Lee Van Cleef as Steve Margolis in The Last Stagecoach West (1957)
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