Hondo (film)

Hondo
1953 movie poster
Directed by	John Farrow
Produced by	Robert M. Fellows John Wayne
Written by	screenplay by James Edward Grant from a short story by Louis L'Amour
Starring	John Wayne Geraldine Page Ward Bond Michael Pate James Arness Leo Gordon
Music by	Hugo W. Friedhofer Emil Newman
Cinematography	Robert Burks Louis Clyde Stoumen Archie J. Stout
Editing by	Ralph Dawson
Studio	Batjac Productions
Distributed by	Warner Bros. (original) Paramount Pictures (current)
Release date(s)	November 27, 1953
Running time	84 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$3,000,000
Box office	$4,100,000

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.

Plot summary

At a remote ranch in the desert of New Mexico, homesteader Angie Lowe (Geraldine Page) 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 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 return soon.

Johnny watches with fascination as Lane saddles one of the horses and rides the bucking and untamed animal with ease. Lane also offers to do a few chores around the ranch, including sharpening an axe 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 confesses is true. When night falls and it starts to rain, Angie offers to let Lane sleep in her home on a floor bed in the corner. Angie sees that the butt of his rifle is inscribed to "Hondo" Lane, who she knows to be a criminal. She attempts to shoot him, but Honda is not hurt. She forgot that she had deliberately left the first chamber of her six-gun pistol empty to prevent Johnny from discharging it accidentally.

Hondo leaves Angie and Johnny at the ranch and returns to his Cavalry post, where he meets up with his friend Buffalo Baker (Ward Bond). He reports to his commanding officer that the Chiricahua Apache bands in the area are joining 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 Johnny'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.

A night or two later in a saloon, Hondo calls a friend from his poker game, but one of the poker party objects. He and Hondo get into a fight, and Hondo beats the man up badly, driving him out the door. Buffalo Baker tells Hondo the man called himself "Ed Lowe" (Leo Gordon), and Hondo suspects he might be Angie's missing husband. Feeling guilty, he leaves the fort to return Angie's horse to her. Seeking revenge for the bar beating, Lowe and an accomplice follow Hondo through the desert as he makes his way to Angie's ranch. Hondo camps near a river but leaves it when he detects three Indians stalking him nearby. Lowe enters the camp and he and his friend are attacked by two Indians. The friend is killed, but Hondo shoots and kills an Apache about to kill Lowe. Lowe is briefly grateful but turns his gun on Hondo in retaliation for the bar beating. Hondo defends himself, killing Lowe. Hondo finds a photo of Johnny alongside Lowe's body, confirming that Lowe is Johnny's father and Angie's husband.

Continuing towards Lowe's ranch, Hondo runs into an Apache party, who pursue Hondo through the desert. He kills several but they eventually capture him. They take Hondo to the top of a nearby mesa when Vittorio appears. They stake him out and begin to torture and prepare to kill him because he is an Army scout. An Indian shows Vittorio the picture of Johnny from Hondo's saddlebag, and Vittorio thinks Hondo is Angie's husband. He orders the Indians to untie him and declares that he must fight Silva for honor, as he is one of Angie's potential suitors. Hondo and Silva fight using knives. Silva wounds Hondo in the shoulder, but Hondo pins Silva to the ground. Hondo puts his knife to Silva's throat, but Vittorio steps forward and Hondo spares Silva's life, temporarily buying his own life in return. Vittorio takes Hondo to Angie's ranch, and when Vittorio asks if Hondo is her husband, she lies, saving Hondo. The Chief warns Hondo to raise Johnny in the Apache way and leaves them.

While Hondo recuperates from his wounds, he shows her the picture of Johnny that he tells her he took from Lowe's body. She asks if he died well, and Hondo pauses before saying that he had. Over the next few weeks, Hondo and Angie grow closer. Hondo and Angie express their growing love for each other. Hondo attempts to reveal the truth of her husband's death, but is interrupted by Vittorio's sudden appearance. Vittorio tells them that the pony soldiers will soon return. He asks Hondo not to join them and to keep the Indian's location a secret. Hondo promises to do the first but not the latter, and Vittorio shows respect for Hondo's truthfulness. Angie tells him she loves him, and they cement their relationship with a kiss.

The Army arrives at the ranch, commanded by an ambitious, inexperienced young Lt. McKay (Tom Irish) and accompanied by scouts Baker and Lennie (James Arness). McKay is determined to protect the settlers in the area by relocating them to the Army post and defend the area against Apache attacks. Lennie reveals that he discovered Lowe's body and matched the horse tracks to Hondo's horse. He wants Hondo's Winchester rifle in exchange for keeping quiet about how Hondo bushwhacked Lowe. Angie overhears Lennie's demands.

Hondo prepares to leave, but before he goes, he tells her the truth about her husband's death. Hondo is also intent on telling Johnny, but she persuades him not to, telling Hondo she didn't love her husband any longer and had grown tired of his womanizing and gambling. She says it would be an unkind thing to tell the boy about the true nature of his father's death and that the secret won't follow them to Hondo's ranch in California. Hondo responds to her emotional plea with an Indian word that seals a squaw-seeking ceremony, "Varlabania", which he tells her means "forever". The Army leaves to move further on into Apache territory and as promised Hondo refuses to go with them but confirms with Buffalo that he knows where Vittorio and his party are.

The Army returns after being ambushed by the Apaches, suffering heavy casualties including wounds to Lt. McKay. Vittorio had been killed, causing the Apaches to retreat so they can regroup and select a new chief. Hondo, Angie and Johnny join the Cavalry and settlers and head to the fort. The group is attacked by the Apaches, now led by Silva, and the group circles their wagons. They escape the encirclement twice but the Apaches continue their pursuit. Hondo loses his mount and is attacked by Silva, but Honda kills him, retrieving Lt. McKay's uniform shirt from his body. The Indians retreat again to choose a replacement chief.

Lt. McKay says that General Crook will be arriving in the territory with a large force to pursue the Apache. Hondo sadly notes the end of the Apache "way of life."

Cast

• John Wayne as Hondo Lane
• Geraldine Page as Angie Lowe
• Ward Bond as Buffalo Baker
• Michael Pate as Vittorio - Chiricahua Apache Chief
• James Arness as Lennie - Army Indian Scout
• Rodolfo Acosta as Silva
• Leo Gordon as Ed Lowe
• Tom Irish as Lieutenant McKay
• Lee Aaker as Johnny Lowe
• Paul Fix as Major Sherry
• Rayford Barnes as Pete - Card Player in Saloon
• Frank McGrath as Lowe's Partner
• Morry Ogden as Horse Rider - Opening Scene
• Chuck Roberson as Otawanga / Cavalry Sergeant Killed in Indian Attack
• Sam as Hondo's dog

Filming locations

• Camargo, Chihuahua, Mexico
• Chihuahua, Mexico
• Delle, Utah, USA
• Lonerock, Utah, USA
• Skull Valley, Utah, USA
• Snow Canyon State Park
• Tooele County, Utah, USA
• Utah, USA

Development and Production

Wayne's newly-formed production company Batjac 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.

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 Wax, 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 Michael, 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.

Notes

The script focuses on psychological descriptions and the drama of the Native Americans from New Mexico. The original book depicted the events taking place in Southeast of what is now Arizona. The action scenes and the 3D photography are also highpoints of the film.

John Farrow, the director, and Michael Pate, who played Vittorio, were both Australian. The Second Unit Director is Andrew McLaglen, who later directed the Wayne vehicles McLintock! and The Undefeated.

Film footage from Hondo was later incorporated into the opening sequence of Wayne's last film, The Shootist, to illustrate the backstory of Wayne's character.

This film marked one of the first appearances of Geraldine Page, who had been a popular stage actress.

Part of a 1988 episode of Married with Children, titled "All in the Family", has Al Bundy readying himself to watch Hondo in peace during a three-day weekend, but Peggy's family comes to visit and their ensuing problems prevent him from seeing the film, just as their antics prevented him from seeing Shane the year before. Another episode of Married With Children, the 1994 episode entitled "Assault and Batteries" has a subplot in which Al is desperate not to miss a TV airing of Hondo because, as he explains, it only airs "once every 17 years." Al does miss this airing at the end of the episode, and will have to wait until 2011 to see it again. Al holds the film in very high esteem, once claiming to Peg's family members that "your lives are meaningless compared to Hondo!"

External links

• Hondo at the Internet Movie Database
• Hondo at AllRovi
• Hondo at the TCM Movie Database
• Screenshot of Hondo