Hondo (1953)

Director:

John Farrow

Writers:

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

Release Date:

27 November 1953 (USA)

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:

Native American Attack | Knife Fight | Saloon | Cavalry | Shootout

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 | Chiricahua

Color:

Color (Warnercolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

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

Filming Locations:

Camargo, Chihuahua, Mexico

Company:

Wayne-Fellows Productions

Trivia:

Geraldine Page, a liberal actress from Broadway, was horrified by the right-wing views of John Wayne, Ward Bond, James Arness and John Farrow.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When Hondo runs up a small rise to jump on a horse, the white shirt of the person holding the horse can be seen briefly at the left.

Quotes:

Hondo Lane: Destarti. You remind me of her some.
Angie Lowe: Of an Indian girl? Was she fair?
Hondo Lane: Her hair was black as ten feet down. Did you ever see a crow's wing, how black and gleaming it is?
Angie Lowe: Yes.
Hondo Lane: That's the way her hair shined. I'd like to pay you for that rope. Ridin' dispatch, I have the right to give you a script.
Angie Lowe: You loved her?
Hondo Lane: I don't know. I needed her.
Angie Lowe: But if she was dark and I'm fair...
Hondo Lane: Why you reminded me of her?
Angie Lowe: Yes
[...]

Movie Connections:

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

"No Wonder The Apaches Call Him Enverrado, It Means Bad Tempered"

It don't get much better for western fans than a Louis L'Amour story brought to the screen by John Wayne. I'm sure when this novel came out, the Duke saw it and said this one's for me as it was his Wayne-Fellows Production company that bought it and produced it.

John Wayne must have been some sight on the big screen when Hondo came out in 3-D as originally filmed. That entrance of him walking up to Geraldine Page's small ranch must have put his large frame practically in the laps of the theater audience.

Wayne plays Hondo Lane an army scout who is part Indian himself. His horse died and he's on foot when he arrives at Page's ranch where her husband is gone and she's left with young son Lee Aaker. There's an immediate attraction between the two of them, the sexual tension fairly crackles, Page hasn't had any male companionship for a while. A bond also forms between Lee Aaker and the Duke.

For one of John Wayne's major films, Hondo has a remarkably short running time as compared to some of the epic westerns he did for John Ford. In fact Ford was slated for this film, but dropped out and John Farrow took his place. In the less than 90 minute running time for Hondo, it deals with Page's no good husband Leo Gordon and the trouble the Apaches are giving the local settlers.

Playing the head of the Apaches, Chief Vittorio, is Australian actor Michael Pate. He plays the role with dignity and strength, much like Jeff Chandler as Cochise in Broken Arrow. Indians were now being seen as three dimensional human beings on the screen, Pate's characterization certainly helped that trend along. In contrast to Pate is Rudolfo Acosta as Silva whose hate for the white man crackles on the strength. His hand to hand duel with Wayne is one of the high points of all John Wayne westerns.

Michael Pate was the only one from the original cast who made it to the short lived Hondo television series. Hondo remains the only one of two John Wayne films that got made into a television series, the other being The Cowboys. Wayne's Batjac productions did the Hondo television series with Ralph Taeger as Hondo Lane. It lasted for two seasons but got canceled when TV went through one of its periodic anti-violence kicks.

The cast included a whole bunch of John Wayne regulars like Ward Bond, James Arness, Paul Fix in addition to others mentioned. No wonder Geraldine Page fresh from the Actor's Studio in New York felt an outsider in this bunch. Reportedly she didn't get along with Wayne on the set. But I'm sure her antagonism must have softened when in her motion picture debut she got an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

Hondo is one of John Wayne's classic roles it should not be missed by any who call themselves fans of the Eternal Duke.