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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Frank McGrath	...	Lowe's Partner (uncredited)
Morry Ogden	...	Horse Rider - Opening Scene (uncredited)
Chuck Roberson	...	Otawanga / Cavalry Sergeant Killed in Indian Attack (uncredited)

Directed by
John Farrow

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

Produced by
Robert Fellows	....	producer
John Wayne	....	producer

Original Music by
Hugo Friedhofer
Emil Newman

Cinematography by
Robert Burks
Archie Stout

Film Editing by
Ralph Dawson

Art Direction by
Alfred Ybarra

Makeup Department
Web Overlander	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Nate H. Edwards	....	production manager
Andrew V. McLaglen	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Nathan Barrager	....	assistant director (as Nate R. Barragar)
John Ford	....	second unit director (uncredited)
Cliff Lyons	....	second unit director (uncredited)

Art Department
Joe LaBella	....	property master (as Joseph La Bella)

Sound Department
Nicolás de la Rosa	....	sound

Special Effects by
Al Gonzales	....	special effects

Stunts
Chuck Hayward	....	stunt double: John Wayne (uncredited)
Fred Kennedy	....	stunts (uncredited)
Fred Krone	....	stunts (uncredited)
Cliff Lyons	....	stunts (uncredited)
Frank McGrath	....	stunts (uncredited)
Chuck Roberson	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bob Rose	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bobby Somers	....	stunts (uncredited)
Terry Wilson	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jack N. Young	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Don Christie	....	still photographer
Leonard J. South	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Carl Walker	....	wardrobe

Music Department
Emil Newman	....	musical director (uncredited)

Other crew
Sam Freedle	....	script supervisor
Philip Kieffer	....	technical advisor (as Major Philip Kieffer)
'Chema' Hernandez	....	head wrangler: Mexico (uncredited)
Rudd Weatherwax	....	dog trainer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Wayne-Fellows Productions

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1953) (USA) (theatrical)
• Critics' Choice Video (2000) (USA) (video)
• MPI Home Video (2000) (USA) (video)
• Reserva Especial (2003) (Brazil) (video)
• Warner Bros. Films (1954) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1954) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1954) (France) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1978) (USA) (TV) (network premiere)
• Paramount Home Entertainment Finland (2007) (Finland) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Video (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (2007) (Finland) (TV)

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:

In the "Married with Children" (1987) episode "Assault and Batteries," Al Bundy says that Hondo is his favorite movie of all time, and he spends the entire episode trying to watch it in peace.

Goofs:

Continuity: (At 25:00) When the Apache first appear (when Mrs. Lowe meets Vittorio for the first time), Johnny comes out to defend his mother. Silva goes to confront the boy and Johnny first tries to shoot Silva and then troughs the pistol at him. The pistol lands to the right on the ground by the pole (porch post), but then after a short scuffle, when Vittorio tells Silva to bring the boy, the pistol is laying on the porch next to where Johnny was.

Quotes:

Hondo Lane: How is he?
Buffalo Baker: He'll make out. Don't know much. Led us into an ambush. But I ain't ashamed of him nohow. Bullet holes are in the front of him.
Hondo Lane: All those youngsters from the Point are like that.
Buffalo Baker: Well, they gotta learn.
Hondo Lane: Partly they learn, partly they die. But I gotta float my stick same as you, I never saw one of 'em I had to be ashamed of.

Movie Connections:

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

HONDO (John Farrow, 1953) ***

In a bid to fight the TV menace, Hollywood sought to invent as many crowd-pulling gimmicks as possible and 3-D was one of them, albeit perhaps the most short-lived and gimmicky of all; on the other hand, concerned film stars started to seek more control over their films and this resulted in several actors setting up their own production companies. John Wayne named his Batjac and, as it turned out, he had to step in as leading man in several of his own projects. The role of HONDO was intended for Glenn Ford but he declined after his unhappy experience with director John Farrow on PLUNDER OF THE SUN (1953), another Batjac venture.

While HONDO was itself shot in the 3-D process, wisely it is used only sparingly and, as a whole, the film must certainly rank with the best Batjac put out, an intimate yet stirring portrayal of Frontier life under a cloud of brewing Apache conflict. John Wayne creates a memorably laconic character, although in retrospect, he and Geraldine Page make a most unlikely romantic pairing but the latter, who was then only known for her stage work and whose first true appearance in film this was, acquitted herself extremely well in the role of the lonely but determined homesteader woman living alone on her farm with her young kid (Lee Aaker) on Apache territory and, indeed, most surprisingly for a film of its type, walked away with a Best Supporting Actress nod at that year's Academy Awards! The film also gives notable roles to Ward Bond (as a boorish Cavalry scout), Michael Pate (as the respectful Indian Chief who takes a liking to Page's son) and James Arness as a less reliable Cavalry scout.

John Farrow handles James Edward Grant's rather talky script - whose central relationship between Wayne-Page-Aaker brings forth the inevitable SHANE comparisons which, interestingly, was released earlier that year - quite admirably and, although John Ford himself had a hand in it as a second unit director, there is a terrific battle sequence which concludes the film. HONDO was also famed pulp writer Louis L' Amour's first real brush with the cinema and many adventure/Western films would subsequently be based on his work, most notably perhaps EAST OF SUMATRA (Budd Boetticher, 1953), STRANGER ON HORSEBACK (Jacques Tourneur, 1955), HELLER IN PINK TIGHTS (George Cukor, 1960) and SHALAKO (Edward Dmytryk, 1968).