Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
John Wayne | ... | Col. John Henry Thomas | |
Rock Hudson | ... | Col. James Langdon | |
Antonio Aguilar | ... | Gen. Rojas (as Tony Aguilar) | |
Roman Gabriel | ... | Blue Boy | |
Marian McCargo | ... | Ann | |
Lee Meriwether | ... | Margaret | |
Merlin Olsen | ... | Little George | |
Melissa Newman | ... | Charlotte | |
Bruce Cabot | ... | Confederate Sgt. Jeff Newby | |
Jan-Michael Vincent | ... | Bubba Wilkes (as Michael Vincent) | |
Ben Johnson | ... | Short Grub | |
Edward Faulkner | ... | Anderson | |
Harry Carey Jr. | ... | Webster | |
Paul Fix | ... | Gen. Joe Masters | |
Royal Dano | ... | Maj. Sanders |
After the Civil War, ex-Union Colonel John Henry Thomas and ex-Confederate Colonel James Langdon are leading two disparate groups of people through strife-torn Mexico. John Henry and company are bringing horses to the unpopular Mexican government for $35 a head while Langdon is leading a contingent of displaced southerners, who are looking for a new life in Mexico after losing their property to carpetbaggers. The two men are eventually forced to mend their differences in order to fight off both bandits and revolutionaries, as they try to lead their friends and kin to safety. Written by Alfred Jingle
"The Undefeated" is one of the finest of John Wayne's later westerns, "True Grit" excepted and taking into consideration that "Big Jake" is nothing to slouch at.
"The Undefeated" is the Duke's biggest large-scale epic since "The Alamo" a decade earlier. The battle scenes and the shots of the horse drive are stirring and impressive.
Another thing that separates this film from other post-1965 Wayne westerns (except for "The Cowboys") is the dialog. It's sharp, crisp, witty and often fun.
Here's a good example of that sharp, witty & pointed dialogue: Duke and co-star Rock Hudson had just returned to their camp after being forced to kill a Mexican bandit leader, who, with his gang wanted Rock & Duke's valuables, their horses and their women. When one of the women asks the Duke why he had to kill him, he replied matter of factly, "The conversation sorta dried up." Classic stuff!
And Hugo Montenegro's memorable score is terrific - the best work I personally have heard from him. It helps perpetuate the whole notion that this is indeed an epic western.
I'm amused at some of the wanna-be Rex Reed's here, the "I am a critic so I can't really, actually, truthfully admit that I loved something like this" with their "ho hum, it's passable, I guess"; and their "it's an okay time killer if you've got nothing better to do." How too, too cool. Give me a break, you elitist wanna-be's!
"The Undefeated" is long on length and even longer on entertainment. This is a grand western.