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To the Last Man (1933 film)

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To the Last Man
Directed byHenry Hathaway
Screenplay byJack Cunningham
Based onTo The Last Man
by Zane Grey
Produced byHarold Hurley
StarringRandolph Scott
Esther Ralston
Noah Beery Sr.
Buster Crabbe
Barton MacLane
Gail Patrick
Shirley Temple
Fuzzy Knight
John Carradine
CinematographyBen F. Reynolds
Edited byJack Scott
Music byJohn Leipold
Ralph Rainger
Production
company
Paramount Pictures
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • September 15, 1933 (1933-09-15)
Running time
70 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

To the Last Man is a 1933 American pre-Code Western film directed by Henry Hathaway and starring Randolph Scott and Esther Ralston. The screenplay by Jack Cunningham was based on the 1921 novel of the same name by Zane Grey. The novel, optioned to Paramount Pictures, was previously made as Victor Fleming's 1923 silent film version of the same title. The supporting cast of Hathaway's version features Noah Beery Sr. (repeating his role from the 1923 version), Jack La Rue, Buster Crabbe, Barton MacLane, Fuzzy Knight, Gail Patrick, and, in uncredited roles, Shirley Temple and John Carradine.

The film was reissued for American television under the title Law of Vengeance.

Plot

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A feud between the Colby and the Hayden families starts in the hills of Kentucky and continues in the mountains of the West after the American Civil War. Also involved is the conflict between vigilantism and the law in a frontier environment, and lovers from the two feuding families. At one point during the ensuing mayhem, one of the villains shoots the head off 5-year-old Mary Stanley's (Shirley Temple) doll right in front of the child.

Cast

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Production

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To the Last Man was filmed on location at Big Bear Valley and Big Pine, California.[1]

Reception

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In his book, The Hollywood Western: Ninety Years of Cowboys and Indians, Train Robbers, Sheriffs and Gunslingers, film historian William K. Everson discusses the film and notes that the Zane Grey series was "uniformly good."[2] He also writes:

To the Last Man was almost a model of its kind, an exceptionally strong story of feuding families in the post-Civil War era, with a cast worthy of an "A" feature, excellent direction by Henry Hathaway, and an unusual climactic fight between the villain (Jack LaRue) and the heroine (Esther Ralston in an exceptionally appealing performance).

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Vermilye, Jerry (2014). Buster Crabbe: A Biofilmography. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, Inc. pp. 55–56. ISBN 978-0-7864-5180-7.
  2. ^ Everson, William K. The Hollywood Western: Ninety Years of Cowboys and Indians, Train Robbers, Sheriffs and Gunslingers. New York. Citadel Press, 1992, First edition 1969.
  • Edwards, Anne (1988), Shirley Temple: American Princess, William Morrow and Company
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