The Last Of The Fast Guns on DVD, Western, Jock Mahoney, Gilbert Roland

The Last Of The Fast Guns  Future Tarzan star Jock Mahoney starred in several westerns in the 1950s along with the short-lived TV series “Range Rider” and later “Yancey Derringer.” He plays a two-gun gunslinger dressed in black named Brad Ellison in this scenic western. Gilbert Roland, Lorne Green, and Linda Cristal co-star as friends and/or enemies. Basically, this is a track-down western with our lean, rugged hero on the trail of a dying man’s brother who is willing to pay Ellison the kind of money that can change his life. Veteran western director George Sherman of “Big Jake” fame directed this 80-minute oater that never wears out its welcome. If you want to categorize “Last of the Fast Guns,” then it falls into the decline of the western, rather like “The Magnificent Seven,” as the wide open spaces have begun to shrink. Technically, based on the information that our hero shares with three other fast guns, “Last of the Fast Guns” takes place in the 1880s after the demise of Billy the Kid. “Johnny Concho” scenarist David P. Harmon penned this no-nonsense horse opera and his dialogue is exceptional. Rarely does anybody utter a line that isn’t memorable. Although the characters may be thinly drawn, our hero undergoes a change by fade-out. A crippled man, John Forbes (Carl Benton-Red of “Escape from Fort Bravo”), waits in a dusty town to hire the survivor of a gunfight, and a reluctant Ellison agrees to ride south to Mexico and search for Edward Forbes. Essentially, “Last of the Fast Guns” concerns the journey as much as the ending. Once he crosses into Mexico, Ellison rides into the ranch of Michael O’Reilly (Lorne Greene) where he meets Miles Lang (Gilbert Roland of “Any Gun Can Play”) who has spent his entire life searching for gold. Everybody that Ellison comes into contact with has a story about Edward Forbes, but nobody can tell our hero where to find this fellow or his grave. During his stay at the O’Reilly Ranch, Ellison saves Miles’ life when a bad horse tries to attack him. No, our hero doesn’t shoot the horse. Suffice to say that everybody survives this fracas. Miles agrees to accompany Ellison on his search as a way of thanking him for saving his life. “Last of the Fast Guns” packs surprises and reversals. Western fans will love this oater.