The Last Sunset

Aldrich’s uncompromising nature made him a persona non grata in Hollywood in the late 1950s, yet he was still able to shoot THE LAST SUNSET in Mexico with Kirk Douglas. Aldrich succeeded in creating a fascinating Freudian Western nonetheless, which is staged with lyrical verve in spite of its fatalism, moving melodramatically towards bizarre twists, with the genre elements functioning more as extra seasoning. Cowboy Brendan O’Malley (Douglas) is chased across the border by lawman Dana Stribling (Rock Hudson) and comes across his childhood sweetheart Belle (Dorothy Malone), who has married the alcoholic John Breckenridge (Joseph Cotten). Breckenridge hires the two adversaries to drive a cattle herd to Texas: O’Malley and Belle’s daughter Missy (Carol Lynley) grow closer, as an inevitable confrontation looms—which comes to pass in a precipitous manner. Although acclaimed as one of the most unusual psychological Westerns, THE LAST SUNSET remained a terrible memory for Aldrich because of his clash with Douglas during the shoot. But like VERA CRUZ (1954), it would come to influence subsequent Spaghetti Westerns—its finale left traces in both Sergio Leone’s ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (1968) and Sergio Corbucci’s COMPAÑEROS (1970). (Christoph Huber)

Courtesy of the Swedish Film Institute.

All retrospective films that will be shown at the Filmmuseum after the Viennale - from 04.11. - can of course also be reserved as usual at filmmuseum.at or by calling 01/533 70 54 and purchased at the box office of the Austrian Film Museum. The prices of the Austrian Film Museum apply.