Last of the Wild Horses (1948)

Butterfingers of the Old West, 4 November 2007

There are a handful of generally unknown actors that I enjoy seeing in just about anything. One of those people is Douglass Dumbrille. From A Day at the Races with the Marx Brothers to Castle in the Desert with Charlie Chan, I always look forward to Dumbrille's performances. In Last of the Wild Horses, he plays the wheelchair-bound owner of the Double C ranch. His performance is by far the best thing this movie has going for it. Now that I think about it, Douglass Dumbrille is probably the only thing Last of the Wild Horses has going for it. The movie is one of those utterly dull, white-bread kind of Westerns where no one gets dirty and the good guys always win. It's the kind of Western that always seemed to feature an annoying comic relief character that you just wanted to see someone put a bullet through. All it lacks is a cowboy with a guitar to make my stomach really turn.

But the most unforgivable part of Last of the Wild Horses is the way director Robert Lippert continually cheats to keep the plot moving. On three different occasions, people conveniently drop evidence that is later found and used to advance the story. From a branding iron to a letter to a bandana – Last of the Wild Horses would have us believe that the cowboys of the Old West were a bunch of butterfingers.

2/10