MovieChat Forums > The Last Sunset (1961) Discussion > So who was really the father?

So who was really the father?

posted 17 years ago by ajimenezp
17 replies | jump to latest

Warning, spoilers ahead!!

So who was really Melissa's father, O'Malley (Kirk Douglas) or John Breckenridge (Joseph Cotten)?
When near the end of the movie Belle tells O'Malley that he himself is the father of Melissa, did you believe her? Is it true or maybe she just wants O'Malley to keep his hands off Melissa?
If it were true, since Melissa is 16 now, and her mother Belle was also 16 the night of the ball (when he tore her yellow dress), Belle should be around 32 at the moment in which she tells O'Malley that he is the father. And, though gorgeous, Dorothy Mallone seems much older than 32 in the movie.
What do you think?

Cheers

[–] Filthy_Finn 17 years ago

Well i just finished watching this movie, and can't really decide what to believe. Why didn't Belle tell the truth to O'Malley earlier if she knew he would run away or be hanged? At least she seemed honest when revealing the truth to O'Malley. O'Malley was also sure, that he would knew his daughter if they ever met. Maybe he finally realized how much they looked a-like when he met her on that pier...

I found the ending really frustrating.

[–] jkorpela 17 years ago

Ignorance can be frustrating, but the really frustrating thing in this movie is that it has elements of true tragedy, even in the classical sense, but they have been spoiled. There are big holes in the plot and in the course of events, incredible turns, and some poor acting.

[–] wtl471629 17 years ago

I'm not sure who the real father was. The movie seemed to end without revealing that true conclusion.

[–] Tapestry6 16 years ago

Dorothy Malone was 36 and Carole was 20 when the movie was made.
I think she was telling the truth.. Carole has Kirks' eyes ;-)

[–] tentender 16 years ago

Malone's playing of the scene where Douglas keeps repeating "Tell me you're lying" would seem to be leading us to believe that she is, in fact, lying. However, if one looks at how the plot turns out, convention would indicate that Douglas sacrifices himself because (a) he is Lynley's father and (b) it would, very possibly, ruin her life to learn this fact. This is why he so gently and lovingly prepares her for his eventual (and, as he knows, imminent) death, telling her that when he dies she will (and must) find someone else to love. So perhaps the Malone scene is badly played? or is a red herring. In any case, it does leave some (I think unintended) ambiguity.

[–] Tsiakkos 13 years ago

You can't tell who the father is because you think too much. Older movies were directed to audience that didn't like to complicate things too much. It was clear that O'Malley was the father. His face after she slaps Mell tells it all. He realizes that Melissa is his daughter and he was about ready to make her his wife earlier.

[–] AssetsonFire 13 years ago

It's obviously possible to read it either way, but there was nothing to suggest any ambiguity on Belle's part. The age of the actress has nothing to do with it. If it had been 20 years since they were together then obviously an issue would've been made of it.

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] beardouk 13 years ago

A 36-year old playing a 33-year old seems more possible than a 19-year old playing an 'almost' 16-year old.

Living as a rachers wife ought to age a person, surely ?

[–] KobiyashiMauru 11 years ago

When Bren and Melissa had that tongue and backwash action I busted out laughing.

[–] pt100 11 years ago

I thought both actresses looked age-appropriate. Lynley had short hair here, which also makes her look younger.

[–] den09 10 years ago

The opening shot with Douglas grinning at the 'Happy Mexicans' involved in cock fighting should tell you a lot about this movie.

[–] pt100 10 years ago

What does that have to do with this thread or my post?

[–] den09 10 years ago

Sorry I'm afraid my reply appears to have emerged accidently within a thread I was not intending to comment upon. I was replying to a thread relating to realism.

[–] Alfriend 10 years ago

She wasn't lying IMHO. O'Malley gets so angry for the exact reason that Belle says, "You know it's true" and that Missy is 16 and that's how long they were apart.
O'Malley essentially kills himself by going to the gunfight with no bullets because the night before he had slept with her. He feels he's done the unspeakable (also why he was so angry) and his only recourse is to let himself die with Missy believing he loved her and never knowing the truth that could have destroyed her too. The film could have been Weinreb a bit better, but the storyline is powerful, right out of the old Greek tragedies,
Just my two cents with some fact from kirk's auto-bio, where he talks about his character being the father.

[–] hammer4 9 years ago

I think the last poster summed things up well. O'Malley was the father. It's apparent that he was drawn to Melissa because in addition to her reminding him of Belle, she also exhibited some of O'Malley's own qualities.

The ending was tragic.

[–] pullgees 7 years ago

When Belle became aware there was an attraction between her daughter and O'Mally she should have told her daughter the truth to avoid the affair going any further. Any mother would have done that. Of course without that shock revelation near the end, of which the whole story hinges on, the movie would not have existed. It was all a bit fanciful and made it a rather silly western.