Shirley Temple Films

Production Background

To the Last Man is a 1933 pre-Code Western directed by Henry Hathaway and produced by Harold Hurley for Paramount Pictures. The film runs 70 minutes and was released September 15, 1933. Jack Cunningham wrote the screenplay; cinematography is by Ben F. Reynolds, editing by Jack Scott, and music by John Leipold and Ralph Rainger.

The picture adapts Zane Grey's 1921 novel of the same name. Paramount had previously filmed the story as a silent feature in 1923; this 1933 version was a sound remake on the same lot.

Production took place on California locations including Big Bear Valley in San Bernardino County and Big Pine in Inyo County. The film was later reissued for television as 'Law of Vengeance.'

Synopsis

The narrative centers on a long-standing feud between the Colby and Hayden families that originated in Kentucky and continued westward after the American Civil War. The conflict pits frontier vigilantism against emerging law enforcement, and is complicated by a romance between members of the feuding families.

Cast & Crew

• Director: Henry Hathaway
• Producer: Harold Hurley
• Screenplay: Jack Cunningham
• Based on the novel by: Zane Grey
• Cinematography: Ben F. Reynolds
• Editor: Jack Scott
• Music: John Leipold and Ralph Rainger
• Lynn Hayden: Randolph Scott
• Ellen Colby: Esther Ralston
• Jed Colby: Noah Beery Sr.
• Bill Hayden: Buster Crabbe
• Neil Stanley: Barton MacLane
• Jim Daggs: Jack La Rue
• Ann Hayden Stanley: Gail Patrick
• Jeff Morley: Fuzzy Knight
• Shirley Temple as (uncredited): Mary Stanley
• Pete Garon (uncredited): John Carradine

Behind the Scenes

Shirley Temple was five years old when she appeared in To the Last Man, in an uncredited role as Mary Stanley. The Shirley Temple Wikipedia article frames the casting as one of her earliest feature-film appearances during the period she was still working in the Baby Burlesks and Frolics of Youth shorts for Educational Pictures.

The production paired Henry Hathaway, then early in his long Hollywood career, with leads Randolph Scott and Esther Ralston. Noah Beery Sr. played the patriarch on the Colby side; Buster Crabbe — later famous as Flash Gordon and Tarzan — appeared as Bill Hayden.

John Carradine, like Temple, took an uncredited part (as Pete Garon), making To the Last Man notable for the small-role appearances of two performers who would go on to long careers — one as a Hollywood legend in genre cinema, the other as the biggest box-office star in America by the mid-1930s.

The Sierra-edge locations at Big Bear and Big Pine gave the picture the rugged outdoor look characteristic of Hathaway's Western work.

Reception & Legacy

Film historian William K. Everson, cited in the Wikipedia article, praised the production for its 'excellent direction by Henry Hathaway' and called Esther Ralston's performance 'exceptionally appealing.' The film was reissued under the title Law of Vengeance for television. According to Wikipedia, To the Last Man remains in the public domain in the United States.

Fun Facts

• Released September 15, 1933 by Paramount Pictures.
• Directed by Henry Hathaway; produced by Harold Hurley.
• Adapted from Zane Grey's 1921 novel — a remake of Paramount's 1923 silent version.
• Runs 70 minutes.
• Shirley Temple plays Mary Stanley — uncredited, at age five.
• John Carradine also appears uncredited, as Pete Garon.
• Filmed on location at Big Bear Valley and Big Pine in California.
• Music by John Leipold and Ralph Rainger.
• Reissued for television as Law of Vengeance.
• In the public domain in the United States.