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No relation to the earlier John Ford western of the same name, The Last Outlaw was a vehicle for Paramount's up-and-coming action star Gary Cooper. The actor is cast as frontiersman Buddy Hale, who endeavors to prove that young Ward Lane (Jack Luden) is innocent of murder. He does this primarily because he's fallen in love with Ward's pretty sister Janet (Betty Jewel). But when Hale is appointed sheriff, he is obliged to track down Ward and arrest the boy, convincing Janet that Hale has betrayed her brother. It turns out that Ward was actually guilty, and that he's also the head of a vicious outlaw gang. Ultimately, Ward expires in a hail of bullets, and Hale and Janet are reunited.