Hondo (1953)

I love a good western and actors like John Wayne personify the western genre. Hondo Lane played by superstar John Wayne at the age of 44 is a lone cowboy travelling with what Hondo calls Sam, his independent dog who has a prominent scar running across his face and down the bridge of his snout. Most likely from fighting off a cougar or a bear. After surviving an attack by Apache Indians Hondo walks a few miles after losing his horse in the battle with the Apaches to the farm house of Mrs. Angie Lowe (played superbly by stage actress Geraldine Page in her first on screen performance). There Hondo is provided food, water, shelter and also provided with an opportunity to break a wild horse that Mrs. Lowe's absent husband has not yet broken.The film focuses on the rugged Hondo who although he remains very independent, Hondo admits to Mrs. Lowe that he had spent five (5) years living with an Apache tribe and taking on a squaw Indian as his partner, not as his love interest. Now Angie has a ten (10) year old son named Johnny (Lee Aaker) who is desperate for a male figure in his life with his father nowhere to be seen so young Johnny looks up to the rugged Hondo who teaches Johnny very quickly to be wary of his independent dog Sam who will not hesitate to bite Johnny if he gets too close, and he also shares with Johnny very quickly the tricks to fishing and swimming.There is an also excellent cast of supporting characters such as the army Indian scout Buffalo Baker (Ward Bond of the subsequent 1957 TV's Wagon Train series), Major Sherry (Paul Fix of 1958 TV's Rifleman series), Apache Chief Vittorio (Michael Pate), Apache hothead Silva (Rodolfo Acosta) who hates Hondo and wants to kill him, a mean spirited army Indian scout named Lennie (James Arness of the subsequent 1955 TV's Gunsmoke fame), and the well known hulking character actor Leo Gordon who usually plays the villain plays Angie's absentee no good husband Ed Lowe, who actually has abandoned his wife Angie and his 10 year old son Johnny. This strong supporting cast along with lead actors John Wayne and Geraldine Page provide an endless supply of great characters who are attempting to survive and thrive on land previously dominated by the various tribes of the Apache nation.Yes, there are plenty of fights between the cowboys and Apache's, and a few fights between the cowboys themselves, but what makes this another great John Wayne western are the complex personalities of Hondo Lane, Angie Lowe and Apache chief Vittorio. The scenery of the western plains is grand and director John Farrow utilizes his backdrop to the viewers benefit making us believe we are definitely on the wide open expansive spaces with sandy steep hills that the horsemen do not have the easiest time travelling over as the chases between the cowboys, cavalry and Apaches are harrowing to say the least.This film does not use romantic songs to pull us in, nor does it use excessive violence, instead director John Farrow relies on the strong performances between his two main stars Angie Lowe and Hondo Lane. Geraldine Page and John Wayne were excellent star crossed lovers who overcome early settlers adversity and the Apaches and we are provided with a sense of relief that they survive multiple Apache war raids in the open prairies and that Johnny learns to become a man with the support of a strong male figure who will remain in his life, Hondo Lane and he will be proud to call Johnny his son.I give this western classic Hondo, a very good 8 out of 10 rating.

What I liked most about HONDO is the film's simplicity. It's this simple story set in a big, sprawling and rugged landscape in which the vistas are almost characters in themselves. The story is classically simple, about a woman and her boy trying to survive in a hostile landscape which is constantly under threat of Apache attack. Into this world comes the larger-than-life John Wayne, complete with his lovable dog companion, and he makes everything right again.HONDO is as simple as that and the end result is pure cinema. As a western, this is a great success, full of quality action scenes that build to a wildly impressive climax. Geraldine Page is fine as the put-upon mother and the kid actor isn't annoying for a change, but really this is Wayne's film and he knows it. He has it all here: the drawl, the swagger, and the endless and natural charisma. Ward Bond and James Arness play in support.

. . . of that 1953 John Wayne outing, and is about 10 seconds short of 20 minutes. It is lumped together on the disc menu with two other documentary shorts (PROFILE: JAMES EDWARD GRANT--about HONDO's screenwriter--and THE JOHN WAYNE STOCK COMPANY: WARD BOND, about the actor who plays "Buffalo Baker" in HONDO and participated on-screen in 23 of John Wayne's films). The three items actually are SEPARATE, self-contained things of uneven quality, best addressed and rated individually. THE MAKING OF HONDO itself features two cast members who lived to see the Turn of the 21st Century, "Indian Chief" Vittorio (Michael Pate) and his "Small Warrior" Blood Brother (or Blood Son) Johnny (Lee Aaker). Leonard Maltin introduces THE MAKING OF HONDO, which includes comments from a couple of other film historians, as well. It's alleged here that John Wayne only spoke six words of Spanish, which I suppose makes sense, given that all three of his "beards" or "wives" were Spanish, and why should he wish to converse with THEM? THE MAKING OF HONDO also informs us that the drawn-out (if not tedious) "Circle and Wagons!" and "Re-Circle the Wagons!!" and "Re-Recircle the Wagons!!!" scenes which close HONDO were shot by Oscar glutton John Ford, as HONDO's original director John Farrow tired of Circling the Wagons!

One of the final 3D films of the "golden era" of cinematic 3D, "Hondo" is a Western starring John Wayne in the title role. Hondo is an Army dispatch in the Southwest who comes upon a woman and her boy living on a neglected ranch in the wilderness amidst warring Chiricahua Apaches, led by Chief Vittorio (Michael Pate). Why did the woman's husband leave them? Will he ever come back? Why don't the Apaches massacre the mother & son like they do scores of other white settlers? Will she and Hondo fall in love? Wayne was 45 when the film was shot and was still lean and mean. Geraldine Page is effective as the woman because she lacked typical Hollywood starlet looks and has a sweet feminine spirit. Their relationship arc is well done. Leo Gordon appears as her delinquent husband. Gordon co-starred in "Gun fury" with Rock Hudson, which was released the same year and is arguably the better film.What's most interesting about "Hondo" is the significant role the Apaches play in the story and the amount of screen time Vittorio and his subordinate have. With old Westerns like this, this can be either good or bad depending on how authentic the Natives are depicted, but I was somewhat impressed with their portrayal here, especially for a Western from the early 50s. They appear as wild and potentially dangerous, but to some degree noble. I say "some degree" because the story reveals that they've massacred hundreds of white settlers, which – no matter how you slice it – definitely ISN'T noble. Nevertheless, the movie refuses to paint the Indians as all bad. In fact, Hondo has Native blood running through his veins and laments the passing of free-roaming Indians at the end (if they were able to learn to live-and-let-live with the settlers they would've never been put on reservations).On the downside, certain aspects of the storytelling don't flow well and strike me as boring, which is the case with a lot of old Westerns. On top of this, what happens to Hondo's faithful (but kinda mean) dog is unforgivable. But the two leads, the prominent role of the Apaches, their wild depiction and the magnificent Southwest locations (shot in Chihuahua, Mexico, and Utah) make "Hondo" rewarding.The film is short and sweet at only 83 minutes.GRADE: B-