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Ronald Reagan's first starring western occurred in 1951 when he did this horse opera for the Pine-Thomas Paramount B picture unit. Reagan was always a good rider and would have loved to do more westerns in his career. But according to the Citadel Film series book on The Films of Ronald Reagan the real clincher for him okaying the Pine-Thomas deal was a chance to ride his own horse in the film. So Reagan's horse which was named Tarbaby got some screen immortality.

The Last Outpost casts Reagan and Bruce Bennett who are brothers and who have split their loyalties during the Civil War. Fate has brought them together in the west with Bennett taking command of a Federal outpost in Arizona territory to deal with a band of pesky Confederate raiders. Little does Bennett know that Reagan is commanding those raiders and little does Reagan know that the girl he left behind played by Rhonda Fleming is out west and unhappily married to trading post owner John Ridgely.

Ridgely gets killed early on in the film, but not before he sets in motion a plan whereby he will be legally allowed to sell whiskey and arms to the Apaches in exchange for them just taking out the men in gray. In fact Lloyd Corrigan has come east as a member of the government to implement said plan. Reagan refers to him as 'the expediter' and he's the kind of government bureaucrat Reagan would make fun of when he later got into politics.

Bennett is the solid dependable brother, but Reagan invests his part with a certain dash and rakish charm which if you didn't know better you would swear was coming from Errol Flynn. But the most interesting role came from actor Charles Evans playing Apache Chief Grey Cloud who is a disgraced former American general who left the army because his society wouldn't accept the Apache woman he married. Evans really makes his few scenes count and I wish we had seen more of him.

The Last Outpost is a solidly entertaining western with the cast giving fitted performances in the roles they are doing.

That's one of the several westerns that director Lewis R Foster made, besides THE EAGLE AND THE HAWK, PASSAGE WEST, EL PASO; DAKOTA INCIDENT, all excellent material, pulled by good directing, flawless casts, and this one makes no exception, despite a predictable scheme and ending too. But beware, back in 1935, Paramount Pictures also produced another LAST OUTPOST, taking place in Kurdistan, starring Cary Grant, and it seems to be no connection at all between those two. After all, it could have been a link, because the same studio was in the matter. But no...Anyway, this western is worth watching, providing an exciting, powerful finale.

Reagan is star top-billed in this Paramount oater from 1951. Non- big budget movie was a surprise big hit in 1951. It also stars Rhonda Fleming, a woman it was could not photograph badly from any angle, and it shows in this movie, though her role isn't major. She plays the girl. She wasn't exactly known for her acting chops. The plot has the makings for a great Western, two brothers take different sides in the civil war. Reagan is a Confederate while Benett is a Union officer. Also involved is a certain benevolent look at the Indians - in the fifties, one can easily see the changing tone of Hollywood's outlook on the Indians; from snarly wordless caricatures to humane three dimensional characters, mainly highlighted by the James Stewart movie, Broken Arrow. Dances with wolves, this is not but it tries, as it has a white man as the Apache chief, an ex military officer who turned Injun after marrying an Indian. He was ousted from the army for this. Also, to be noted, Reagan and Bennett don't have anything really negative to say about the Indians. They are just interested in their war and just want to keep the Indians from getting involved. It is the supporting characters who are portrayed bug-eyed yellow in their thinking of the red man as the colloquial connotations go. But a notorious third act finale bruises all the good will the earlier sessions had earned. In this act, Bennett and Reagan, that is Confederate and Union team up to slaughter the Indians in a battle that was superceded by the white man. You can argue for this scene, in a pseudo " man must survive" argument that states that even if I'm on the wrong, I shouldn't just stand by the chop me to pieces. Man must defend himself. But staging of the battle is certainly cliched and flimsy as the Indians ride straight into a gauntlet set up by the allies. Right smack into it as they are shot of their horses. And do they change strategy? No. They keep running into the awaiting bullets. It should be noted that earlier, Bennett notes they are outnumbered 50-1. How original? Good entertainment especially the first two-thirds that focuses on Regan's derring-do.

Vance Britton (Ronald Reagan) is the captain of a brigade of Confederate troops wreaking havoc on Union outposts . His brother Jeb (Bruce Bennett) is a Union officer sent to the Western frontier to take care of the Confederate problem . Despite their fighting on opposite sides during the Civil War, they have to set their differences aside in order to survive an Apache attack. Vance's former girlfriend (Rhonda Fleming) is also living in the territories with her new hubby (John Ridgeley) . All three converge when Indians assault a llttle town . They lived hard ... they fought hard ... they loved hard ... and they died hard !

Good will and integrity characterize the US soldiers from both sides : Condederacy and Union . Well produced by two notorious producers : William H Pine and William C Thomas , this was their most expensive production to date, mainly because of its cast of higher-paid stars. In the movie appears some known Indian chiefs , usually played by real Indian actors , such as Geronimo performed by John War Eagle , Cochise interpreted by Chief Yowlachie , Iron Eyes Cody plays Mangas Coloradas and Victorio is acted by Charles Brunner . The future President USA gives a passable acting as the brave Confederate hero . Reagan played all kinds of genres such as : The killers , Hellcats of the Navy , This is the Army , Desperate journey, The winning team , It's a great feeling . And Westerns such as : Tenesse's partner , Cattle Queen of Montana , Santa Fe trail . His greatest hits were : Santa Fe trail , Dark victory and King's row . Gorgeous Rhonda Fleming provides a lively performance , she played various Westerns as a stubborn woman , such as : A brothel's owner in ¨Tenesse's partner¨ , a póker player in ¨Gunfight at O.K. Corral¨ , an adventurer in ¨Pony Express¨ and as secondary in Abilene Town ; she had important roles in The Eagle and the Hawk , The Redhead and the Cowboy , Those Redheads from Seattle , Gun Glory , Bullwhip , Alias Jesse James and Backtrack . Decent support cast such as : Bill Williams Noah Beery Jr ,Peter Hansen ,Hugh Beaumont ,Lloyd Corrigan and flm debut of Burt Mustin.

The picture was effficiently produced but in medium Budget by William H. Pine and William C. Thomas, this were known in the industry as "The Dollar Bills" because they made movies so quickly and efficiently that their films seldom, if ever, lost money. The film was regularly directed by Lewis R Foster . He was a prolific composer, songwriter, author and director, educated at the University of California. He began his directorial and film-writing career in 1920. Joined Hal Roach Studios as a writer/gagman in 1923, the same year as director Leo McCarey.He also worked as a newspaperman in San Francisco. He joined ASCAP in 1960. Foster was the director who gave Stan Laurel the freedom to do things his way in films . Worked as a director at Universal Pictures from 1936-37, at Paramount Pictures from 1949-53. And directed a lots of films such as 1953 Tropic zone , 1953 Those Redheads from Seattle ,1950 The Eagle and the Hawk 1950 Captain China , 1949 Manhandled ,1949 El Paso , 1949 The Lucky Stiff ,1937 Armored Car , 1937 She's Dangerous , 1936 Love Letters of a Star . And for TV the successful series : El Zorro with Guy Williams

"The Last Outpost" is a pretty mediocre Civil War western. Bruce Bennett is a Union officer out west, who finds himself beset by rampaging Apaches on one side and a Confederate guerrilla band led by his brother, Ronald Reagan, on the other side. Rhonda Fleming is the wife of a corrupt trader who's playing footsie with the Apaches. Competently acted, it moves along fairly slowly until almost the end of the picture, when there is a well-staged Indian attack on the town and a very exciting cavalry charge. Even though Fleming isn't called upon to do much more than stand around and look gorgeous, she does that quite well; she was born for Technicolor, and has seldom looked more beautiful. Reagan is a bit stiff in the lead, but not unbearably so, as he is more often than not. Overall not a bad western, but nothing particularly special.

Ronald Reagan was a great President, true. he was a decent horse-rider, and a very sweet, radiant personality. But as an actor, he was rather second-rate and very forgettable, indeed. Well, yes, you can watch his movies, turn it off and then easily forget what was in the movie ten minutes later/ This movie is a typical example - a very much of a period piece, with all the obvious errata goofs of that era - rather predictable plot, unrealistic love-part,typical portrayal of Indians, and some extremely cheap dialogs, which you can utter a second before a word spells out form a speaker's lips. Battle scenes are funny in fact, too. They have no suspense and deliver no thrill. A very good B-movie, with a very average casting and all the plot twists that you can imagine. Some sprinkle of humor often seems to be at odd with the general mood of the film, and very generic performance of all characters make this movie very lightweight, unserious and not memorable. Yup, Reagan grew to some grand things a bit later, smiling his way up. Here, even his smile is a bit of a lame duckie.

This isn't one of those "researched" cavalry Westerns. This is just a fun fest. It's everything that is cool in a film. It is Raiders of the Lost Ark, only it's an old fashioned Western.

First, we have the "cool" Robin Hood style hero, this time in the guise of a Confederate officer, along with his cool merry men, particularly the affable Noah Beery.

Then we have his old sweetheart married to a sneaky bad guy.

Then we have the older brother as a more officious officer on the Union side. Naturally, they clash.

Then we have the noble native American chiefs. This is middle of the road in treatment of the Indian. The Indians are treated with great dignity and respect, and like most old Hollywood Westerns, they are never bad, but misled by evil white men.

However, as many note, this is almost like two different movies from the first two thirds to the last third. In the end, although the evil guys are a pair of white men, the Indians get the brunt of the assault.

The other major problem is that the main bad guy is killed almost immediately, and we're left without a villain, until a towns-person takes the role, but it looks like an afterthought, as though there was a contract dispute with an actor somewhere. It is a novel idea, but not dramatic, and certainly not Hollywood.

However, this is an Indiana Jones style adventure, filled with humor and pathos along the way. We know a few good men will die. We aren't sure who, but there are clues that give us good ideas.

This isn't a "look for reality" movie, nor does it pretend to be. It is a barroom brawl fun-house film, made to be cool. And it succeeds.

RELEASED IN 1951 and directed by Lewis R. Foster, "The Last Outpost" (re-released in 1962 as "Cavalry Charge") chronicles events in Arizona during the Civil War where two brothers, officers for the Confederacy and Union (Ronald Reagan and Bruce Bennett), have to settle their differences to protect the outpost/town of San Gil from an Indian attack. Rhonda Fleming plays the former's maybe babe.

The old-fashioned style of filmmaking takes a while to acclimate to if you're used to newer movies. It doesn't help that the talky, contrived story is so convoluted that it takes forever to become engrossed into the characters and events. But there are some highlights: It's great seeing Reagan when he was young; and curvy Fleming is jaw-dropping. The climax is action-packed, but with those eye-rolling stunt hits (i.e. someone gets shot or arrowed and throws his hands in the air in a melodramatic manner, falling to the ground).

THE FILM RUNS 1 hour & 29 minutes and was shot in Old Tucson and surrounding areas (e.g. Sierrita Mountains).

GRADE: C

The magical combination of the cool, yet tough handsome hero, Ronald Reagan, and the incredibly beautiful and seductive Rhonda Fleming makes a great foundation for a classic movie. Reagan and Fleming show a believable attraction to one another that lures the imagination of a starry love.

The Last Outpost has plenty of action and the right amount of romance to keep the tone warm. The saber fighting, flaming arrows and fists fights are exciting and fast paced. The characters are memorable and there are lots of catchy lines worth memorizing.

The Last Outpost is a classic movie that should be included in every movie connoisseur's library.

Ronald Reagan in his first western is the biggest hit for Pine-Thomas Productions. Technicolor must have been invented for Rhonda Fleming's beauty and stunning auburn hair. She's married to a crooked trading post operator. What kind of man is McQuade (John Ridgely) wanting to stir up the Indians? "There no money in it for him in peaceful Indians they're not a good market for the guns and rot gut whisky he sells them." Reagan learns that not only his brother and fellow Baltimorean, Col. Jeb Britton (Bruce Bennett) is now stationed at Ft. Gil, but that his ex-fiance is there also. Noah Beery, the most beloved character actor in the business brings a needed ebullience to the part of Sgt. Calhoun. Other great parts were by Bill "Willie" Williams, Peter Hansen, Lloyd Corrigan and TV's all time favorite dad Hugh Beaumont.