This film made me go back in time. I saw it when I was 9 years old and loved it so much I kept annoying people by trying to tell them the film story. Today, I rate it as an average western, colorful, and where everything happens very fast contributing to its entertainment value. Ronald Reagan is Confederate Captain Vance Britten who has a brother who is an officer in the Union. Reagan ends up changing colors of uniform in order to avoid a great Indian attack and meets his brother and his old sweetheart, the beautiful Rhonda Fleming in most awkward circumstances. Noah Beery Jr. as always is his lovable sidekick Sgt. Calhoun. If ever an actor was stereotyped in a role it was Beery Jr. The best of the film is Lloyd Corrigan as Mr. Betancourt, the "expediter". His bureaucracy and pomposity are a fantastic caricature of what we see in our everyday life.

In the later part of the Civil War, or War Between the States, if you will, one might have found few or some rebel officers dashing around in clearly dazzling tailored uniforms, but, in this movie, even the lowest enlisted men looked like they were ready for inspection, not dirty as they would have been after several charges into enemy ranks, nor did their uniforms and boots appear haggard or well-worn as they should have been after 3 years of close conflict with the Yankees in several well-fought campaigns. As an avid reader of related literature, I know that the southern soldiers were unmatched in dedication and loyalty to their cause, and that they had little money to splurge on spectacular articles of clothing. A good portion of the southern troops wore their own clothing. I imagine that Hollywood financed this company of men to look good, and they did. I was impressed, and this movie is probably why I personally preferred the uniforms of the Confederacy to those of the North, even though I was born and raised in New England. Remembering this movie after 30 plus years, and then seeing it again recently has only confirmed my appreciation for the looks of those gray uniforms, but not the overall content of the movie. Ronald Reagan was a top box office draw when he made this movie; he demonstrated to me that a gentleman of the South could still be a good American even if he was not a soldier of the Union forces. These words are only my opinion, and were not intended to offend anyone, but, there it is.

Ronald Reagan and Bruce Bennett play brother versus brother in "The Last Outpost," an entertaining but old-fashioned Civil War western set on the historic Santa Fe Trail. Reagan has charisma to spare as Vance Britten, a Confederate cavalry captain dispatched from Virginia by General Robert E. Lee to raise hell in the heart of Union territory, and raise hell he does with style and wit. Opposite him in Union blue is his brother Colonel Jeb Britten (Bruce Bennett of "The New Adventures of Tarzan") who wears an occupational stiff-upper lip and displays less sympathy since he represents law and order. Happily, director Louis R. Foster keeps the tone of "The Last Outpost" as light-hearted as possible for most of this western's nimble 89-minute running time. Veteran western character actor Noah Beery, Jr., who wears his trademark Stetson more like a construction foreman than a cowboy, flanks Reagan as a good ole boy CSA sergeant, while Bill Williams rides at our hero's other elbow. Matters come to a boil when an unscrupulous white Indian agent Sam McQuade (John Ridgely of "The Big Sleep") demands that Washington intervene in the conflict and arm the Indians, so the Native Americans can help the strapped Union troops weed out the Confederate raiders. Actually, all that McQuade wants is an excuse to agitate the redskins, so he can sell them more guns and liquor. McQuade gets hoisted on his own petard when hostile Indians kill him and burn his supply wagon. The Indians didn't appreciate the inferior firearms and the rotgut whiskey that McQuade pedaled to them. Caught up in the middle of this fracas is McQuade's beautiful, red-haired wife Julie (Ronda Fleming of "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral") who has few friends and is unhappy out west. Before he dies as the price for his own perfidy, McQuade tries to play a trick on Julie by inviting Jeb over for supper. Years earlier Julie had made plans to marry a Britten, but not Jeb. Instead, Vance abandoned her, and she hasn't sufficiently recovered from his bad manners. Meanwhile, Vance intercepts the Union officer sent from Washington with orders to negotiate with the Indians, appropriates his uniform, and visits the Indian camp to sue for peace. He learns about the death of McQuade and others at the hands of Geronimo (John War Eagle of "They Rode West") and two braves. He also learns to his chagrin that these warriors are rotting in a white man's jail. The Indian chieftains are neither pleased with Geronimo's precipitate actions nor do they approve of the white man's reprisal against Geronimo. Vance decides to maintain his masquerade as the Union officer. Not only does he plan to free Geronimo and his braves before the territory explodes into Indian warfare, but also he plans to relieve the Federals of a payload of gold coins. Things do not go as Vance plans, because he finds himself face-to-face with Julie, his former sweetheart who he abandoned without so much as goodbye. Julie still smolders with rage at this slight, and she warns Vance that she won't tolerate either his presence or his disguise for more than 24 hours. Predictably, when Vance cannot spring Geronimo and company from the town's hoosegow, the Indians go on the rampage and try to burn the town down. Things are looking mighty bad in the last ten minutes for the out-numbered Union troops and the beleaguered settlers when Reagan rides to the rescue with his Confederate cavalry. Ironically, this Paramount Pictures release reunites Reagan, Bennett, and Ridgely who were once worked on the Warner Brothers backlot during the studio's heyday. What "The Last Outpost" lacks in stature, this solid little but unsurprising sagebrusher makes up for with its swift, sure pace, and its exciting battle scenes.

"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.