TO THE LAST MAN aka Law of Vengeance (1933) Randolph Scott & Esther Ralston | Western | B&W

To the Last Man is a 1933 American Pre-Code Western film directed by Henry Hathaway and starring Randolph Scott and Esther Ralston. The screenplay by Jack Cunningham was based on a story by Zane Grey.

SYNOPSIS
In Kentucky just after the Civil War, the Hayden-Colby feud leads to Jed Colby being sent to prison for 15 years for murder. The Haydens head for Nevada and when Colby gets out of prison he heads there also seeking revenge. The head of the Hayden family tries to avoid more killing but the inevitable showdown has to occur, complicated by Lynn Hayden and Ellen Colby's plans to marry.

A feud between the Colby and the Hayden families starts in the hills of Kentucky and continues in the mountains of the West after the American Civil War. Also involved is the conflict between vigilantism and the law in a frontier environment, and lovers from the two feuding families. At one point during the ensuing mayhem, one of the villains shoots the head off 5-year-old Shirley Temple's doll right in front of the child.

CAST & CREW
Randolph Scott as Lynn Hayden
Esther Ralston as Ellen Colby
Noah Beery Sr. as Jed Colby
Jack La Rue as Jim Daggs
Buster Crabbe as Bill Hayden
Barton MacLane as Neil Stanley
Gail Patrick as Ann Hayden Stanley
Muriel Kirkland as Molly Hayden
James Eagles as Eli Bruce
Fuzzy Knight as Jeff Morley
Eugenie Besserer as Granny Spelvin
Harlan Knight as Grandpa Chet Spelvin

Directed by Henry Hathaway
Screenplay by Jack Cunningham
Based on To The Last Man 1921 novel by Zane Grey
Produced by Harold Hurley
Cinematography Ben F. Reynolds
Edited by Jack Scott
Music by John Leipold, Ralph Rainger
Production company Paramount Pictures
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date September 15, 1933
Running time 70 minutes
Country United States
Language English

NOTES
In his book, The Hollywood Western: Ninety Years of Cowboys and Indians, Train Robbers, Sheriffs and Gunslingers, film historian William K. Everson discusses the film and notes that the Zane Grey series was "uniformly good." He also writes:

To the Last Man was almost a model of its kind, an exceptionally strong story of feuding families in the post-Civil War era, with a cast worthy of an "A" feature, excellent direction by Henry Hathaway, and an unusual climactic fight between the villain (Jack LaRue) and the heroine (Esther Ralston, in an exceptionally appealing performance).

The Paramount property was previously made as a silent film, Victor Fleming's 1923 film version of the same title. The supporting cast of Hathaway's version features Noah Beery Sr. (repeating his role from the 1923 version), Jack La Rue, Buster Crabbe, Barton MacLane, Shirley Temple, Fuzzy Knight, Gail Patrick and John Carradine.

The film was reissued for American television under the title Law of Vengeance.

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