''The Last Stagecoach West'' is a 1957 American

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

Joseph Kane Jasper Joseph Inman Kane (March 19, 1894, San Diego – August 25, 1975, Santa Monica, California) was an American film director, film producer, film editor and screenwriter. He is best known for his extensive directorship and focus on Western ...

and starring Jim Davis, Mary Castle,

Victor Jory Victor Jory (November 23, 1902 – February 12, 1982) was a Canadian-American actor of stage, film, and television. He initially played romantic leads, but later was mostly cast in villainous or sinister roles, such as Oberon in ''A Midsummer Ni ...

and

Lee Van Cleef Clarence LeRoy Van Cleef Jr. (January 9, 1925 – December 16, 1989) was an American actor. He appeared in over 170 film and television roles in a career spanning nearly 40 years, but is best known as a star of spaghetti Westerns, particularly t ...

. The film's

art direction Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to super ...

was by Ralph Oberg. In the early 1950s

Republic Pictures Republic Pictures is currently an acquisition-only label owned by Paramount Pictures. Its history dates back to Republic Pictures Corporation, an American film studio that originally operated from 1935 to 1967, based in Los Angeles, California ...

decided to begin producing television shows and filmed a pilot for what became ''Stories of the Century''. A few years later that pilot was reedited, and released as ''The Last Stagecoach West'', which differs greatly from the syndicated television series.

Plot

Rand McCord, owner of a local stage line, has to race his stage against the railroad, with the winner being awarded a government shipping contract. When McCord’s driver, Steve, loses to the railroad's locomotive, McCord decides to take up ranching, and offers Steve a job. Soon afterwards Steve reunites with a friend who rode with him as part of Quantrill's Raiders. After a series of train robberies railroad detective Bill Cameron is sent to investigate, but the local telegraph operator intercepts a message about his coming, and shares it with the outlaws. Cameron arrives and rides out to speak with McCord, who is familiar with the area. He is near the ranch when he mets McCord’s daughter, Louise, and while the two are talking an outlaw gang begins firing at Cameron. The two escape uninjured. Cameron is impressed with Louise’s courage and tells her that he is a railroad detective. Cameron becomes suspicious of Steve, and when cattle are rustled the detective tells the sheriff the stolen cattle may be sold to a construction boss buying beef to feed his work crew. Cameron is able to sneak up on the rustlers, but a masked rider causes a diversion, and the outlaws escape. The outlaw gang try to rob a train while it is stopped for fuel. The masked rider is wounded, but is able to escape to the McCord ranch. The rider is Rand McCord and, before he dies, he confesses to his daughter that he organized the outlaws to steal from the railroad what he thought had been stolen from him. At the end of the film Bill Cameron and Louise McCord marry.tcm.com
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Cast

* Jim Davis as Bill Cameron * Mary Castle as Louise McCord *

as Rand McCord *

as Steve Margolies * Grant Withers as Jack Fergus * Roy Barcroft as Park Ketchum * John Anderson as Angus MacKendrick *

Glenn Strange George Glenn Strange (August 16, 1899 – September 20, 1973) was an American actor who appeared in hundreds of Western (genre), Western films. He played Sam Noonan, the bartender on Columbia Broadcasting System, CBS's ''Gunsmoke'' televisio ...

as Sheriff *

Francis McDonald Francis McDonald (August 22, 1891 – September 18, 1968) was an American actor whose career spanned 52 years. Early years Born on August 22, 1891, in Bowling Green, Kentucky, McDonald was the son of John Francis McDonald and Catherine Ashlu ...

as Old Man Colter *

Willis Bouchey Willis Ben Bouchey (May 24, 1907 - September 27, 1977) was an American character actor. Bouchey may be best known for his movie appearances in '' The Horse Soldiers'', '' The Long Gray Line'', '' Sergeant Rutledge'', '' Two Rode Together'', ...

as George Bryceson * Lewis Martin as Ben Hardy * Tristram Coffin as Gibson *

Percy Helton Percy Alfred Helton (January 31, 1894 – September 11, 1971) was an American stage, film, and television actor. He was one of the most familiar faces and voices in Hollywood of the 1950s. Career Helton was born in Manhattan. He began ac ...

as Telegrapher

References

External links

* 1957 films 1957 Western (genre) films 1950s historical films American Western (genre) films Films directed by Joseph Kane Films set in the 19th century Films set in Utah Republic Pictures films 1950s English-language films 1950s American films Quantrill's Raiders English-language Western (genre) films English-language historical films {{1950s-US-Western-film-stub

Plot

Cast

See also

References

External links