Ever watch a movie and realize the actors are doing some heavy lifting for a script that’s just "okay"? That is basically the vibe of Anthony Mann's 11th Western. When you look at the last frontier 1955 cast, you aren't just looking at a list of names from a call sheet; you're looking at a weird, high-friction collision between Old Hollywood royalty and the gritty, psychological "New Western" style that was taking over the fifties.
Victor Mature. Guy Madison. Robert Preston.
On paper, it sounds like a standard cavalry-vs-Indians flick. But honestly, it’s way more of a character study about a "wild man" trying to fit into a world of buttons, bugles, and rigid military discipline. Victor Mature plays Jed Cooper, a trapper forced into scouting for the army. He’s huge. He’s loud. He’s completely out of place. It’s arguably one of his most underrated performances because he manages to be both charming and kind of a menace at the same time.
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The Raw Power of Victor Mature as Jed Cooper
Most people remember Victor Mature for his "sand and sandals" epics like Samson and Delilah. He had that look—the heavy brow, the massive chest, the booming voice. In The Last Frontier, he uses that physicality to contrast against the stiff blue uniforms of the U.S. Cavalry.
Jed Cooper isn't your typical noble hero. He’s a guy who lived in the wilderness with his pals (played by James Whitmore and Pat Hogan) until the Indians took their furs. He goes to the fort because he’s hungry and out of options. Mature plays him with this savage innocence. He doesn't understand why he can't just take another man's wife if he likes her. He doesn't get why you have to salute. It’s a performance that feels surprisingly modern. He’s messy. He’s sweaty. He’s human.
Robert Preston: The Villain You Almost Feel Bad For
Then you've got Robert Preston as Colonel Frank Marston. If you only know Preston from The Music Man, this will blow your mind. He is terrifying here.
Marston is a "glory hound." He was disgraced at the Battle of Shiloh and sent out to the middle of nowhere—Fort Shallan—to rot. But he doesn't want to rot. He wants to redeem his name, even if it means marching his men into a literal slaughterhouse. Preston plays him with this brittle, frantic energy. You can see the desperation in his eyes. He isn't a "bad guy" in the sense that he wants to hurt people for fun; he’s a bad guy because his ego is more important than the lives of his soldiers.
The tension between Mature and Preston is the real engine of the movie. It’s the wild vs. the civilized. The man who lives by his gut vs. the man who lives by the book. Honestly, watching them share the screen is like watching two different eras of acting crash into each other.
Anne Bancroft and the "Civilized" Woman
It’s easy to forget that Anne Bancroft was in this. Long before she was Mrs. Robinson, she was Corinna Marston, the Colonel's long-suffering wife. In many 1950s Westerns, the woman is just there to be rescued. Bancroft does more. She’s the bridge between the two men. She’s drawn to Jed’s raw honesty because her husband is a hollow shell of a man.
Bancroft brings a level of sophistication that the movie desperately needs. Without her, the rivalry between Jed and Marston would just be two guys shouting. She makes it a tragedy. She’s trapped in a fort, trapped in a marriage, and trapped in a social code that Jed Cooper keeps trying to break down.
The Supporting Players: James Whitmore and Guy Madison
You can't talk about the last frontier 1955 cast without mentioning James Whitmore. He plays Gus, Jed's partner. Whitmore was one of those "actor's actors." He doesn't need much dialogue to show you that Gus is the brains of the operation. He’s the one who sees the trouble coming before Jed does.
Guy Madison plays Captain Riordan. He’s the "good" soldier. He’s the guy who actually cares about the men and realizes that Marston is insane. Madison plays it straight, which is exactly what the movie needs to keep it grounded. If everyone was as big and loud as Victor Mature, the movie would fly off the rails. Madison provides the steady hand.
- Victor Mature: Jed Cooper (The Trapper)
- Guy Madison: Capt. Glenn Riordan
- Robert Preston: Col. Frank Marston
- Anne Bancroft: Corinna Marston
- James Whitmore: Gus
- Pat Hogan: Mungo
- Peter Whitney: Sgt. Major Decker
Why Anthony Mann Chose These Actors
Anthony Mann was a director who loved psychological pain. He’s famous for his Westerns with James Stewart (like The Naked Spur or Winchester '73), where Stewart plays a man on the edge of a nervous breakdown.
With The Last Frontier, Mann didn't have Stewart. He had Mature. So, he pivoted. Instead of a man haunted by his past, he gave us a man (Jed) who is a pure force of nature. Mann used the cast to highlight the environment. The CinemaScope photography of the Wyoming wilderness (actually filmed in Mexico) is massive, and he needed actors with "big" presences to fill that space.
The casting of Robert Preston was a stroke of genius. Most directors would have cast a generic "mean colonel." By casting Preston, Mann got someone who could play the intellectual vanity of a high-ranking officer. When Marston orders that final, suicidal charge, you don't just see a villain; you see a man who has completely lost touch with reality.
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The Complicated Legacy of the 1955 Western
Let’s be real for a second. This movie came out in 1955. The depiction of Native Americans—the Red Cloud "savages"—is dated. It follows the tropes of the era. However, within the context of the last frontier 1955 cast, the film tries to do something slightly different. It shows the army as an invading, often incompetent force.
Jed Cooper is the middle ground. He respects the land and knows the people he's fighting. He’s not a colonizer by choice; he’s a guy caught in the middle. The nuance comes through in the performances, even when the script sticks to 50s cliches.
The movie didn't set the world on fire when it was released. It was a moderate success. But over the years, film historians have looked back at it as a key piece of Anthony Mann's filmography. It’s the link between the traditional Western and the more cynical, gritty films that would define the 1960s.
What You Should Take Away From This Cast
If you’re going to sit down and watch this today, don't expect a fast-paced action movie. It’s a slow burn. It’s about the looks exchanged between Anne Bancroft and Victor Mature. It’s about the sweat on Robert Preston’s face as he realizes his plan is failing.
The "Last Frontier" isn't just the physical wilderness. It’s the boundary between being a "wild" human and a "civilized" one. The cast carries that theme better than the dialogue ever could.
Actionable Insights for Classic Film Fans
- Watch for the contrast: Pay attention to the costumes. Victor Mature starts the movie in buckskins and ends up in a ridiculous, ill-fitting uniform. It tells the whole story of the film visually.
- Compare the "Mann Westerns": If you've seen the James Stewart/Anthony Mann collaborations, watch this one next. It’s fascinating to see how Mann handles a different type of leading man like Mature.
- Check out the CinemaScope: If you can, find a restored version. The scale of the mountains vs. the tiny humans is a huge part of why the casting works. The actors have to be "large" to not get swallowed by the scenery.
- Look for Robert Preston’s nuance: He’s playing a character that could easily be a caricature. Notice how he handles the scenes with Bancroft—there’s a weird, pathetic love there that makes his eventual fate more impactful.
Basically, if you’re a fan of the genre, this is a must-watch for the performances alone. It’s a masterclass in how a specific group of actors can elevate a standard genre piece into something that feels much more psychological and intense. You've got the brawn of Mature, the brains of Whitmore, the elegance of Bancroft, and the ticking time bomb of Preston. It’s a volatile mix that still holds up nearly 70 years later.
To get the most out of your viewing, try to find the 2020s Blu-ray restorations which fix the color timing of the original Technicolor. Seeing the rust-colored mountains against the "Blue Coat" uniforms makes the visual metaphors of the cast's struggle much clearer than the old, muddy television broadcasts most people grew up with.