Hondo (Full Screen)

For 1953 Hondo was a brutal portrayal of the West. Hondo was based on a Louis L'Amour novel, in fact, it was the first novel that L'Amour had published & was also his first property to be transformed to the silver screen. The film was directed by John Farrow (father of Mia) & shot in Mexico. The screenplay was written by James Edward Grant, Wayne's favorite screenwriter.

Hondo is a Western much in the classic vein but with an added realism that was unusual for 1953. In the opening scene we see Hondo (John Wayne) walking toward the camera, rifle in one hand, scabbard & saddlebags in the other hand. Near him is the dog, Sam, basically a wild dog who is in the company of Hondo. He happens on a ranch that has only Angie Lowe (Geraldine Page) & her son Johnny (Lee Aker). Hondo is a scout for the cavalry & is returning to to report on the state of the Apaches who are preparing for war. Hondo stays around the ranch for a short period fixing up things for her. It's obvious to Hondo that Mrs. Lowe's husband hasn't been around for a long time. She continually lies about her husband but Hondo, straigt forward & honest, tells her she's lying. Later, Hondo meets Ed Lowe (Leo Gordon) & they take an immediate disliking to one another. Later Hondo kills Lowe in self-defense. This complicates things because Hondo & Mrs. Lowe end up falling in love.

All of this is set against the backdrop of an Apache uprising & the Lowe ranch is in the middle of it. She has been on peaceful terms with them but Hondo warns her it's time for her & her son to leave. She chooses to stay. The Apache chief Vittorio (Michael Pate) is a significant role in the movie. He befriends Johnny renaming him Small Warrior. Vittorio wants Mrs. Lowe to pick one of the Apache warriors for a husband so that Johnny can be taught the Apache way. The movie features Ward Bond as Buffalo Baker, a scout like Hondo. James Arness has a small role as Lennie, another scout whom Hondo doesn't like. It all leads to the inevitable cowboy & Indian showdown.

Some of this was shot in 3D but it's a very minuscule part. The movie has an introduction by Leonard Maltin who also appears in the rest of the special features. There's a feature entitled The Making of Hondo that features interviews with Michael Pate, Lee Aaker & western historian Frank Thompson. This feature reveals that the final parts filmed of Hondo were actually directed by John Ford. There's a feature on the writer James Edward Grant. There is an interview with Michael Wayne that reveals material from the vaults of Batjac, Wayne's production company. There are a couple of other features that makes this a great value.

John Wayne is the best there is and always will be! A true american icon!

This was one of Louie L'Amour's best stories and one of John Wayne's best films, probably his best in the decade following WWII. The screenplay closely parallels the novel, with much of the movie dialogue identical. Great Westerns like Hondo, Shane, and Lonesome Dove seem to trust the novelist. Because the medias are different, a movie may delete great swaths of narrative, but the good ones seem to stick to the plotline and characterization.

Because the screenplay creatively follows the novel, Hondo is more complex and subtle than many Westerns. As in the book, the movie portrays the Apache culture with an understanding that was rare in the middle of the last century. The Special Features and commentary are informative and entertaining.

This is a great story, with a great cast at the top of their form. You should definitely have Hondo in your film library.
The Shut Mouth Society
The Shopkeeper

This gorgeous little movie is one of the few Wayne ever did where the
story stays true to the Western genre and doesn't insult your intelligence
at the same time. (seeBig Jake for an example of the opposite.)
What makes this better is the complexity of the character and the sympathy
with which the Apache are portrayed-that was a rarity back then. There is also a wholly enjoyable relationship between Hondo and 'his' dog that culminates in one of the most shocking scenes ever in a western.

Lynn Hoffman, author ofbang BANG: A Novel

This had been among one of the least seen of Wayne's best films because it had been locked away for a decade and a half. I remember the "Married With Children" episode when Al wanted to catch a rare showing of this movie and, of course, his desires were thwarted. Now you can see it any time you wish on this really good DVD. The extras provide a good commentary on the film, some shorts on the making of the film and on Ward Bond.

The film has a couple of really different aspects to it. The most famous is that it was made in 3D, which was a big fad the year it was made. This version of 3D was more sophisticated than the red-green glasses we get every now and again today, but I have never experienced this technology and have no idea what it is like. For this film, very few people have seen it in 3D because it was only shown that way for the first week or two it was in very limited release. The rest of the world saw it as it is presented on this DVD, in beautifully presented 2D. One of the reasons this 3D film still works so well in 2D is that despite all the problems of filming in 3D (and they are explained in the extras), Farrow and Wayne only have a couple of concessions to the usually 3D gimmickry (the titles, the knife fight coming right at the camera, an arrow being shot, and maybe a couple of others). Most of the time the extras explain that they used 3D to add depth to the shots which still work well when flattened.

The other odd part of Hondo is casting Geraldine Page as the female lead. She isn't particularly beautiful and in some way this makes her more believable. We learn some things about her from the other cast members that add to the strangeness. Apparently, she went to great lengths to stay in character including not bathing or brushing her teeth. She was also very liberal and appalled by the conservative views of John Wayne and Ward Bond. All this aside, what gets on the screen is very good and quite convincing. That she was nominated for an Oscar(tm) for this role does seem a bit odd today, but not completely crazy.

The story is set in Apache lands when the whites have yet again broken a treaty and the Indians are pushing back. Hondo (Wayne) walks into Angie Lowe's (Page) ranch where she lives alone with her son, Johnny (Lee Aaker). She won't leave her ranch even though the Army is evacuating all whites living in the Apache lands because too many are being killed. She claims her husband will return soon, but Hondo is suspicious. In return for a horse, Hondo does many domestic chores that need doing around the ranch. One of the more famous scenes is his teaching Johnny how to swim and then finds out Angie can't swim either. He and Angie quickly develop a strong affection, but she is married after all so he leaves and heads into town to report to the military. He meets Angie's husband in the local saloon and learns that he is not what Angie portrayed him to be. In fact, he has betrayed and abandoned her and is an all around bad individual. Wayne's friend, Ward Bond, also has a very good role in the film as Buffalo Baker.

I won't bother explaining how the plot develops, but there is a lot of interesting action with surprisingly sensitive plot developments. The Indians are presented very sensitively for 1953 and we sympathize with them (except when they are after Hondo). Their chief, Vittorio, is played quite convincingly by the Australian actor, Michael Pate. The key action sequences at the end were, we learn from the extras, directed by John Ford and they are quite good. This is a very good Waynestern and you should see it. And if you have seen it recently, well, find an excuse to enjoy it again!

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI