‘The Last Hunt’ was a quite big MGM Cinemascope production with much of the filming done in Dakota.

The film showed what an interesting actor Robert Taylor was – he is totally believable in this film – in a really villainous role. He had the longest contract ever with MGM and basically caused few ripples and would do the films that he was asked to do without any drama. This film proves that he could handle difficult roles. .

Stewart Granger plays a retired buffalo hunter who is revered in the West as one of the best. Robert Taylor seems to just want to slaughter buffalo, and lures Stewart Granger into business with him. They hire two helpers played by Lloyd Nolan and Russ Tamblyn.

Stewart Granger becomes haunted by the buffalo he has killed, knowing if they become extinct, the Native American way of life will greatly suffer. Robert Taylor soon reveals a sadistic side.

BELOW – Some Front of House Stills from the film – I can remember walking up to school in our town, past one of the cinemas on the way, and I always looked at the film stills outside in a glass case. For some reason I remember the stills from this film although I can’t recall these particular ones.

Earlier Stewart Granger had appeared in some very big MGM films among them Scaramouche – however he does not seem to have been popular with his fellow actors if this is anything to go by :-

His co-star Eleanor Parker  said that Stewart Granger was the only actor she did not get along with during her entire career. “Everyone disliked this man…Stewart Granger was a dreadful person, rude…just awful. Just being in his presence was bad. I thought at one point the crew was going to kill him.” However, the resulting film was a notable critical and commercial success.

The film ‘The Last Hunt’ was directed by Richard Thorpe who went on to marry Jean Simmons in 1960