''The Last Hard Men'' is a 1976

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film directed by

Andrew McLaglen Andrew Victor McLaglen (July 28, 1920 – August 30, 2014) was a British-born American film and television director, known for Westerns and adventure films, often starring John Wayne or James Stewart. According to one obituary "His career ...

, based on the 1971 novel ''Gundown'' by Brian Garfield. It stars Charlton Heston and James Coburn, with supporting roles by

Barbara Hershey Barbara Lynn Herzstein, better known as Barbara Hershey (born February 5, 1948), is an American actress. In a career spanning more than 50 years, she has played a variety of roles on television and in cinema in several genres, including weste ...

Jorge Rivero Jorge Rivero (born Jorge Pous Rosas; June 15, 1938) is a Mexican actor, with a career spanning two continents (America and Europe), primarily in Spanish-language media. He has been also credited as George Rivers and George Rivero. Early life Ri ...

Michael Parks Michael Parks (born Harry Samuel Parks; April 24, 1940 – May 9, 2017) was an American singer and actor. He appeared in many films and made frequent television appearances, notably starring in the 1969–1970 series '' Then Came Bronson'', but ...

, and

Larry Wilcox Larry Dee Wilcox (born August 8, 1947) is an American actor best known for his role as California Highway Patrol officer (later captain) Jonathan "Jon" Baker in the television series '' CHiPs'', which ran from 1977 to 1983 on NBC. A Vietnam ve ...

in his screen debut.

Plot

In 1909 Arizona, Captain Sam Burgade has retired from his law enforcement career with the

Arizona Rangers The Arizona Rangers is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, noncommissioned civilian auxiliary that supports law enforcement in the US, state of Arizona. In 2002, the modern-day Arizona Rangers were officially recognized by the State of Arizona when the Le ...

. Hoping for peace and quiet, he suddenly learns that his old enemy, Zach Provo, has escaped from a Yuma prison with other convicts. Zach Provo is a half-Indian outlaw who dreams of exacting revenge on Burgade, not only for putting him away, but for the death of his Indian wife who was killed in a crossfire years before. Burgade was shot by Provo and barely survived, but he later sent Provo to prison. Now out for revenge, Provo does not go after a cash shipment as Burgade expects, but instead kidnaps Burgade's daughter, Susan. The six escaped men form an ambush. Provo allows two of them to rape Susan in full view of Burgade and Brickman, assuming Burgade will show himself in an attempt to rescue her. In order to prevent him from doing so, Brickman knocks Burgade unconscious, and he is unable to intervene. With Brickman's help, they set a fire to smoke out the fugitives, Burgade is able to dispose of them one by one until only Provo is left. But he finds himself at gunpoint, then is shot by Provo several times and Provo is about to cut out Burgade's heart when he is able to retaliate at last with a handgun shooting Provo through his chest. The film ends with Susan and Brickman tending to Burgade's injuries.

Cast

* Charlton Heston as Sam Burgade * James Coburn as Zach Provo *

as Susan Burgade *

as Cesar Menendez *

as Sheriff Noel Nye *

as Mike Shelby *

Thalmus Rasulala Thalmus Rasulala (born Jack Crowder; November 15, 1939October 9, 1991) was an American actor with a long career in theater, television, and films. Noted for starring roles in blaxploitation films, he was also an original cast member of ABC's soa ...

as George Weed * Morgan Paull as Portugee Shiraz *

John Quade John William Saunders III (April 1, 1938 – August 9, 2009), better known by the stage name John Quade, was an American character actor who starred in film and in television. He was best known for his role as Cholla, the leader of the moto ...

as Will Gant *

Robert Donner Robert Donner (April 27, 1931 – June 8, 2006) was an American television and film actor. Early life and career Donner was born in New York City and raised in New Jersey, Michigan and Texas. He spent four years in the United States Navy ...

as Lee Roy Tucker *

Christopher Mitchum Christopher Mitchum (born October 16, 1943) is an American film actor, screenwriter, and businessman. He was born in Los Angeles, California, the second son of film star Robert Mitchum and Dorothy Mitchum. He is the younger brother of actor Jam ...

as Hal Brickman * Riley Hill as Gus Stanton

Production

Coburn said "“It was very hard to justify my character’s vendetta with Charlton Heston. He had no redeeming qualities. He was just out for revenge. The director was Andrew V. McLaglen. He knows how to go out, shoot a film and get it done. That’s about all. He’s another director for hire.”

Reception

Critical response

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'' film critic,

Richard Eder Richard Gray Eder (August 16, 1932 – November 21, 2014) was an American film reviewer and a drama critic. Life and career For 20 years, he was variously a foreign correspondent, a film reviewer and the drama critic for ''The New York Times''. ...

gave the film a mostly positive review, writing, "'The Last Hard Men" is not just a horse opera; it's practically Tristan and Isolde. Only the love-death relation isn't between a man and a woman but between a retired lawman and a half-breed Navajo who is obsessed with the notion of killing him ... Some of the chases are well done, particularly a night scene when the daughter tries to escape the bandits and is hauled back. I liked the dry performance of Michael Parks as the young sheriff who has more faith in his telephone than in old-fashioned shoot-outs.' ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' magazine said of the film, "The Last Hard Men is a fairly good actioner with handsome production values and some thoughtful overtones...The details of life at a crucial transition point in American history are well captured in the script and in the art direction."''Variety''
magazine, June 1, 1976.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Last Hard Men, The 1976 films 1976 Western (genre) films 20th Century Fox films American Western (genre) films 1970s English-language films Films based on Western (genre) novels Films based on works by Brian Garfield Films directed by Andrew McLaglen Films scored by Jerry Goldsmith Films set in 1909 Films set in Arizona American historical films 1970s historical films 1970s American films