 "Hondo with John Wayne" | 2009-09-27 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2T6KM0E0O7F4W |
| Perfect DVD sent to me by Amazon. Of course not surprised since Amazon is as close to perfect as any organization/department can achieve. The movie was outstanding. Sound, color and of course John Wayne is my hero. Althoug the DOG almost upstaged John Wayne. |
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| "Hondo was the best one yet" | 2009-09-25 |
| - Reviewed By User: A268HPM01TY2XC |
| they never play this one on the western channel so I bought it. I recommend it to those of you who are John wayne fans |
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| "Men Men" | 2009-02-04 |
| - Reviewed By margerudy |
| Wish today's actors were more "men men" as in the past years!! Only John Wayne could excel in Hondo, The Quiet Man, Hatari, for example. Must admire those like Robert Mitchum, Paul Newman, Bob Hope, etc., who were married to the same woman for many years!!! |
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 "A Fine Additon to the John Wayne Legacy" | 2008-11-16 |
| - Reviewed By jconradguest |
Thirty years after his death, John Wayne remains an enigma. Many books have been written about him, none of which I've read, and so I know little of his personal life other than he has been both praised for embodying traditional American ideals and reviled for his archconservative bigotry.
Yet he remains today perhaps this country's biggest movie star. Today's actors - Tom Hanks, Russell Crowe, Liam Neeson, Jack Nicholson - are more accomplished actors with greater range; while from Wayne's era, Clark Gable was more handsome, James Cagney more talented, Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda more eclectic. But for sheer screen charisma, I can't think of another actor from any era who brings more to the screen. Whenever Wayne is onscreen the viewer is simply compelled to watch him. Often described as ruggedly handsome, his face isn't particularly expressive. Some of his mannerisms, particularly his walk and some of his posturing, one suspects are contrived, yet a generation of men in the 40s and 50s aspired to be just like him. Heck, I knew some women in the 60s who patterned themselves after the Duke.
In Hondo, based on a Louis L'Amour novel and directed by John Farrow, Wayne plays a half-breed Apache. His sidekick is Sam, a dog as surly as Hondo. Hondo befriends Angie Lowe, a New Mexican farmwoman and mother of a young son whose husband deserts her for extended periods of time. Geraldine Page is well-cast as the "handsome" Angie, and was nominated for an Oscar for her first starring role, despite a performance that can best be described as wooden. Character actor Ward Bond and a young James Arness ably lend support.
Setting aside the rather cliché depiction of the Apache and several historical inaccuracies, Hondo can perhaps best be described as a morality play, a study of the power of lies and when, or if, it is beneficial to tell one. Hondo laments the lies the white man tells the Apache and tells Angie that the Apache language contains no word for "lie." Page's soliloquy on the subject of lies - those she endured at the tongue of her husband as well as those she told herself - near the end of the movie is a telling moment. Although delivered somewhat mechanically, the words speak for themselves.
Not ranked in the top ten best all time westerns or even one of Wayne's best films, it is still recommended viewing.
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| "Good Movie; as always Indians are made to appear as a little stupid" | 2008-10-30 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2NPU9W037AMZY |
A good movie, till the moment whites left the ranch. I have a very high respect for Apaches. But in here they, as always in the movies, behave in a stupid way. Appart from Vittorio, a great chief, the rest looks like a bunch of ragged men that attack whites with little or no strategy. They normally don't charge in the open to some hostile force but choose their grounds in a clever way.
The sad matter was, as John Wayne says in the movie, "a whole way of life was erased from earth"
It is not different from what is happening today in a lot of things.
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| "Hondo (Full Screen)" | 2008-07-14 |
| - Reviewed By User: A276M3NSIY9B82 |
For 1953 Hondo was a brutal portrayal of the West. Hondo was based on a Louis L'Amour novel, in fact, it was the first novel that L'Amour had published & was also his first property to be transformed to the silver screen. The film was directed by John Farrow (father of Mia) & shot in Mexico. The screenplay was written by James Edward Grant, Wayne's favorite screenwriter.
Hondo is a Western much in the classic vein but with an added realism that was unusual for 1953. In the opening scene we see Hondo (John Wayne) walking toward the camera, rifle in one hand, scabbard & saddlebags in the other hand. Near him is the dog, Sam, basically a wild dog who is in the company of Hondo. He happens on a ranch that has only Angie Lowe (Geraldine Page) & her son Johnny (Lee Aker). Hondo is a scout for the cavalry & is returning to to report on the state of the Apaches who are preparing for war. Hondo stays around the ranch for a short period fixing up things for her. It's obvious to Hondo that Mrs. Lowe's husband hasn't been around for a long time. She continually lies about her husband but Hondo, straigt forward & honest, tells her she's lying. Later, Hondo meets Ed Lowe (Leo Gordon) & they take an immediate disliking to one another. Later Hondo kills Lowe in self-defense. This complicates things because Hondo & Mrs. Lowe end up falling in love.
All of this is set against the backdrop of an Apache uprising & the Lowe ranch is in the middle of it. She has been on peaceful terms with them but Hondo warns her it's time for her & her son to leave. She chooses to stay. The Apache chief Vittorio (Michael Pate) is a significant role in the movie. He befriends Johnny renaming him Small Warrior. Vittorio wants Mrs. Lowe to pick one of the Apache warriors for a husband so that Johnny can be taught the Apache way. The movie features Ward Bond as Buffalo Baker, a scout like Hondo. James Arness has a small role as Lennie, another scout whom Hondo doesn't like. It all leads to the inevitable cowboy & Indian showdown.
Some of this was shot in 3D but it's a very minuscule part. The movie has an introduction by Leonard Maltin who also appears in the rest of the special features. There's a feature entitled The Making of Hondo that features interviews with Michael Pate, Lee Aaker & western historian Frank Thompson. This feature reveals that the final parts filmed of Hondo were actually directed by John Ford. There's a feature on the writer James Edward Grant. There is an interview with Michael Wayne that reveals material from the vaults of Batjac, Wayne's production company. There are a couple of other features that makes this a great value. |
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