The Last Frontier

A serial remake of a 1926 Western feature starring William Boyd, The Last Frontier became an early opportunity for young Lon Chaney, Jr. -- still billed Creighton Chaney -- to prove himself worthy of the Chaney name. But young Creighton, handicapped as he was by stilted dialogue and sub-par action sequences -- did not quite live up to the task and would be reduced to supporting roles until his true breakthrough as Lennie in Of Mice and Men (1939). In The Last Frontier, Chaney played Tom Kirby, a crusading newspaper editor opposed to "Tiger" Morris (Richard Neill, an outlaw whose reign of terror is meant to drive the settlers off their valuable land. Kirby dons the disguise of a masked avenger and together with such noted historical personages as General Custer (William Desmond) and Wild Bill Hickock (Yakima Canutt), the crusading reporter manages to curtail Morris' evil schemes. Dorothy Gulliver, of the silent screen, and Judith Barrie were added to the cast to lend a bit of feminine appeal under Spencer Gordon Bennet and Thomas Storey's direction. The Last Frontier was an independent serial produced by Van Buren for RKO release. The 1948 Sam Katzman serial Tex Granger was a very unofficial remake.