Last of the Badmen

The film was known as 54 Washington Street. Filming started June 1956.^[2]

• Last of the Badmen at IMDb
• Last of the Badmen at TCMDB
• Last of the Badmen at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films

George Montgomery is Dan Barton, a detective with the Chandler Agency. The agency’s mission: to break up an outlaw band that has an ingenious plan for getting away with thievery.

They break an outlaw out of jail, make him the front man — and the only identifiable individual — in a series of holdups.

Then, when the price on his head gets high enough, they kill him for the reward. That way they make money on the holdups and the bounties, but never get caught.

After one Chandler detective infiltrates the group only to lose his life, it’s Barton’s turn to go undercover.

He finds an ally inside the group in Ted Hamilton (James Best), a young man cooperating with the outlaw gang against his will, and he has one outside in Roberts (Keith Larsen), a fellow agent posing as faro dealer in the town of Gallatin.

Thing is, once he’s a part of the outlaw gang, Barton is convinced there’s someone organizing the holdups from the outside.

George Montgomery as Dan Barton, arriving in Gallatin for his undercover assignment in Last of the Badmen (1957) George Montgomery as Dan Barton, arriving in Gallatin for his undercover assignment in Last of the Badmen (1957)

Keith Larsen as Roberts, an undercover detective, trying to watch over Dan Barton in Last of the Badmen (1957) Keith Larsen as Roberts, an undercover detective, trying to watch over Dan Barton in Last of the Badmen (1957)

Review:

A fairly ingenious plot in a film that unfortunately lacks any sort of spark. Or enough character development to make us care if Montgomery, Best or Larsen survive their respective plights.

The purple prose narration of nearly every significant development doesn’t help. It’s not as though the storyline is that difficult to follow.

The film was remade just six years later as “Gunfight at Comanche Creek,” an Audie Murphy vehicle.