The Last Round-Up
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
John English
Gene Autry
Champion
Jean Heather
Ralph Morgan
Carol Thurston
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
When government officials in Mesa City announce plans to build an aqueduct on a river bordering a nearby Indian reservation, some of the Indians on the reservation assemble a war party and threaten an attack. The news of the aqueduct plan also angers cattle rancher Gene Autry, who is a friend of the Indians. In the hopes of averting a war between the ranchers and the Indians, Gene proposes a compromise calling for the Indians to be moved to better land in Cedar Valley, and for the ranchers to relinquish their water rights to the city. A short time later, Gene meets Carol Taylor, a schoolteacher at the Indian school, and falls instantly in love with her. Gene's compromise wins the support of the ranchers, who plan to use the money promised to them by the government to pay their debts to financier Charlie Mason. Charlie and his son Matt, however, are conspiring to force the ranchers further into debt so that they can repossess their land. Gene later engages Matt in a fistfight when Matt falsely accuses Gene of working for the Mesa City aqueduct builders. Carol, too, begins to question Gene's motives, and later urges her father, a rancher, to oppose the deal. To counter the growing Indian opposition to the deal, Gene appears on a local television program and reassures the Indians that they will be given fertile land in Ceder Valley. The television program restores Carol's faith in Gene, and their romance blossoms. A short time later, Charlie tries to sabotage the aqueduct project by staging a fake accident, in which many Indians are injured. By spreading lies about Gene's motives, Charlie's men succeed in destroying the friendship between Gene and Jeff Henry, an influential Indian. When Charlie begins to foreclose on the land he sold to the ranchers, Gene persuades the ranchers to sell their cattle to raise enough money to defend themselves against Charlie's scheme. No sooner do the ranchers head out for the cattle market than they are ambushed by Jeff and some Indian warriors. Jeff is killed in a shootout with Matt, after which Gene captures Matt and brings him to justice. With the end of the Mason family's control of the ranchers, life on the mesa returns to normal.
Director
John English
Cast
Gene Autry
Champion
Jean Heather
Ralph Morgan
Carol Thurston
Mark Daniels
Bobby Blake
Russ Vincent
The Texas Rangers
George "shug" Fisher
Trevor Bardette
Lee Bennett
John Halloran
Sandy Sanders
Roy Gordon
Silverheels Smith
Frances Rey
Bob Cason
William P. Wilkerson
George Carleton
Don Reynolds
Nolan Leary
Jack Baxley
Ted Adams
Steve Clark
Edward Peil Sr.
Charles Hamilton
Bud Osborne
Frank Marvin
Kernan Cripps
José Alvarado
Arline Archuletta
Lou Crosby
Virginia Carroll
Brian O'hara
Rod Redwing
J. W. Cody
Iron Eyes Cody
Alex Montoya
Crew
Gene Autry
Mischa Bakaleinikoff
Earl Bellamy
William Bradford
Johnny Burke
Doris Fisher
Billy Hill
David Kapp
Harold Macarthur
Hugh Mcdowell
Paul Mertz
James V. Monaco
Allan Roberts
Armand Schaefer
Earle Snell
Aaron Stell
Jack Townley
Jack Townley
Frank [a.] Tuttle
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
This film marked Gene Autry's initial production under his Gene Autry Productions banner. Modern sources list actors Dale Van Sickle, Blackie Whiteford and Robert Walker in the cast. A May 1947 Hollywood Reporter news item indicates that some filming took place in Tucson, AZ.
