Hondo (1953)

Director:

John Farrow

Writers:

Louis L'Amour (short story "The Gift of Cochise")
James Edward Grant (screenplay)

Release Date:

5 April 1954 (UK)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Romance | Western

Tagline:

...They called him 'HONDO'

Plot:

Army despatch rider Hondo Lane discovers a woman and her son living in the midst of warring Apaches, and he becomes their protector.

Plot Keywords:

Apache | Cavalry | Swimming | Torture | 1870s

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars.

Cast

John Wayne	...	Hondo Lane
Geraldine Page	...	Angie Lowe
Ward Bond	...	Buffalo Baker
Michael Pate	...	Vittorio - Chiricahua Apache Chief
James Arness	...	Lennie - Army Indian Scout
Rodolfo Acosta	...	Silva
Leo Gordon	...	Ed Lowe
Tom Irish	...	Lieutenant McKay
Lee Aaker	...	Johnny Lowe
Paul Fix	...	Major Sherry
Rayford Barnes	...	Pete - Card Player in Saloon

Also Known As:

They Called Him Hondo (USA) (pre-release title)

Runtime:

83 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Athapascan languages

Color:

Color (Warnercolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Norway:16 | Australia:M | West Germany:12 (nf) | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #16575) | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Camargo, Chihuahua, Mexico

Company:

Wayne-Fellows Productions

Trivia:

According to TCM, John Wayne won the well-trained dog Sam from his owner/trainer in a poker game after the movie wrapped.

Goofs:

Continuity: The Apaches throw Hondo down in the mud when they return him to Mrs. Lowe's ranch. Mrs. Lowe takes Hondo inside and seats him in a chair. The back of the chair is already wet and mud-stained before Hondo sits down in it.

Quotes:

Angie Lowe: I love you. I suppose I shouldn't have said that with my husband dead so short a time.
Hondo Lane: I don't guess people's hearts got anything to do with a calendar.
Angie Lowe: You were so wonderful, refusing to lie for Vittorio.
Hondo Lane: Oh, he was testing me. Indians hate lies. And I guess I got to feelin' the same way, but once in awhile a fella's got to lie if it'll make it easier on someone else.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Married with Children: All in the Family (#2.22)" (1988)

They took Louis L'Amour's best novel and turned it into a quite good, enjoyable Western

I always have enjoyed this movie, but have never placed it among the very best Westerns, and I could never figure out why. I think countryway_48864 is on the money: John Wayne's Hondo is a different kind of character, not a Thomas Dunson or Ethan Edwards.

I also always have wished that Fellows and Wayne and James Edward Grant, the screenwriter, had included some of the little, authentic touches from the novel that filled out the character of Hondo: his wearing Apache moccasins, for example (see the scene of Paul Newman lacing them up in "Hombre," if you want to know what real Apache mocs looked like), and teaching Johnny to know whether the man he is trailing is white or Indian, just by his footwear and the way he walks. The omissions are not fatal, but I still wish they had.