Cinema in the mid-fifties was a weird place. Hollywood was desperately trying to fight off the rise of television, and its primary weapon was sheer, massive scale. Everything had to be wider, louder, and more colorful. That’s the environment that gave us The Last Frontier 1955, a film that honestly feels like a fever dream of CinemaScope ambition mixed with some of the most uncomfortable character dynamics of the era. If you’ve ever sat through a Western and thought, "This hero is actually kind of a jerk," then you’ve likely seen this movie. It’s a fascinating, messy artifact of a time when the Western genre was starting to look inward and get a little bit darker, even if it didn't quite know how to handle the landing.
Most people today remember Victor Mature for his physique or his roles in swords-and-sandals epics, but here, he’s playing Jed Cooper. Jed isn't your typical white-hat hero. He’s a "mountain man"—basically a wilder version of the frontiersman archetype—who gets forced into scouting for the U.S. Army after being robbed by Indians.
It’s a gritty premise.
Director Anthony Mann was at the helm, and if you know Mann’s work with James Stewart, you know he loved exploring the psychological breaking points of his protagonists. But The Last Frontier 1955 is different. It’s less about a noble man pushed to the edge and more about a raw, unrefined force of nature trying to fit into a rigid military structure. It’s loud. It’s violent. It’s surprisingly cynical about the "civilization" the Army is supposed to be bringing to the wilderness.
The Problem with Robert Preston’s Colonel Frank Marston
The real meat of the conflict isn't actually the war with the native tribes, though that provides the backdrop. No, the real drama is the clash between Jed Cooper and Colonel Frank Marston. Robert Preston plays Marston as a man blinded by ego. He’s a disgraced officer looking for a "glorious" comeback, and he doesn’t care how many men he has to kill to get it.
Think about that for a second.
In 1955, the military was usually portrayed with at least a baseline of respect in mainstream media. Here, Mann gives us a commanding officer who is essentially a villain. Marston is incompetent and arrogant. He represents the worst of the "civilized" world—rigid adherence to rules that don't work in the real world.
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The dynamic gets even weirder because Jed Cooper falls for Marston’s wife, Corinna (played by Anne Bancroft). This isn't some polite, Victorian romance. Jed is basically waiting for the Colonel to die so he can take his place. It’s blunt. It’s almost animalistic. Critics at the time were a bit baffled by it. You have to remember that audiences were used to the moral clarity of John Ford. Mann was giving them something much more jagged.
Locations, Visuals, and the CinemaScope Curse
The movie was filmed in Mexico, specifically around Morelia, Michoacán. It looks incredible. The 2.55:1 aspect ratio of early CinemaScope was meant to capture the sweeping vistas, and Mann uses every inch of the frame.
But there’s a catch.
While the wide shots are breathtaking, the technology back then was clunky. Close-ups often looked distorted—a phenomenon known as the "CinemaScope mumps." If you watch The Last Frontier 1955 on a modern 4K screen, you’ll notice that some of the actors' faces look slightly wider or flatter than they should. It’s a technical quirk that adds to the movie's strange, off-kilter energy.
The color is also worth mentioning. They used Technicolor, and the blues of the Army uniforms against the earthy browns of the fort and the vibrant greens of the forest are striking. It’s a gorgeous movie to look at, even when the plot is making you wince.
Why Nobody Talks About the Script
The screenplay was based on the novel The Gilded Rooster by Richard Emery Roberts. It’s a title that actually fits the movie better than the generic "The Last Frontier." A "gilded rooster" is a perfect metaphor for Colonel Marston—all flash and ego with nothing of substance underneath.
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The dialogue is... let’s call it "of its time."
There are moments where the "mountain man" talk feels incredibly dated. Victor Mature does his best, but he’s essentially playing a character who is "uncivilized" by design, which often translates to him acting like a bull in a china shop. He’s impulsive. He’s loud. He doesn't understand why he can’t just take what he wants.
Compare this to the Westerns being made just a few years later, like The Searchers (1956) or Mann’s own The Tin Star (1957). You can see the genre evolving in real-time. The Last Frontier 1955 is like the missing link between the simplistic Westerns of the 1940s and the complex, "revisionist" Westerns of the 1960s. It’s trying to be deep, but it’s still tethered to the expectations of a 1950s studio production.
Casting Choices and Career Trajectories
- Victor Mature: This was one of his last big "tough guy" roles before he started parodying his own image.
- Anne Bancroft: Long before she became Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate, she was playing the "woman in the middle" in Westerns like this. She’s far too good for the material, honestly.
- Guy Madison: He plays Captain Riordan, the voice of reason. Madison was a huge star on TV as Wild Bill Hickok, and his presence was likely meant to reassure audiences who found the rest of the movie too dark.
- James Whitmore: He plays Gus, Jed’s companion. Whitmore was a legendary character actor, and he provides the only real warmth in the film.
The Brutal Reality of the Fort Oregon Siege
The climax of the film involves a massive assault on the fort. It’s well-staged, but it’s also remarkably bleak. Marston’s incompetence leads to a slaughter. There’s a specific shot of the soldiers being mowed down that feels surprisingly modern in its depiction of military waste.
Mann didn't shy away from the cost of war.
While the "Indians" are portrayed as a faceless threat—a common and problematic trope of the era—the movie's real venom is reserved for the white leadership. The film suggests that the biggest threat to the American West wasn't the people already living there, but the ego of the people trying to "tame" it. That’s a pretty heavy message for 1955.
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The Enduring Legacy (Or Lack Thereof)
So, why isn't The Last Frontier 1955 considered a classic?
Usually, when people talk about Anthony Mann, they talk about the "Winchester '73" or "The Naked Spur." Those movies are tighter. They have James Stewart, who was a much more relatable vessel for Mann’s obsessions. Victor Mature is an acquired taste. His Jed Cooper is hard to root for. He’s effectively a stalker for a good portion of the movie, hovering around Bancroft's character with a persistence that feels predatory by modern standards.
Also, the ending is a bit of a cop-out. Without spoiling it too much, the movie finds a way to "clean up" the mess so that the hero can stay a hero, even though he hasn't really earned it. It’s a typical studio-mandated "happy" ending that clashes with the cynical tone of the previous 90 minutes.
Actionable Insights for Western Fans
If you’re planning on diving into this era of film history, here’s how to actually appreciate it:
- Watch it for the Cinematography: Forget the plot for a second and just look at the framing. Mann was a master of using landscape to express internal conflict. Notice how the characters are often dwarfed by the mountains or trapped by the wooden beams of the fort.
- Compare the "Man" Archetypes: Watch this back-to-back with Shane (1953). In Shane, the outsider is a savior. In The Last Frontier 1955, the outsider is a disruptor. It’s a totally different vibe.
- Look for the "Revisionist" Seeds: Pay attention to how the military is portrayed. This is the groundwork for later films like Little Big Man or Dances with Wolves. The skepticism starts here.
- Check the Aspect Ratio: If you’re watching a version that is "formatted to fit your screen" (4:3), don't bother. This movie exists for the wide frame. You lose half the performances and all of the atmosphere if it's cropped.
The Last Frontier 1955 isn't a perfect movie. It’s clunky, the pacing is weird, and the romantic subplot is borderline skin-crawling. But as a piece of film history? It’s essential. It shows a genre in transition, struggling to reconcile its mythic past with a more complicated, darker reality. It’s the sound of the Old West being swallowed by the New Hollywood, and it’s well worth a look for anyone who wants to understand how the American Western became the complex beast it is today.