Last Train from Gun Hill

John Sturges's LAST TRAIN FROM GUN HILL is worth watching for the title alone. I mean, how can you not dig a movie with a title like that?

Having said that, its title is the best thing about LAST TRAIN FROM GUN HILL. The story, which rips off HIGH NOON (but with a twist!), follows Kirk Douglas as a marshall who absolutely, positively will not compromise when it comes to getting his man. Unfortunately, in this case his man is the son of his best friend, played by Anthony Quinn. Quinn's the top dog in Gun Hill, a town several stops down the rail line from Douglas's territory, and, well, there's your conflict.

I like Kirk Douglas. I like Anthony Quinn. I like John Sturges. LAST TRAIN FROM GUN HILL only counts as a middling success, however, because it's premised upon the conflicting loyalties of both men but resolves that source of tension too early in the film. Once Quinn makes his choice, the movie's only about the countdown to the gunfight, and HIGH NOON did a better job of handling the material. The does look and sound great, and it has some cool stunts. It's a good rainy day Western, but I wouldn't peg it much more highly than that.