Hondo
1953  NR  WESTERN  1h 24min
CAST— John Wayne, Geraldine Page, Ward Bond, Michael Pate, James Arness, Rodolfo Acosta, Leo Gordon, Lee Aaker
MUSIC— Hugo W. Friedhofer, Emil Newman  DIRECTOR— John Farrow  BASED ON— The Gift of Cochise (story), by Louis L’Amour

     Another fine John Wayne Western, this time with a realistic view of the Apache. Wayne plays the title character, a loner who’s seen it all. He runs across a woman raising her son without her deadbeat husband’s support. Naturally a tentative romance begins. When Wayne’s business takes him to town the young mother is once again on her own, now dealing with Apache warriors who would either drive her off her land or force her to become the wife of a brave. When Wayne returns he claims to be her husband, thus clearing her of her predicament. Wayne clearly sees the situation from both sides of the fence. Whereas the natives do pose a threat they have been cruelly mistreated by the white man and feel forced to react aggressively. Obviously not a cowboys vs. Indians picture, this is more of a thinking man’s Western as opposed to a shoot ‘em up. Originally filmed in 3-D.
OUR RATING— ** ½