Batjac Productions
Warner Bros. Pictures
Not part of a collection.
Hondo
Out of the gun smoke into her heart!
Army despatch rider Hondo Lane discovers a woman and her son living in the midst of warring Apaches, and he becomes their protector.
- Original title
- Hondo
- Language
- EN
- Country
- US
- Budget
- —
- Revenue
- —
CinemaSerf
Jun 24, 2022 · via TMDB
Though the premiss here is hardly original, I still found this to be one of John Wayne's better efforts. He is the eponymous army rider who happens on a remote ranch inhabited by "Angie" (Geraldine Page) and her young son "Johnny" (Lee Aaker) who appear to have been deserted by her husband. He knows that the local Mescalero Apache are disgruntled because the army have broken the truce, but cannot persuade them to leave their home. His visit to the nearby fort confirms his suspicions and after a deadly altercation with her husband on his way back to the ranch, he encounters the warring natives who - luckily for him - have taken the family under the protection of their chief "Vittorio" (Michael Pate). His death, however, changes that dynamic and now "Hondo" must reconcile his need to protect his new family with his decency towards the wronged Apache. It's short and sweet, this. There is plenty of action to keep it flowing along quickly and Page injects quite a bit of grit and determination into her character that is well complemented by a confident young Aaker. Ward Bond crops up now and again, but it's clearly just a vehicle for the star, and he does well enough.
John Chard
May 3, 2017 · via TMDB
A man oughta do what he thinks is right. Leonard Maltin proudly does the intro for the DVD special edition of Hondo, his regard for the film is obvious. Maltin, who also provides a commentary track for the film, muses on the importance of Hondo in light of the 50s tonal shift in the Western genre. A time when the Western cast off its one dimensional approach of cowboy/cavalry heroes slaughtering the enemy (Indians) purely as an entertainment medium. But is Hondo any good? And is it also worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as Delmer Daves'-Broken Arrow (Maltin again) which ushered in the 50s with a bold and poignant crack of the whip? The answer to both questions possibly depends on how much you enjoy John Wayne movies in the first place. Here The Duke, playing a half bred Indian it should be noted, is wonderfully framed amongst the Camargo, Chihuahua (Mexico) location. The plot (starting off like Shane, released the same year) follows an interesting course, requiring Hondo to ultimately protect those he has fell in for, while simultaneously understanding his enemy since his blood contains the very same. Also of interest is that Hondo has very much become a solitary man of the wilderness, so when his emotions lean towards love and fatherly instincts, it makes for a nice bit of in character confliction. Something that Wayne delivers with much conviction. Geraldine Page was Oscar nominated for her role as Angie, and rightly so as well. Strong-willed and waiting out of loyalty for her thuggish husband Ed (Leo Gordon) to return to the family home. Angie herself is conflicted by her regard for the Apache and the stirrings brought about by Hondo's considerable masculine presence. Especially when a revelation later in the piece calls for her to decide her life course. All of which gives Page the license to feed off Wayne's presence, to which it provides great interplay that makes the film a potent and intriguing character piece. Stock players such as Ward Bond and James Arness aren't given much to do, and due to the film having originally being shot in 3D, the thrusts at the screen by various weapons are more quirky than impacting. But still, backed up by a fine score from Hugo Friedhofer and containing a rousing battle laden finale (apparently filmed by John Ford as director John Farrow had been called elsewhere), Hondo is a cinematic treat for like minded individuals. It's not as important as Maltin and many others would have us believe, but that doesn't stop it being an essential watch for fans of Wayne, Page and particularly those into Westerns in general. 7/10
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
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John Wayne
Hondo Lane
Geraldine Page
Angie Lowe
Ward Bond
Buffalo Baker
Michael Pate
Vittorio
James Arness
Lennie
Rodolfo Acosta
Silva
Leo Gordon
Ed Lowe
Tom Irish
Lt. McKay
Lee Aaker
Johnny Lowe
Paul Fix
Major Sherry
Rayford Barnes
Pete
Frank McGrath
Lowes Partner (uncredited)
Chuck Roberson
Kloori / Cavalry Sergeant Killed in Indian Attack (uncredited)
Chuck Hayward
Stunt Double
Chuck Roberson
Stunt Double
John Farrow
Director
John Wayne
Producer
Andrew V. McLaglen
Unit Production Manager
Hugo Friedhofer
Original Music Composer
James Edward Grant
Screenplay
Louis L'Amour
Short Story
Louis L'Amour
Story
Across the Divide
Chance/Trail of the Apache
Louis L'Amour's The Cherokee Trail
Raiders of Tomahawk Creek
Grubstake
Unforgiven
Dances with Wolves
The Hateful Eight
Por mis pistolas
The Ox-Bow Incident
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron
The Searchers
My Darling Clementine
Legends of the Fall
Dead Man
3:10 to Yuma
Open Range
The Man from Laramie
Treasure of Silver Lake
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
How the West Was Won
Calamity Jane
The Proposition
Sutter's Gold
Adventures in Silverado
Gun Town
Fuga de la Patagonia
Hidalgo
Ulzana's Raid
Apache Gold
The Desperado Trail
Maverick
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
The Horse Soldiers
The Far Country
The Sisters Brothers
Manitou's Shoe
Wyatt Earp
One-Eyed Jacks
Rio Grande
The Man From Snowy River II
Comanche Station
River of No Return
Last of the Renegades
Nevada Smith
Love Comes Softly
The Yearling
Love Finds A Home
The Big Trail
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The Harder They Fall
The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin
Young Guns II
The Homesman
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
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A Man Called Horse
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Frontier Hellcat
Rooster Cogburn
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Rampage at Apache Wells
Carry On Cowboy
The Return of Frank James
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Navajo Joe
The Unforgiven
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Flaming Frontier
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The Shakiest Gun in the West
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Apache
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Pyramid of the Sun God
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Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson
Almost Heroes
Undead or Alive: A Zombedy
Wild East
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Tex and the Lord of the Deep
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The Young Chief Winnetou
Desert Kickboxer
Wild Gals of the Naked West
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Little Big Man
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The Sisters Brothers
Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1
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Americana
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A Million Ways to Die in the West
The Mountain Men
True History of the Kelly Gang
The Stalking Moon
100 Rifles
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Dead for a Dollar
Nov 25, 1953
Houston, Texas
Nov 26, 1953
New York City, New York
Nov 27, 1953
