The Last Sunset

His uncompromising nature made Aldrich a persona non grata in Hollywood in the late 1950s, but he was able to shoot "The Last Sunset" in Mexico for Kirk Douglas, although the star and director eventually fell out. Nevertheless, Aldrich succeeded in creating a fascinating Freudian Western that, despite its fatalism, is staged with lyrical verve and heads toward bizarre twists in a melodramatic fashion, while the genre elements serve more as seasoning. Cowboy Brendan O’Malley (Douglas) is chased across the border by lawman Dana Stribling (Rock Hudson) and runs into his childhood sweetheart Belle (Dorothy Malone), who has married the alcoholic John Breckenridge (Joseph Cotten). Breckenridge hires the adversaries to drive a cattle herd to Texas: In the process, O’Malley and Belle’s daughter Missy (Carol Lynley) grow closer, while an inevitable confrontation looms—which comes to pass in a profoundly dark way. (C.H.)