Entertainment
 

Last of the Wild Horses

From MST3K

611 - Last of the Wild Horses
Air Date October 15, 1994
Movie Director Robert L. Lippert
Year 1948
Cast James Ellison, Mary Beth Hughes, Jane Frazee
Preceded by 610 - The Violent Years
Followed by 612 - The Starfighters


Contents

The Movie

Synopsis

From the man who went on to bring you Lost Continent and Radar Secret Service comes LOTWH.

It's the nineteenth century in Oregon. Hotheaded entrepeneur Charlie Cooper has developed a thriving business (the "Double C Ranch") catching, taming and selling wild horses. The smaller ranch owners in the area feel the horses are beginning to be over-harvested and ask him to lay off for a year to replenish the herd. Initially resistant, after some pressure from his daughter, Jane, is exerted, he agrees. However, Cooper's villainous ranch manager Riley (Reed Hadley, who had an uncredited voice-over role in Jungle Goddess) is manipulating Cooper for his own nefarious purposes.

Suddenly a big loaf of tasteless white bread named Duke Barnum rides in. He is apparently about to stick up his first stagecoach when he is interrupted by several ranch hands from the Double C. The crime is averted but he's arrested for assault and suspicion of attempted robbery and he earns their enmity.

Two local ranchers, tomboy Terry (Mary Beth Hughes, aka 'Kitty' from I Accuse My Parents) and comic relief "Remedy" Williams get one look at Barnum and think they can reform him. They concoct transparent lies to persuade pushover Sheriff Harrison to release Barnum into their custody. Barnum supposedly becomes a ranch hand on their spread, one that doesn't, as far as we can tell, ever do any work or change his shirt.

Barnum begins spending time with Charlie Cooper's pretty daughter 'Jane' in a completely non-sexual way. He is drawn into the wild horses dispute which, under Riley's guidance, escalates to mass violence, including murder and arson.

When Cooper discovers Riley's sinister machinations through eavesdropping, Riley kills him and frames Barnum for it. Barnum is apprehended and a murder trial gets underway.

Will Barnum hang and the real murderer go unpunished? Will this be the last of the wild horses? Will you ever see a greater number of flimsy plot devices in a movie?

Warning: contains horse chases. Don't miss the thrilling climax where Riley and Barnum battle hand-to-hand in a hay loft. "You rarely see a good facial whipping", Dr. F. remarks. How true.

Information

The Episode

Host Segments

One of the few episodes with a distinct plot entirely unrelated to the movie being riffed, the host segments in this episode parody the classic Star Trek episode "Mirror, Mirror", with Tom Servo and Gypsy transported to the Mirror Universe, where Mike and the bots torment Dr. Forrester and TV's Frank with bad movies. Evil Mike and Crow also wear uniforms and play roles reminiscent of Evil Kirk and Spock from the original episode. In the normal universe, evil Tom Servo is mortified that he is being forced to watch the horrible movies, and evil Gypsy has plans to be "the Captain's Woman". Evil Tom Servo's character is reminiscent of Hikaru Sulu from the Mirror Universe.

Prologue: Mike programs Crow and Tom with regional speech patterns

Segment One: Dr. F sends a matter transference device to the SOL during an ion storm. It’s “Mirror-Mirror” time!

Segment Two: The Mirror-Mads sing “Joey the Lemur” In our universe, Crow and Mike struggle with Mirror-Servo

Segment Three: Mike and Crow plot strategy, while Mirror-Gypsy and Mirror-Servo do likewise

Segment Four: Mike and Crow consult The Alternate Universe Manual. In the mirror universe, Mirror-Crow attacks Mirror-Mike while Tom and Gypsy plot strategy

Segment Five: Everything back to more or less normal, Mike and the bots try to sort out what happened. The Mirror-Mads visit via Hexfield while a letter is read. Back in Deep 13, the Mads are enjoying their new agony booth.

Stinger: The head of the Double C ranch laughs.

Obscure References

  • "'Awakenings'!"

Awakenings was a 1990 movie starring Robert De Niro and Robin Williams.

  • "...and this right here is the Eight of Chris Lemmon!"

A reference to Jack Lemmon's son Chris.

  • "Life as a Dog: The Western Version!"

A reference to the 1985 Swedish film My Life as a Dog.


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