Hondo

In celebration of the Duke's Birthday, I will review Hondo (1953). Entertaining if flawed, it's not one of Wayne's better films, but it does perfectly embody what Duke fans love about him.

Indian scout/gunfighter Hondo Lane (John Wayne) and his dog Sam turn up at the homestead of widow Angie Lowe (Geraldine Page), and the two strike up a flirtation. Apache war chief Vittorio (Michael Pate) is on the warpath, but he spares Angie, adopting her son Johnny (Lee Aaker) as an honorary Apache. Things grow more complicated when Hondo unknowingly kills Angie's husband (Leo Gordon). The two fake a marriage when Vittorio tries to marry Angie to one of his braves, with Hondo agonizing over how to break the news to her and Johnny.

For better and worse, Hondo is as typically "John Wayne" as a John Wayne Western can get. The Duke, of course, is the primary reason to see the film, and Hondo is a fitting summation of Wayne's persona: tough, two-fisted, independent, and naturally good, he's the prototype of the rugged, virtuous frontiersman. Added here, however, is a welcome touch of tolerance and sensitivity, absent from many of his later films. Hondo is no Ethan Edwards (or even Rooster Cogburn), but he's a fine, likeable protagonist, and certainly preferable to the boorish caricature of Andy McLaglen slop like McLintock!

Based on an early work by Louis L'Amour, Hondo is a pretty conventional genre piece with a few frills. James Edward Grant's script is well-written, with lots of funny dialogue (any scene with Hondo and Ward Bond's grizzled scout is a winner), but the film often drags (despite its 83-minute length), and its central romance never really catches fire. The movie tries to be fair in its portrayal of the Apache, but falls back on cowboys-and-injuns cliches towards the end. The well-realized Vittorio character is short-changed with an off-screen death. There's nothing terribly original here, though in such an archetypical genre as the Western, cliches aren't inherently bad.

Journeyman director John Farrow (Wake Island) does a fine job helming the picture, with beautiful location photography and well-staged action scenes. The film was originally shot in 3-D, but it isn't particularly intrusive, aside from an occasional "gimmick shot" (watch John Wayne sock the camera!). Hugo Friedhoffer and Emil Newman's score is pretty unremarkable.

John Wayne is at or near his best, playing his usual tough guy with unusual sensitivity. Geraldine Page is, unfortunately, a rather weak female lead. She's convincing enough as a self-sufficient frontier gal, but she has little chemistry with the Duke, a handicap when they spend half the film together. The ubiquitous Ward Bond (The Searchers) almost steals the show; his scenes with Wayne are undoubtedly the best in the film. Michael Pate (Major Dundee) makes Vittorio more than a typical "Redskin" caricature. A pre-Gunsmoke James Arness has a nice supporting role.

Hondo is a decent enough oater, but it's not one of the genre's best films. Still, you could do worse for an 83-minute John Wayne movie.

Now off to war!