Hondo (film)
Encyclopedia
Hondo is a movie that was made in 1953 by 3-D
Warnercolor western film starring John Wayne
, directed by John Farrow. The screenplay is based on the 1952 short story "The Gift of Cochise" by Louis L'Amour
. The book "Hondo" was a novelization of the film also written by L'Amour, and published by Bantam Books
in 1953.
) and her six year-old son Johnny (Lee Aaker
) come upon a stranger (John Wayne
) drinking water from their river, carrying only a saddle and a rifle. The man tells them only his last name, Lane, and that he is part Apache
and was exploring Indian territory as a US Army Cavalry scout. His horse was stolen a few days earlier, and offers US Army scrip in exchange for one of her horses. Angie tells Lane that her ranch hand had quit recently and hadn't had a chance to break one of her two horses for riding, so Lane offers to break the horse himself. He also asks where her husband is, and she says he is hunting in the mountains and should be back soon.
Johnny watches with fascination as Lane takes one of the horses, and saddles and rides the bucking and untamed animal with ease. Lane also offers to do a few chores around the ranch, including sharpening an axe blade and chopping firewood. Lane deduces by the neglected work around the ranch that her husband has not been at the ranch for some time, a fact she is forced to admit. When night falls and the weather grows inclement, Angie offers to put Lane up in her home on a floor bed in the corner. Angie discovers that the butt of his rifle is inscribed to "Hondo" Lane, whom she knows as a criminal, and she pulls a pistol on him and fires it with no bullet in the chamber. Angie had left it empty so that Johnny wouldn't shoot it accidentally.
Hondo returns to his Cavalry post, leaving Angie and Johnny alone at the ranch, where he meets up with his scout sidekick Buffalo Baker (Ward Bond
) and reports to his commanding officer that the Chiricauhua Apache lodges in the area are banding together and attacking settlers. At the ranch, Angie and Johnny are beset by Apaches led by Chief Vittorio (Michael Pate
) and his right hand Silva (Rodolfo Acosta
). Angie is not made nervous by their presence as she has always let them use their water and they had never attacked them before. Soon however they are manhandling Angie, and Johnny emerges from the house with the loaded pistol and shoots at Silva, hitting and breaking his weapon. Vittorio is impressed by Johnny's bravery, and makes him an Apache blood brother by cutting Johhny's thumb with a knife and giving him an Apache name. Vittorio also wonders where Angie's husband is, and she tells him that he is to return soon. Vittorio tells her that unless her husband does so, she must take an Apache husband because the boy needed a father to guide him.
One night in a bar, Hondo gets into a fight with a man over a broken-up poker game, and beats the man out the door. He overhears someone referring to the man as "Lowe", and Hondo suspects he might be Angie's missing husband. Feeling guilty, he leaves the post to return Angie's horse back to her. Seeking revenge for the bar beating, Lowe (Leo Gordon
) and an accomplice follow Hondo through the desert as he makes his way back to Angie's ranch. Hondo camps near a river but is drawn away from it as he hears noises coming from the weeds nearby. Lowe enters the camp, and he and his friend are attacked by Apaches. The friend is killed, but Hondo shoots his rifle at an Apache about to kill Lowe. Lowe is briefly grateful, but still attempts to kill Hondo in retaliation for the bar beating, and Hondo is forced to defend himself. The man dead, Hondo searches Lowe's personal effects and finds a photo of Johnny among them, confirming that Lowe was indeed the boy's father and Angie's husband.
The gunshots have attracted the attention of Vittorio's Apache party, who chase Hondo through the desert and eventually subdue him. Vittorio takes Hondo to the top of a mesa where they tie him down and are about to torture and kill him for being an Army scout. Vittorio finds the picture of Johnny in Hondo's saddlebag, and thinking him to be Angie's husband, unties him and declares that he fight Silva for honor, as he is one of Angie's potential suitors. Hondo and Silva fight with knives, and Hondo is stabbed in the shoulder, but gets the upper hand and spares Silva for mercy. Vittorio takes Hondo to Angie's ranch, she lies to him about Hondo being her husband, and the Chief leaves them alone.
Hondo and Angie express their growing love for each other while Hondo recuperates from his wounds. He confides to her that he killed a man on his journey to the ranch, and that Angie's husband is dead, but doesn't come to a full confession. Hondo also tells Angie about how he lived with the Apache for a few years, even taking a squaw, who he says Angie reminds him of. Vittorio returns and tells them that the Army is approaching, and asks Hondo not to join them and to not tell the Army of his whereabouts. Hondo promises to do the first but not the latter, knowing that he would lose respect among the Apache if he agreed to it.
The Army, commanded by a young Lt. McKay (Tom Irish), with scouts Lennie (James Arness
) and Baker, arrive at the ranch. McKay is determined to take all the settlers in the area back to the Army post to protect them and defend the territory against Apache attacks. Lennie, a rival of Hondo's, had come across Lowe's body and tries to bribe Hondo into keeping secret his killing of Angie's husband. However, Angie overhears their discussion and Hondo is forced to confess what he did. She confesses that she didn't love her husband and had grown tired of his womanizing and gambling. The Army leaves to move further on into Apache territory and as promised Hondo refuses to go with them but lets them know where Vittorio and his party are.
The Army returns after being attacked by the Apaches, suffering heavy casualties including wounds to Lt. McKay. Vittorio has been killed, so Hondo leads the Cavalry back into the territory while the Apaches regroup and find a new chief, taking Angie and Johnny with him. The party is ambushed by the Apaches, now led by Silva, but is able to defend against the attack by circling their wagons and driving the Apaches back to their lodge and killing their chief. In the end, knowing that a larger regiment is being led into the territory to defend against the Apaches, Hondo eulogizes the end of the Apache way of life.
purchased the rights to Louis L'Amour's short story "The Gift of Cochise" in 1952, and set Wayne's friend and frequent collaborator James Edward Grant
to write the adaptation. L'Amour was given the rights to write the novelization of the film, which became a bestseller after the film's release. The film shoot was scheduled for the summer of 1953 in the Mexican desert state of Chihuahua.
Wayne and his producing partner Robert Fellows wanted to shoot the film in the trend-setting 3D format. Warner Brothers supplied the production with the newly developed "All Media Camera", which could shoot in any format, including 3-D, using twin lenses placed slightly apart to produce the stereoscopic effect necessary for it. Despite the fact that they were smaller than the twin camera process used previously for 3D, the All-Media Cameras were still bulky and made the film shoot difficult, causing delays when transporting the cameras to remote desert locations. Further, the director John Farrow
and DP Robert Burks were unfamiliar with the new technology and had trouble adjusting to using it, and the cameras were frequently broken due to wind blowing sand into the mechanism or from other inclement weather conditions. Farrow used the technology to produce fewer gimmicks than other 3D films did at the time, with only a few scenes show people or objects coming at the camera, such as gunfire or knives. Instead he preferred to use it to increase the depth of the expansive wide shots of the Mexican desert, or figures against a landscape.
The casting of Geraldine Page as the female lead was considered quite puzzling to many in Hollywood at the time. Though Hondo was not her first film, she had been known primarily as a Broadway
stage actress and employed the Method acting
style deemed too introspective for film, and especially for Westerns. However, she delivered what many consider a nuanced performance completely appropriate to her character which later garnered her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress; the award went to Donna Reed
for From Here to Eternity
.
The shoot went over schedule, and Farrow had to leave the production as he was contractually obligated to direct another movie. The final scenes featuring the Apache attack on the circled wagons of the Army and settlers were shot by John Ford
, whom Wayne had asked to finish the film; Ford was uncredited for this work.
, producing a richer sense of perspective.
The film was released on November 27, 1953. Hondo played across the country in the 3D format as it was intended using the Polaroid 3D projection system and became quite popular with audiences, eventually grossing $4.1 million and placing it sixteenth in box office for that year.
, head of Batjac Productions, in the late 1980s culminating in a 3D television broadcast of the movie in June 1991. 3D glasses were sold to viewers with proceeds going to charity.
A frame-by-frame digital restoration of the film was later completed, and the DVD of it was released on October 11, 2005.
3-D film
A 3-D film or S3D film is a motion picture that enhances the illusion of depth perception...
Warnercolor western film starring John Wayne
John Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
, directed by John Farrow. The screenplay is based on the 1952 short story "The Gift of Cochise" by Louis L'Amour
Louis L'Amour
Louis Dearborn L'Amour was an American author. His books consisted primarily of Western fiction novels , however he also wrote historical fiction , science fiction , nonfiction , as well as poetry and short-story collections. Many of his stories were made into movies...
. The book "Hondo" was a novelization of the film also written by L'Amour, and published by Bantam Books
Bantam Books
Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by Random House, the German media corporation subsidiary of Bertelsmann; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin, Jr., Sidney B. Kramer, and Ian and Betty Ballantine...
in 1953.
Plot summary
At a remote ranch in the desert of New Mexico, homesteader Angie Lowe (Geraldine PageGeraldine Page
Geraldine Sue Page was an American actress. Although she starred in at least two dozen feature films, she is primarily known for her celebrated work in the American theater...
) and her six year-old son Johnny (Lee Aaker
Lee Aaker
Lee William Aaker is a former American child actor known for his appearance as Rusty "B-Company" in the television program The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin.- Biography :...
) come upon a stranger (John Wayne
John Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
) drinking water from their river, carrying only a saddle and a rifle. The man tells them only his last name, Lane, and that he is part Apache
Apache
Apache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...
and was exploring Indian territory as a US Army Cavalry scout. His horse was stolen a few days earlier, and offers US Army scrip in exchange for one of her horses. Angie tells Lane that her ranch hand had quit recently and hadn't had a chance to break one of her two horses for riding, so Lane offers to break the horse himself. He also asks where her husband is, and she says he is hunting in the mountains and should be back soon.
Johnny watches with fascination as Lane takes one of the horses, and saddles and rides the bucking and untamed animal with ease. Lane also offers to do a few chores around the ranch, including sharpening an axe blade and chopping firewood. Lane deduces by the neglected work around the ranch that her husband has not been at the ranch for some time, a fact she is forced to admit. When night falls and the weather grows inclement, Angie offers to put Lane up in her home on a floor bed in the corner. Angie discovers that the butt of his rifle is inscribed to "Hondo" Lane, whom she knows as a criminal, and she pulls a pistol on him and fires it with no bullet in the chamber. Angie had left it empty so that Johnny wouldn't shoot it accidentally.
Hondo returns to his Cavalry post, leaving Angie and Johnny alone at the ranch, where he meets up with his scout sidekick Buffalo Baker (Ward Bond
Ward Bond
Wardell Edwin "Ward" Bond was an American film actor whose rugged appearance and easygoing charm were featured in over 200 movies and the television series Wagon Train.-Early life:...
) and reports to his commanding officer that the Chiricauhua Apache lodges in the area are banding together and attacking settlers. At the ranch, Angie and Johnny are beset by Apaches led by Chief Vittorio (Michael Pate
Michael Pate
Michael Pate was an Australian actor, writer and director.-Early life:He was born Edward John Pate in Drummoyne, Sydney...
) and his right hand Silva (Rodolfo Acosta
Rodolfo Acosta
Rodolfo Acosta was a Mexican character actor, typically playing heavies in Hollywood westerns. Acosta was also a regular as Vaquero on The High Chaparral from 1967-69...
). Angie is not made nervous by their presence as she has always let them use their water and they had never attacked them before. Soon however they are manhandling Angie, and Johnny emerges from the house with the loaded pistol and shoots at Silva, hitting and breaking his weapon. Vittorio is impressed by Johnny's bravery, and makes him an Apache blood brother by cutting Johhny's thumb with a knife and giving him an Apache name. Vittorio also wonders where Angie's husband is, and she tells him that he is to return soon. Vittorio tells her that unless her husband does so, she must take an Apache husband because the boy needed a father to guide him.
One night in a bar, Hondo gets into a fight with a man over a broken-up poker game, and beats the man out the door. He overhears someone referring to the man as "Lowe", and Hondo suspects he might be Angie's missing husband. Feeling guilty, he leaves the post to return Angie's horse back to her. Seeking revenge for the bar beating, Lowe (Leo Gordon
Leo Gordon
Leo Vincent Gordon was an American movie and television character actor as well as a screenplay writer and novelist. He specialized in playing brutish bad guys during more than forty years in film and television....
) and an accomplice follow Hondo through the desert as he makes his way back to Angie's ranch. Hondo camps near a river but is drawn away from it as he hears noises coming from the weeds nearby. Lowe enters the camp, and he and his friend are attacked by Apaches. The friend is killed, but Hondo shoots his rifle at an Apache about to kill Lowe. Lowe is briefly grateful, but still attempts to kill Hondo in retaliation for the bar beating, and Hondo is forced to defend himself. The man dead, Hondo searches Lowe's personal effects and finds a photo of Johnny among them, confirming that Lowe was indeed the boy's father and Angie's husband.
The gunshots have attracted the attention of Vittorio's Apache party, who chase Hondo through the desert and eventually subdue him. Vittorio takes Hondo to the top of a mesa where they tie him down and are about to torture and kill him for being an Army scout. Vittorio finds the picture of Johnny in Hondo's saddlebag, and thinking him to be Angie's husband, unties him and declares that he fight Silva for honor, as he is one of Angie's potential suitors. Hondo and Silva fight with knives, and Hondo is stabbed in the shoulder, but gets the upper hand and spares Silva for mercy. Vittorio takes Hondo to Angie's ranch, she lies to him about Hondo being her husband, and the Chief leaves them alone.
Hondo and Angie express their growing love for each other while Hondo recuperates from his wounds. He confides to her that he killed a man on his journey to the ranch, and that Angie's husband is dead, but doesn't come to a full confession. Hondo also tells Angie about how he lived with the Apache for a few years, even taking a squaw, who he says Angie reminds him of. Vittorio returns and tells them that the Army is approaching, and asks Hondo not to join them and to not tell the Army of his whereabouts. Hondo promises to do the first but not the latter, knowing that he would lose respect among the Apache if he agreed to it.
The Army, commanded by a young Lt. McKay (Tom Irish), with scouts Lennie (James Arness
James Arness
James King Arness was an American actor, best known for portraying Marshal Matt Dillon in the television series Gunsmoke for 20 years...
) and Baker, arrive at the ranch. McKay is determined to take all the settlers in the area back to the Army post to protect them and defend the territory against Apache attacks. Lennie, a rival of Hondo's, had come across Lowe's body and tries to bribe Hondo into keeping secret his killing of Angie's husband. However, Angie overhears their discussion and Hondo is forced to confess what he did. She confesses that she didn't love her husband and had grown tired of his womanizing and gambling. The Army leaves to move further on into Apache territory and as promised Hondo refuses to go with them but lets them know where Vittorio and his party are.
The Army returns after being attacked by the Apaches, suffering heavy casualties including wounds to Lt. McKay. Vittorio has been killed, so Hondo leads the Cavalry back into the territory while the Apaches regroup and find a new chief, taking Angie and Johnny with him. The party is ambushed by the Apaches, now led by Silva, but is able to defend against the attack by circling their wagons and driving the Apaches back to their lodge and killing their chief. In the end, knowing that a larger regiment is being led into the territory to defend against the Apaches, Hondo eulogizes the end of the Apache way of life.
Cast
- John WayneJohn WayneMarion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
as Hondo Lane - Geraldine PageGeraldine PageGeraldine Sue Page was an American actress. Although she starred in at least two dozen feature films, she is primarily known for her celebrated work in the American theater...
as Angie Lowe - Ward BondWard BondWardell Edwin "Ward" Bond was an American film actor whose rugged appearance and easygoing charm were featured in over 200 movies and the television series Wagon Train.-Early life:...
as Buffalo Baker - Michael PateMichael PateMichael Pate was an Australian actor, writer and director.-Early life:He was born Edward John Pate in Drummoyne, Sydney...
as Vittorio - Chiricahua Apache Chief - James ArnessJames ArnessJames King Arness was an American actor, best known for portraying Marshal Matt Dillon in the television series Gunsmoke for 20 years...
as Lennie - Army Indian Scout - Rodolfo AcostaRodolfo AcostaRodolfo Acosta was a Mexican character actor, typically playing heavies in Hollywood westerns. Acosta was also a regular as Vaquero on The High Chaparral from 1967-69...
as Silva - Leo GordonLeo GordonLeo Vincent Gordon was an American movie and television character actor as well as a screenplay writer and novelist. He specialized in playing brutish bad guys during more than forty years in film and television....
as Ed Lowe - Tom Irish as Lieutenant McKay
- Lee AakerLee AakerLee William Aaker is a former American child actor known for his appearance as Rusty "B-Company" in the television program The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin.- Biography :...
as Johnny Lowe - Paul FixPaul FixPaul Fix was an American film and television character actor, best known for his work in westerns. Fix appeared in more than a hundred movies and dozens of television shows over a 56-year career spanning from 1925 to 1981...
as Major Sherry - Rayford BarnesRayford BarnesRayford Barnes was an American film and TV character actor from Whitesboro, Texas who appeared in films, mainly westerns, such as Hondo, The Young Guns, The Burning Hills, The Wild Bunch, Fort Massacre, and Cahill U.S. Marshal...
as Pete - Card Player in Saloon - Frank McGrathFrank McGrathFrank McGrath was an American television actor who played the comical and optimistic cook, "Charlie Wooster", on the Western television series Wagon Train on, first, NBC and then ABC...
as Lowe's Partner - Morry Ogden as Horse Rider - Opening Scene
- Chuck RobersonChuck RobersonCharles Hugh "Chuck" Roberson was an American cowboy, actor, and stuntman. He was nicknamed "Bad Chuck" by director John Ford, for whom he worked many times, to distinguish him from "Good Chuck," stuntman Chuck Hayward. Roberson was reportedly the rowdier of the two, thus the nicknames.Roberson...
as Otawanga / Cavalry Sergeant Killed in Indian Attack - Sam as Hondo's dog
Development and Production
Wayne's newly-formed production company BatjacBatjac Productions
Batjac Productions is an independent film production company founded by John Wayne in the early 1950s as a vehicle for Wayne to produce as well as star in movies. Its first release was Big Jim McLain with Warner Brothers in 1952, and its final film was also with Warner Brothers, McQ, in 1974...
purchased the rights to Louis L'Amour's short story "The Gift of Cochise" in 1952, and set Wayne's friend and frequent collaborator James Edward Grant
James Edward Grant
James Edward Grant was an American short story writer and screenwriter who contributed to more than fifty films between 1935 and 1971....
to write the adaptation. L'Amour was given the rights to write the novelization of the film, which became a bestseller after the film's release. The film shoot was scheduled for the summer of 1953 in the Mexican desert state of Chihuahua.
Wayne and his producing partner Robert Fellows wanted to shoot the film in the trend-setting 3D format. Warner Brothers supplied the production with the newly developed "All Media Camera", which could shoot in any format, including 3-D, using twin lenses placed slightly apart to produce the stereoscopic effect necessary for it. Despite the fact that they were smaller than the twin camera process used previously for 3D, the All-Media Cameras were still bulky and made the film shoot difficult, causing delays when transporting the cameras to remote desert locations. Further, the director John Farrow
John Farrow
John Villiers Farrow, CBE was an Australian, later American, film director, producer and screenwriter. In 1957 he won the Academy Award for Best Writing / Best Screenplay for Around the World in Eighty Days and in 1942 he was nominated as Best Director for Wake Island.-Life and career:Farrow was...
and DP Robert Burks were unfamiliar with the new technology and had trouble adjusting to using it, and the cameras were frequently broken due to wind blowing sand into the mechanism or from other inclement weather conditions. Farrow used the technology to produce fewer gimmicks than other 3D films did at the time, with only a few scenes show people or objects coming at the camera, such as gunfire or knives. Instead he preferred to use it to increase the depth of the expansive wide shots of the Mexican desert, or figures against a landscape.
The casting of Geraldine Page as the female lead was considered quite puzzling to many in Hollywood at the time. Though Hondo was not her first film, she had been known primarily as a Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
stage actress and employed the Method acting
Method acting
Method acting is a phrase that loosely refers to a family of techniques used by actors to create in themselves the thoughts and emotions of their characters, so as to develop lifelike performances...
style deemed too introspective for film, and especially for Westerns. However, she delivered what many consider a nuanced performance completely appropriate to her character which later garnered her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress; the award went to Donna Reed
Donna Reed
Donna Reed was an American film and television actress.With appearances in over 40 films, Reed received the 1953 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as the tramp Lorene in the war drama From Here to Eternity. She is also noted for her role in the perennial Christmas...
for From Here to Eternity
From Here to Eternity
From Here to Eternity is a 1953 drama film directed by Fred Zinnemann and based on the novel of the same name by James Jones. It deals with the troubles of soldiers, played by Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Frank Sinatra and Ernest Borgnine stationed on Hawaii in the months leading up to the...
.
The shoot went over schedule, and Farrow had to leave the production as he was contractually obligated to direct another movie. The final scenes featuring the Apache attack on the circled wagons of the Army and settlers were shot by John Ford
John Ford
John Ford was an American film director. He was famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath...
, whom Wayne had asked to finish the film; Ford was uncredited for this work.
Theatrical Release
Ironically, despite the production troubles that came with the location shooting in 3D, the format had already started to wane in popularity by the time the film was completed. The distributing studio Warner Brothers did everything it could to promote its new 3D camera process and how it went beyond the typical gimmicks used by other popular 3D films at the time such as House of WaxHouse of Wax (1953 film)
House of Wax is a 1953 American horror film starring Vincent Price. It is a remake of Warners' Mystery of the Wax Museum without the comic relief featured in the earlier film, and was directed by André de Toth...
, producing a richer sense of perspective.
The film was released on November 27, 1953. Hondo played across the country in the 3D format as it was intended using the Polaroid 3D projection system and became quite popular with audiences, eventually grossing $4.1 million and placing it sixteenth in box office for that year.
Restoration and DVD Release
An initial restoration of Hondo was overseen by Wayne's son MichaelMichael Wayne
Michael Anthony Morrison was an American film producer and actor, and the eldest son of legendary Hollywood actor John Wayne and his first wife, Josephine Alicia Saenz.-Biography:...
, head of Batjac Productions, in the late 1980s culminating in a 3D television broadcast of the movie in June 1991. 3D glasses were sold to viewers with proceeds going to charity.
A frame-by-frame digital restoration of the film was later completed, and the DVD of it was released on October 11, 2005.