Hondo

Hondo (1953)

Runtime: 83 minutes

Directed by: John Farrow

Starring: John Wayne, Geraldine Page, Ward Bond, Michael Pate, Rodolfo Acosta

From: Warner Bros.

The reason why I watched Shane Sunday night: earlier that day I DVR'ed this movie and as I heard they share some similarities... Hondo is lesser than Shane but that's no slight-as this was still pretty good.

One similarity is that both start with a young boy on land in the middle of nowhere by a body of water, spotting a stranger walking towards him from a distance*. This boy, Johnny (played by 50's TV actor Lee Aaker, who passed away just a few months ago) also likes this mysterious new man but otherwise the two movies are different. The titular hero is a typical cowboy, one who is happy to start and finish a barroom brawl. Johnny and his mom Angie technically live on Apache land (the husband is missing) but the natives have never given them much problem. Of course, “the whites” start problems with the Apaches so eventually they act like “whooping Indians” mainly played by those who are decidedly not natives.

That said, the movie at least tries to paint them in a sympathetic light. Like I said, the movie accurately noted how it was typically dumb white people that broke peace treaties w/ the Native Americans; plus, the lead trio are all treated with some respect by the tribe and even at the end, respect is shown & the eventual loss of their way of life is noted as “a shame.” The biggest laugh for me came when Hondo noted that he was “part Indian”; that was a little absurd. Anyhow, there's enough action and intrigue in the scenic American Southwest (and Mexico) to satisfy my tastes; the exciting finale-allegedly directed by John Ford-made the brief but fun journey-this was less than 90 minutes-worth it. As expected, The Duke once again played a cowboy with little effort and Geraldine Page in her big screen debut brought the goods.

Oh, and this was filmed in 3D; one day I'd like to jump on it and see the movie in that format-it's probably a gas.

* Here, he also is accompanied by a dog, played by Pal, who most famously portrayed Lassie in the 40's and 50's; this dog is more wild and the opposite of a friend to all children. It's fate... yeah, don't watch this movie if “the dog dies” is a big problem for you.