Unconquered (1947)

Intrepid frontiersman Chris Holden foils the political and personal ambitions of renegade Martin Garth in the Ohio Valley following the French and Indian War.

Director:

Cecil B. DeMille (as Cecil B. De Mille)

Writers:

Charles Bennett (screenplay), Fredric M. Frank (screenplay)

Stars:

Gary Cooper, Paulette Goddard, Howard Da Silva

Nominated for 1 Oscar.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gary Cooper	...	Captain Christopher Holden
Paulette Goddard	...	Abby
Howard Da Silva	...	Garth (as Howard da Silva)
Boris Karloff	...	Guyasuta - Chief of the Senecas
Cecil Kellaway	...	Jeremy Love
Ward Bond	...	John Fraser
Virginia Campbell	...	Mrs. John Fraser
Katherine DeMille	...	Hannah
Henry Wilcoxon	...	Captain Steele
C. Aubrey Smith	...	Lord Chief Justice (as Sir C. Aubrey Smith)
Victor Varconi	...	Captain Simeon Ecuyer
Virginia Grey	...	Diana
Mike Mazurki	...	Bone
Porter Hall	...	Leach
Richard Gaines	...	Colonel George Washington

Storyline

In 1763, felon Abby Hale is sentenced to slavery in America. In Virginia, heroic Capt. Holden buys her, intending to free her, but villain Garth foils this plan, and Abby toils at Dave Bone's tavern. Garth is fomenting an Indian uprising to clear the wilderness of settlers, giving him a monopoly of the fur trade. Holden discovers Garth's treachery, but cannot prove anything against him. Can Holden and Abby save Fort Pitt from the Senecas? Many hairbreadth escapes.

---

Plot Keywords:

ohio valley | renegade | frontiersman | fort | 18th century | 

---

Taglines:

Crimson-haired slave girl . . . desired by a man of destiny! Together they shared the thrills of the most daring spectacle De Mille ever filmed !

---

Genres:

Adventure | Drama | History | Romance | Western

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 October 1947 (USA)

Also Known As:

Die Unbesiegten

Filming Locations:

Conejo Grade, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

146 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film went $394,000 over budget.

---

Goofs

During the waterfalls chase scene, after their fall from the canoe, Abby and Chris make their way towards safety. Abby is wearing hard green and white dress shoes, but moments later she is wearing soft dark gray moccasins.

---

Quotes

Lord Chief Justice: Slavery in the colonies or the gallows here? Speak up, girl! Which is it to be?
Abigail 'Abby' Martha Hale: [Resignedly] Slavery, My Lord.

---

Connections

Featured in Cecil B. DeMille: American Epic (2004)

---

Soundtracks

Wha Saw the 42nd
Traditional march
[Played when the 42nd Soldiers are marching into Fort Pitt.]

User Reviews

The Perils of Paulette...

I must confess I really like Cecil B. DeMille's pseudo historical epics. They are as fascinating to watch as a head on collision between two (2) trains and about as subtle. So lets get this clear if your looking for any sort of historical accuracy, LOOK ELSEWHERE! For hand-wringing political correctness BEGONE! The Colonial Settlers are good, the Indians bad and the British are incompetent, thats it. If you are expecting dialog by way of Hamlet thats not going to be here either. Like Harrison Ford said about George Lucas, "You can write dialog like that, but we can't say it".

The fun of this film is to watch it unfold in all it's glorious Three (3) Strip Technicolor and follow the adventures of Paulette Goddard with Gary Cooper as they move from one (1) set piece to another. For thats what this film is as series of set pieces. Or as what some critics of DeMille felt, he did not make motion pictures but moving paintings, though very entertaining ones.

"The Perils of Paulette" is what the critics referred to this picture upon its original release. I think very few actresses were put upon more then she was in this movie. She was bound (chains, rope or leather), almost whipped, almost burned at the stake, almost drowned going over a waterfall, almost raped, etc. If this had been a pre-code film I am sure we would have seen something like the excesses in 'THE SIGN OF THE CROSS'! It would have been interesting to see what ended up on the cutting room floor that could not make it past the censors. Supposedly during filming she blew up and walked off the set until DeMille could bring things down to an acting (or pain tolerance) level, referring to DeMille as a SADIST! DeMille liked troopers such as Barbara Stanwyck and did not forget this. When Paulette wanted the role of 'Delilah' DeMille told her to take two (2) drop dead pills and effectively ended her career. When the 'UNCONQUERED' was finished CB issued gold medallions to those he felt were real troopers. Boris Karloff got one (1) and the drummer boy (for not flinching when a ball of fire bounces off his drum), not Paulette.

When you watch a Cecil B. DeMille film the important thing is not to take it seriously and just enjoy the ride. There are alway some neat things that you can pick up. Though he plays fast and loose with history (most directors do to this day; Michael Moore, Oliver Stone) he gets a lot of details right. The firearms, swords, uniforms even the shape of the British star fort are all right on. There is also excellent attention to detail on the day to day life of this period of history. He did build his films from the ground up and if did not convey historical accuracy gave a good imitation. Sort of a 1940's version of virtual reality. It looks great but is not all there.