Unconquered (1947) User Reviews

The Perils of Paulette...

[xerses13 · 6/10 · 15 February 2006]

I must confess I really like Cecil B. DeMille's pseudo historical epics. They are as fascinating to watch as a head on collision between two (2) trains and about as subtle. So lets get this clear if your looking for any sort of historical accuracy, LOOK ELSEWHERE! For hand-wringing political correctness BEGONE! The Colonial Settlers are good, the Indians bad and the British are incompetent, thats it. If you are expecting dialog by way of Hamlet thats not going to be here either. Like Harrison Ford said about George Lucas, "You can write dialog like that, but we can't say it".

The fun of this film is to watch it unfold in all it's glorious Three (3) Strip Technicolor and follow the adventures of Paulette Goddard with Gary Cooper as they move from one (1) set piece to another. For thats what this film is as series of set pieces. Or as what some critics of DeMille felt, he did not make motion pictures but moving paintings, though very entertaining ones.

"The Perils of Paulette" is what the critics referred to this picture upon its original release. I think very few actresses were put upon more then she was in this movie. She was bound (chains, rope or leather), almost whipped, almost burned at the stake, almost drowned going over a waterfall, almost raped, etc. If this had been a pre-code film I am sure we would have seen something like the excesses in 'THE SIGN OF THE CROSS'! It would have been interesting to see what ended up on the cutting room floor that could not make it past the censors. Supposedly during filming she blew up and walked off the set until DeMille could bring things down to an acting (or pain tolerance) level, referring to DeMille as a SADIST! DeMille liked troopers such as Barbara Stanwyck and did not forget this. When Paulette wanted the role of 'Delilah' DeMille told her to take two (2) drop dead pills and effectively ended her career. When the 'UNCONQUERED' was finished CB issued gold medallions to those he felt were real troopers. Boris Karloff got one (1) and the drummer boy (for not flinching when a ball of fire bounces off his drum), not Paulette.

When you watch a Cecil B. DeMille film the important thing is not to take it seriously and just enjoy the ride. There are alway some neat things that you can pick up. Though he plays fast and loose with history (most directors do to this day; Michael Moore, Oliver Stone) he gets a lot of details right. The firearms, swords, uniforms even the shape of the British star fort are all right on. There is also excellent attention to detail on the day to day life of this period of history. He did build his films from the ground up and if did not convey historical accuracy gave a good imitation. Sort of a 1940's version of virtual reality. It looks great but is not all there.

DeMille at his most entertaining with strong cast and good script...

[Doylenf · 7/10 · 25 July 2010]

UNCONQUERED is eye candy with its glorious Technicolor scenery and elaborate sets (a mixture of real location photography and painted backgrounds) and, as is typical of any Cecil B. DeMille epic, it's got a splendid cast and a lengthy running time to tell its frontier story of early America--the colonists vs. the Indians.

PAULETTE GODDARD is sold into indentured slavery and two men fight over her--GARY COOPER and HOWARD DA SILVA. That's the basic nub of the story, all events leading up to who will win the girl as Goddard and Cooper go through a series of wild adventures with Indians on their track as Cooper attempts to rescue her from Da Silva's attempt to keep her as his own property. There's even a thrilling escape from the Indians across the rapids and a wildly implausible stunt over the falls pulled by Cooper that is impressive despite being incredibly over-the-top.

There are several well-staged battle scenes with various forts being attacked by the redskins and each segment has a "cast of thousands" look that makes it clear no expense was spared to bring all the excitement to the screen.

Paulette's character undergoes a "Perils of Pauline" type of narrow escapes, each more implausible than the one before, but who cares when it's all served up by DeMille with sufficient amount of tension and daring.

Both stars are in fine form and deliver good performances, ably supported by a fine supporting cast of players including HENRY WILCOXON, C. AUBREY SMITH, KATHERINE DeMILLE, WARD BOND and CECIL KELLAWAY.

One of DeMille's better epics, well worth viewing for fun and adventure with lavish attention to detailed costumes and settings.

The traditional view of Colonial America

[sbox · 8/10 · 8 October 1998]

If you hate political correctness, you may love, "Unconquered." This film, from 1947, doesn't have the contemporarily familiar themes of evil settlers, or land thieves. In fact, the Indians are the bad guys in this one. The Indians, aided by a corrupt Englishman, have decided to wipe out white settlers in a race war. Gary Cooper is quick to the rescue. All the while he attempts to regain his bond slave, escape the gallows for treason, and fight his nemesis who happens to be the Indians' best friend. This is a strong film.

Cooper And Goddard Take a Walk in the Woods and Go Over the Falls

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 3 May 2006]

Unconquered is a milestone in the career of Gary Cooper. It was the last of four films he did for Cecil B. DeMille and his last featured role during his stay with the Paramount studio. I'd have to say that Coop went out with an expensive bang.

The film illustrates both the strengths and weaknesses of a DeMille project. The color photography by Ray Rennahan is first rate, the eye for historical detail about the colonial period in terms of costumes and sets superb. The spectacle is only as DeMille could create it. Yet he could make such an elementary mistake by having the Seneca Indians pursue Gary Cooper on horseback. It was only the plains Indian tribes west of the Mississippi that used horses. But the public wanted to see Indians on horses, they were used to seeing Indians on horses. So DeMille gave them what they wanted.

DeMille himself in his autobiography confessed that he was not satisfied with the showdown of hero Gary Cooper and chief villain Howard DaSilva. He felt it was anti-climatic. I wish he had done it a bit better myself.

The film is based on a historical novel The Judas Tree by Neil Swanson who also wrote Allegany Uprising about the same colonial period. The story takes place with the background of the uprising by Pontiac who was trying to unite all the Indian tribes and keep the whites on the east side of the Appalachian mountains.

Paulette Goddard is a woman condemned to the gallows in London and is given a choice to go to the colonies as a bond servant. Of course she takes it and catches the eye of both Cooper and DaSilva. That's a common DeMille characteristic in his films, two men in heat over the leading lady.

DaSilva is a trader with the Indians and his reasons for wanting to keep whites out of the western territories is so he can keep a monopoly of the fur trade. He's quite ruthless in his methods, even marrying the daughter of Chief Boris Karloff of the Senecas played by Katherine DeMille. Karloff's Senecas are allied with the Pontiac Confederation and their job is to attack Fort Pitt and the town it shields, the little village of Pittsburgh.

Such events as the siege of Fort Pitt and the massacre at Venango are interwoven in the lives of Cooper and Goddard. He leaves Fort Pitt to rescue her and they both have quite a time escaping from the Senecas. The scene that is most talked about here is our hero and heroine going over Niagara Falls in a canoe chased in canoes by pursuing Senecas. What's most interesting about it is that it isn't done on location. Living up here for the past 10 years and seeing it as a kid, I can tell you the Falls doesn't look as primeval in real life as DeMille shows you how it looked in 1763. Yet even today it's quite a breathtaking site to see our intrepid two take the plunge.

Back in 1947 we certainly weren't terribly concerned about presenting the Indian point of view on screen and DeMille is a man of his times. There was a good film done about a decade ago about Chief Tecumseh and his attempt at an Indian confederation. Maybe we will get one about Pontiac and his movement.

Until then we have to watch items like Unconquered, enjoy the spectacle and fill in the blanks.

Mediocre history, but some nice moments.

[theowinthrop · 6/10 · 15 April 2005]

Cecil B. DeMille had been doing a series of films about American History from 1937 (THE PLAINSMAN) to 1940 (THE NORTHWEST MOUNTED POLICE - although actually it was a film regarding Canadian history instead). His two film in World War II were THE STORY OF DR. WASSELL, which is a war picture set in the far east - but dealing with an American war hero, and REAP THE WILD WIND (set in the Caribbean, but dealing with pirates attacking our merchant marine in the 1840s). UNCONQUERED dealt with a period that he had not covered - the pre American Revolutionary period. It would turn out to be his last historic film about America (unless one looks at THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH as a view of part of our theatrical and cultural history in 1950).

His choice was curious - he might have done a film on the fall of Quebec and deaths of Generals Wolfe and Montcalm, or a film on the American Revolution. Instead he chose events in 1763, just as the split between England and the colonies began to develop. But the events deal with the situation that led to what is called the "Conspiracy of Pontiac", where an intelligent Indian chief united many of the tribes in the Ohio Valley to revolt against American settlers and British troops, to preserve it for the Indians. The result was that many settlers and Indians were killed before the fighting ended, and Pontiac was killed. That is the story, but most is jettisoned for a fictional account of events in the Ohio Valley. The villain is Howard De Silva, intent on keeping out the colonists by arming the Indians, so that he could have a monopoly of the fur trade. He is also responsible for illegally bringing Paulette Goddard into the colony of Virginia as an indentured servant. Gary Cooper is the man opposing De Silva in his plans regarding the Indians and his plans regarding Goddard.

The film is not DeMille's best, but it's Technicolor, De Silva's performance, the appearance of Boris Karloff as a villainous Indian (he would play an Indian again a few years later in TAP ROOTS), and the two leads make it entertaining enough. But my interest in it deals with two supporting roles. Porter Hall is Mr. Leech, who is bribed (although he is aware it is a hanging offense) to send the pardoned Goddard to the colonies as an indentured servant. He's not in much of the film, but it is a nice performance. But better is Mike Mazurki. The ex-wrestler was not an actor but occasionally turned in first rate performances such as his love-struck thug in MURDER MY SWEET, and Joan Blondell's boy-friend (and moral superior to Tyrone Power) in NIGHTMARE ALLEY. Here he is a minor villain - a thug for De Silva. For most of the film he is doing De Silva's dirty work without a thought. But at the film's conclusion he is faced with a moment of truth. De Silva, Cooper, Goddard, and Mazurki are trapped in a cabin, but have weapons to protect themselves. Cooper knows that troops will be arriving soon to rescue them. But De Silva is deluded into thinking he (and Mazurki) are safe because they have been arming the Indians - he's ignoring that as a white, Englishman/colonial he's as hated as the others. He tells Mazurki to open the door and signal the Indians to let them go. Mazurki, showing a commendable intelligence, refuses. De Silva orders him again, and then he decides to do it himself. He opens the door and an arrow hits him in the center of the chest. Mazurki gets up and closes the door from the back. He then tells Cooper they'll all wait until the troops arrive. The film soon ends, but to me that moment was one to treasure. Rarely has a subordinate have such a satisfactory way of being proved correct over his boss.

Enjoy it for what it is!

[sjgorek · 10/10 · 18 February 2010]

I find all the criticism of the movie amusing! Lack of accents, the choice of Paulette Goddard, etc., you folks are missing the point. It is a great movie in the tradition of all great movies, simply entertaining! I watched this as a kid in the 50's and still enjoy the story of Fort Pitt at the edge of the end of civilization. The story was accentuated by the fact I had an uncle living in Pittsburgh and every time I visited him the though of Indians, the frontier and colonists came to the forefront of my mind.

Think Indiana Jones, sit back with your popcorn and simply enjoy the movie!

Epic movie in the best tradition of the genre with impressive and breathtaking set pieces

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 23 September 2020]

It's 1763 and two men Capt. Christopher Holden (Gary Cooper) and trader Garth (Howard Da Silva) taking the same ship back to Virginia from London bid for the contract of a woman named Abby (Paulette Goddard) who was given a choice between execution in England or 14 years of indentured servitude in the colonies. The winner Holden gallantly frees her and leaves the ship to join his girlfriend about to marry her . The loser who illegally sells guns to the local Seneca Indians destroys the contract and manages Abby working in his saloon . Along the way Cooper suffers assaults and has to help the settlers fight Indians and escaping from savage natives. Crimson-haired slave girl . . . desired by a man of destiny! Together they shared the thrills of the most daring spectacle De Mille ever filmed !They live again¡ Dauntless men and women who kept America unconquered ¡. I bought this woman for my own..and I'll kill the man who touches her!From A People Like This Came America's Heritage. In A Story Like This Lies America's Greatness!

Lavish film , in fact producers spent a reported 4 million dollar to bring to life this thrilling and moving melodrama , and most of it shows up on the big screen, while outstanding the heroic derring-do of Cooper including the overwhelming getaway by Gary along with Paulette over treacherous and wild rapids and falls that result to be most notable among the colorful set pieces . This is a spectacular adventure combining melodrama with improbability and garnishes it with hokum enough . Containing some splendidly staged scenes in which Gary Cooper has to keep rescuing Goddard throughout the film as well as fighting Da Silva . As Gary Cooper is very good , as usual , as the brave hero attempting to foil plans of controlling the Ohio Valley and to deliver peace belts to the Indians who have already sent out war belts. And female strring Paulette Goddard is frankly gorgeous . Adding a nice gallery of villains as Howard Da Silva as an eminently hissable nasty playing the scurvy trader , Boris Karloff making an unusual appearance as an Indian chief . Furthermore , other illustrous secondaries as Cecil Kellaway, Ward Bond, Katherine DeMille , Henry Wilcoxon , C. Aubrey Smith ,Mike Mazurski , Porter Hall, Jane Nigh, Alan Napier , Raymond Hatton and Marc Lawrence .

It displays a colorful photography from Ray Rennahan , and shot on location in Allegheny Mountain, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, , Big Mesa Falls, Ashton, Idaho, Wolf Creek, New York State,Conejo Grade, Los Angeles,Snake River, Clearwater River,Idaho . Including excellent special effects by Academy Award winning Gordon Jennings . Along with impressive production design by Hans Dreier and Walter Tyler . Thrilling as well as romantic musical score by the classic Victor Young . This vigorous motion picture was realized in Cecil B DeMille's ordinary style , supported by a magnificent second unit by Harold Rosson ; both of them made some greatests spectacles of all time .DeMille especiality was spectacle and he certainly delivers a full measure of it. Although a nimbler action filmmaker than Cecil might have made even more of the Oscar-winning effects work . Cecil produced and directed 70 films and was involved in many more . Many of his films were romantic sexual comedies , as he is supposed to have believed that Americans were curious only about money and sex . His best-known were biblical epics that further established him as the symbol of Hollywood such as ¨King of Kings¨ (1927), The ten Commandments (1923) , ¨The Crusades¨(1935) , ¨Reap of the wild wind¨ (1949) , and , of course , Charlton Heston's ¨Ten commandments¨ (1956) and he made two versions about ¨The Buccaneer : 1938 and 1958¨ that was ended by Anthony Quinn and Arthur Rosson . Rating : 7/10 . Well worth watching . Better than average

DeMille Epic of Colonial America in Technicolor.

[guil12 · 10/10 · 12 November 1999]

Cecil B. DeMille,once again, takes a simple plot outline and then glorifies his attempt to tell the story. Put British soldiers, American settlers, Indians, Gary Cooper and Paulette Goddard in the same film, add Technicolor,and you have fine entertainment.

Story begins with Abby Hale (Goddard) being sentenced to the noose or white slavery in America for an unjust crime. On ship towards America she meets and is won, in an impromptu slave auction, by Chris Holden (Cooper) who outbids the villain (wonderfully played by Howard DeSilva) to get even with him because of his shady dealings in selling guns to the Indians.

Holden releases Abby (he has a fiance, you see) as it wouldn't look proper with her trailing behind him as his servant. Abby, thinking she was set free goes to collect her papers only to discover DeSilva owns her (a trick he played with auctioneer).

Once in America, it is soon discovered that Abby was not given her freedom and Chris (having lost his fiance to his own brother) goes about to get her back. Along the way they run into Indians and rapids. Abby is captured by Indians, set up by DeSilva's wife,the daughter of the chief (played beautifully by DeMille's daughter, Katherine).

Of course, Chris, pursues his lady fair. This includes arriving at the Indian camp where she is at the stake being tortured, getting her released from the Indian chief (played by Boris Karlof) through a trick with a compass. Thus the chase begins which includes Chris and Abby going over a huge waterfall in an Indian canoe. Many critics called the movie "The Perils of Paulette" because of all DeMille put her through to make the picture. She rebelled several times, walking off the set, only to have DeMille refuse to use her again (this was her third picture for him). She lost out to Gloria Grahme in the role of Sugar (a name she used to call all her leading men) in DeMille's GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH.

In the end, after the confrontation of Cooper and DeSilva, he wins his lady fair and all ends happily ever after.

Cooper and Goddard still have the ability to draw your attention in spite of the fact they are in their latter years. Paulette, still the red-headed beauty, does some decent acting for a DeMille film and Coop can still play the hero. Only time they appeared together prior to this film was another DeMille film years earlier, NORTHWEST MOUNTED POLICE. However, in that film they weren't lovers.

Look for several good character actors in this one, among them Ward Bond, Cecil Kellaway, Henry Wilcoxen and, in a cameo role, C.Aubrey Smith along with Raymond Hatton.

Quite satisfying

[Philipp_Flersheim · 6/10 · 16 October 2022]

I am no fan of Cecil B. DeMille, but I actually quite liked 'Unconquered'. Other DeMilles (especially those set in antiquity) are mealstroms of poor writing and worse pacing, with often genuinely talented actors being forced to utter painfully bombastic lines of dialogue. In 'Unconquered', the pacing is rather uneven, too, but there is a bit of real suspense and the dialogues are not as bad. The plot is of course totally over the top, with lots of implausible turns and twists (beginning with the character played by Paulette Goddard travelling to exactly the same place in the American interior as the one played by Gary Cooper). Cooper is a convincing hero, Goddard is far less convincing as - well, what is she? Not quite a damsel in permanent distress, but no heroine either. Anyway, Howard Da Silva is a suitably nasty villain and Boris Karloff a relatively dignified chief of the Seneca. All in all, this makes for a quite satisfying mix.

Colonel Bouquet

[vernc1 · 4/10 · 6 July 2019]

I saw this film in the theater when I was nine. All I and my contemporaries cared about was shooting and dying. Years later I wondered why Colonel Bouquet spoke accented English. Some mild research turned up the fact that Colonel wa an historic figure. Bouquet was a Swiss mercenary who commanded troops for the Brits. Who ever expected that level of hitoricity from De Mille. I leave to others to research whether the flag over the british fort was correct.

Pre-Revolutionary War America focusing on the latter stages of the French and Indian War

[Mickey-2 · 8/10 · 21 June 2007]

"Unconquered" was one of those Cecil B. DeMille productions that did not quite make it as a true epic, but it did qualify as good film entertainment. Set in the American colonies of the 1760's, the film brings into conflict a love triangle, Indian uprisings, dastardly dealings by greedy whites in selling arms to tribes for furs, and the rights of indentured servants in the colonies. Featuring Gary Cooper and Paulette Goddard in the lead male and female roles, plus Howard Da Silva in the role of the sneeringly evil fur trader, this film moves at a decent clip, even if some history is ignored for the sake of the story in the film.

Ah, the story. Paulette Goddard has run afoul of the British judicial system and is given the choice of execution in England or slavery in the colonies for a period of 14 years. She chooses the route of an indentured servant, and is placed aboard a British frigate heading for the colonies. While on board ship, she catches the eye of both Cooper and Da Silva, and in a shipboard auction, is purchased by Cooper, much to the chagrin of Da Silva. Cooper intends to free her when the ship arrived in the colonies, but Da Silva forces the auctioneer to resell Goddard, unbeknownst to Cooper.

In later scenes, the three engage in one conflict after another, which brings in to the arena, the Indian tribes led by Boris Karloff, playing a Seneca chief named Guyasuta. Da Silva's role, Martin Garth, had earlier married the chief's daughter, and that gives him an inroad with the Indian tribes. Cooper, as Captain Chris Holden, is able to rescue Abby Hale, Goddard's role, from the Indians, and they make their escape down river, which leads to a trip through the rapids and over a waterfall. Finally comes the showdown in which the Indians attack the nearby Fort Pitt, garrisoned by British regulars and frontiersmen and their families. While the battle rages outside the fort, Holden and Garth have to settle their disagreements in the fort's stable.

Besides the trio of leading performers, the cast has several Hollywood regulars. Cecil Kellaway, Ward Bond, and a very youthful Lloyd Bridges add to the protagonists in the film, and Mike Mazurski gives a great performance as Garth's henchman in the attempt to control the Indian fur trading practice.

"Unconquered" gives Cecil B. DeMille a chance to embellish another period of history, and while the production is worth watching, a viewer needs to take the overall work as entertainment, and not completely true to the times of 1763 Colonial America. 8 out of 10.

pretty good

[kyle_furr · 7/10 · 12 February 2004]

I had heard that Howard Hawks wanted Gary Cooper to play the lead in red river, but Cooper didn't want to play a character that dark so he played in this instead. That would of been cool to see Cooper play John Wayne's part in Red River. This movie has a great cast like Cooper, Ward Bond, Boris Karloff and directed by Cecil B. DeMille. This movie has been compared to Northwest Passage but i think this one is better. Cooper is good as usual and so is the rest of the cast.

Colonial-era corn

[MissSimonetta · 4/10 · 31 August 2015]

Unconquered (1947) is a miracle of bad filmmaking. This is Cecil B. DeMille overindulging himself for two and a half hours, offering us a healthy heaping of camp, costumes, sexual titillation, and over the top action.

Where does one even begin? The characters are all idiots who wander from scene to scene, somehow surviving an onslaught of ridiculous events ranging from plunging from a waterfall to surviving an attack courtesy of offensive Native American stereotypes. Poor Paulette Goddard finds herself spending 75 percent of the movie trussed up, leered at, threatened with phallic objects, and in her undergarments, usually several of those things at once. I'm surprised the Code was okay with such sadomasochistic elements in the picture, but maybe they just laughed it off because it was so silly.

The cast is made up of a talented bunch, but their performances are largely uneven. Gary Cooper, Paulette Goddard, and Boris Karloff seem embarrassed to be there and alternate between being wooden and cartoon-y. Only Howard Da Silva as the lecherous villain comes off with his dignity intact, knowing that when you're in schlock, you have to go gloriously all out with the camp.

The whole look of the film is studio-bound and garish, so it's not visually appealing either. If you are a connoisseur of kitsch or have a group of like-minded friends, then this turkey is a fun one.

I love Unconquered, unsophisticated as it may be

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 10 February 2017]

It's Saturday Afternoon at the Bijou time, courtesy of the over-the-top presentation of Cecil B. DeMille. The film is rich in atmosphere and with an eye for detail in capturing colonial America, no matter how ludicrous the situations may be at times. Yes, the casting of Boris Karloff as an Indian chief is a camp enthusiast's delight but, if taken in the right spirit, only adds to the fun.

The film is highlighted by an action set piece involving an escape from the Indians and a plunge over a waterfall. No credibility whatsoever as far as the real world is concerned. But who says this is the real world? It's the movies where the impossible can happen and we are along for the ride which includes the wonderful Technicolor enhancing of its many visual pleasures.

I can't recommend Unconquered enough for those adventure seekers fully prepared to suspend their sense of disbelief in advance, and it may be the only film ever made about Pontiac's Rebellion, although, Pontiac is never mentioned.

Gary Cooper and Boris Karloff

[kevinolzak · 6/10 · 19 April 2021]

1947's "Unconquered" may not be regarded as one of director Cecil B. De Mille's top drawer Westerns, set as it is during the climactic days of the French and Indian War of 1763, but it is precisely for that reason that it surprises despite its bloated length of 2 1/2 hours and $4.5 million budget, his highest to date (this ensured its high grossing box office failure). Gary Cooper and Paulette Goddard are paired for the last time, he as colonial captain Christopher Holden, in opposition to Howard Da Silva's treacherous fur trader Martin Garth, who seeks greater wealth and power by working with the various Indian tribes to secure the Ohio valley for himself. Paulette's Abigail Martha Hale is the British subject sentenced to be an indentured servant in the American colonies, coming between the two men, a virtual pinball bouncing back and forth as slave to the lascivious Garth, captive to the vengeful Senecas, or willing companion to Captain Holden, whose rescue of Abigail from certain torture and death earns him a court martial for desertion. His faceoff with Seneca Chief Guyasuta is the highlight at the midway mark, due to the surprise casting of longtime horror specialist Boris Karloff learning actual Native American language to play the part. Holden makes a grand entrance from the forest to confront the entire tribe, contemptuously referring to the warriors as women dressed up as torturers of captive women before using a magnetic compass as a threat to secure escape by making certain the tiny arrow points at Guyasuta's heart. As Garth's jealous wife, and daughter of Guyasuta, we see the director's daughter Katherine De Mille, Karloff's former costar and murdered mistress from 1935's "The Black Room," foiling her husband's attempts to kill Holden at the cost of her own life. Fine work from veterans such as Ward Bond, C. Aubrey Smith, Mike Mazurki, and Alan Napier, plus appearances from historical figures George Washington, even Mason and Dixon. The climactic siege of Fort Pitt was the most elaborate yet staged, and for all the exposition that precedes it the picture may not stick to accuracy but it never bores. Karloff had essayed many Native American roles during the silent era due to his dark complexion and exotic name, but only here and in Universal's upcoming "Tap Roots" did he do so in a speaking part, 10 1/2 minutes screen time under a makeup that took as long as Frankenstein's Monster, and enabled an Indian observer who knew no English to marvel at the actor's goodwill in his own language: "this man is as patient as a horse!"

Unparalleled

[Uriah43 · 9/10 · 13 September 2018]

Sentenced in a London court to serve 14 years as an indentured servant in the colonies for the accidental murder of a law enforcement official, "Abigail Martha Hale" (Paulette Goddard) meets two wealthy men on the voyage there. The first is a scoundrel by the name of "Martin Garth" (Howard Da Silva) and the second is an honorable gentleman named "Captain Holden" (Gary Cooper) who doesn't like Garth or his shady business dealings with the hostile native tribes. Their animosity is furthered when Abigail is sold--and subsequently purchased--at an auction by Captain Holden aboard the ship carrying the three of them. To Abigail's surprise, however, Captain Holden's reason for buying her was to spite Garth more than anything else. Unfortunately, upon freeing her the next day, she is then illegally resold to Garth who wants her for himself. Needless to say, this doesn't please his Seneca wife "Hannah" (Katherine DeMille) nor does it make Captain Holden too happy when he finds out what has happened. Even more importantly, however, is the fact that a war is brewing between several Native American tribes and the settlers and both Captain Holden and Abigail are caught in the middle of it all. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was an excellent film which manages to capture the timeframe in an extraordinary manner. Likewise, the acting of Gary Cooper and Paulette Goddard was first-rate as well. That being said, I enjoyed this film and have rated it accordingly. Truly excellent.

One sixpence too far

[AAdaSC · 7/10 · 24 July 2017]

It's 1763 and we have a good guy Gary Cooper (Chris) and a bad guy Howard da Silva (Garth). They should be on the same side in the war for the American territories but da Silva is siding with the Indians and secretly selling them weapons. Convicted killer Pauline Goddard (Abby) is a slave girl that is caught in the middle of both their plans.

It's interesting to see that Hollywood films in 1947 portrayed arms sellers as the bad guys whereas in complete contrast, we celebrate arms dealing as a good thing today. This has been recently highlighted when Donald Trump very publicly signed an arms deal with Saudia Arabia of all countries! And it was heralded as a good thing – media just reported it as a matter of fact without any sense of criticism. I was shocked. But then again, this is nothing new. When I was a boy, I lived near a house that I'd walk passed on a daily basis that had Picassos on the wall, that sort of thing. It's owner – a friend of the Royal Family and very open arms dealer – Khashoggi. It's everywhere and we don't seem to have a moral compass on this issue. We are a country of Howard da Silvas and no-one blinks an eye. That's where capitalism has taken us. I think we should be reigning things in. So, in line with current thinking, da Silva should come out on top. Thankfully, this is Hollywood.

The cast are very good although it is funny how Goddard has a constant supply of lipstick and shampoo to make her hair nice and fluffy throughout the film. No criticism on her acting, though – she is a good female lead. And Cooper, whilst maybe a little old for the role, still has the star quality to carry the film. It's a good epic film to enjoy on a Sunday afternoon or whenever you have some time.

One of the better pioneer period movies

[SimonJack · 8/10 · 9 June 2020]

"Unconquered" is based on a 1947 novel, "The Judas Tree," by Neil H. Swanson. Swanson was a popular writer of historical fiction. The story is about the dangerous time of the18th century uprising of several American Indian nations and tribes in the Great Lakes region. While the history and violence of the period are accurate, some of characters are fictitious. And, the dates and setting are revised.

The story takes place in what was then called the Northwest Territory - later, the Ohio Territory (1787-1803) after the United States independence. The officers, soldiers and forts in the story are all British, including Col. George Washington (played by Richard Gaines). That dates it to before the American Revolution of 1965-1783. And yet, it has to be after the Seven Years War (aka French and Indian War) that ended with the redcoats defeat of the French in 1763. So, that puts it right at 1763-1764 to square with all the historical dates.

The various American Indian groups are now upset with British policies and are united by Chief Pontiac of the Ottawa and the Hurons in an effort to stop the white encroachment into their tribal lands. (An interesting footnote here is that after the American Revolution, the British supported the Indians in the Northwest Indian War with the United States over control of the territory.)

This is a very good film for its portrayal of those times - the land, the people, the culture, costumes, etc. The grandeur of the setting is characteristic of the film's director and producer, Cecil B. DeMille. It has an air of auathenticity and realism as though one were right in the scenes. One other reviewer noted the historical inaccuracy of horses for the Indians. Only native Americans of the Plains States and far West had horses after these were reintroduced to North America by the Spanish explorers of the 16th Century through Mexico.

The cast is superb, and includes several well-known actors of the day besides Gary Cooper and Paulette Goddard in the leads. Cooper is Capt. Christopher Holden, but one isn't quite sure what the "Captain" refers to. When he dresses up for the queen's ball at Fort Pitt, his formal uniform is blue while all of the British officers are in red. Yet, he takes orders from the British officers, including George Washington. Goddard plays Abigail Martha Hale (Abby), who is arriving in the colonies to be sold at auction as a slave. She had been convicted by a British court as a felon.

The story of Holden's and Abby's meeting and meeting again and again is a bit far-fetched. Also, his position with the military and secrecy of his mission is a bit mystifying. But, the cast and crew put on a good show and entertaining film. Oh, yes, Boris Karloff plays the Seneca Indian chief, Tishomingo. While the plot evolves all around the Indian uprising, and there are some good individual action scenes, the film has only one actual battle scene toward the end.

Early pioneer films, often with American Indian skirmishes like this one were fairly common into the late 1950s. But, it seems that all the good novels and stories about pioneer times have bene made and/or there isn't much interest in those times among the modern generations. Now, audiences seem to want more and more sci-fi.

Movie buffs and those interested in pioneer times and history should enjoy this film. My favorite line is spoken by Victor Varconi who plays Capt. Simeon Ecuyer: "Marriage frees you from slavery, Mrs. Holden. It won't do a thing for you, sir."

Haven't seen this much ham since I toured the Jimmy Dean packing company

[helpless_dancer · 7/10 · 1 October 2000]

I enjoyed this film, but the acting was so overblown, especially by Paulette Goddard, that I had to laugh during many of the more tense situations. Hollywood really did a number on pre-revolutionary America when they cast Karloff as the Chief of the cutthroat redskins out to relieve Coop and crew of their freshly styled coiffures. However, I did like De Silva's hammy portrayal of the villainous gunrunner intent on getting the girl and a large portion of land. Entertaining show, but very little history or realism, but then, that is not what I was after or expecting.

Typical overblown DeMille

[BrianG · 4/10 · 27 March 2000]

Cecil B. DeMille was one of the pioneers of the American film industry, and you have to give him credit for that. He was also one of the first to pack his films with gratuitous sex and violence, and you have to give him credit for that. He got away with it by inserting preachy moral "messages" that proved the "evil" of everything he had just shoved in your face, and you have to give him credit for that. His films were enjoyable in a goofy sort of way, but that doesn't apply to this one.

There's one thing that DeMille could never be accused of, and that's cutting corners. His movies were expensive, and they looked it. They were usually also packed with well-known stars such as Gary Cooper and Charlton Heston. The one thing that few of his movies had, though, was a coherent script, and this movie is a prime example. Stars, production values, spectacle...whatever advantages this film has are sunk by the absolutely idiotic dialogue the actors are forced to spew out. You have to wonder what the actors were thinking as they were reciting this drivel. You also have to wonder what the writers were thinking as they were whipping this junk up; didn't they realize that people don't even _remotely_ talk or act like they do in this movie? Everything in this film is overblown, overheated and overdone. The only other one of DeMille's films I can think of offhand that goes even further over the edge is "Northwest Mounted Police," which is so jaw-droppingly awful it should be classified as a comedy.

As long as you realize what you're getting into, the movie is fun in a goofball, campy sort of way. If you're looking for anything else, forget it.

Gary Cooper going through great pains to save Paulette Goddard from intolerable injustice

[clanciai · 9/10 · 18 January 2020]

This is an ideal character for Gary Cooper to play, it suits him perfectly, and he plays it well, with lovely Paulette Goddard to match him as one of those many lovely young women that Cecil B. De Mille loved to give as hard a time as possible by outrageous ordeals and manhandling. Howard da Silva is also perfect as the villain, but as a crook dressed all in sly evil he is a typical Hollywood stereotype, which drags the film down a bit. Its major asset is the magnificent scenery, the splendid costumes, the fantastic wilderness scenes, and the Indians made as savage and impressing as possible, while the best performance by any actor in this film is actually by Boris Karloff as the red Indian chief - it's difficult to recognize him, while his eyes shine thorugh everything. The story is good as well, it's one of those rare films that actually go into the Indian war of the 1760s, where the red Indians under the chief of the Ottawas Pontiac almost actually succeeded in uniting all Indian tribes to overhtrow the white man, and driving him out of every fort west of Pennsylvania except one. Pontiac is never shown in the film, but Boris Karloff is convincing enough. The music by Victor Fleimng also adds quality to the picture, which is great frontier entertainment with a lot of romance and every scene a delight to watch for its brilliant technicolor.

Hang onto your hair!

[rmax304823 · 6/10 · 11 April 2015]

It's 1763 in and around Fort Pitt in western Pennsylvania. Gary Cooper is an amiable captain in His Majesty's First Own Monongahela Fusiliers or something. Trouble is brewing with the Indians, called "savages." The savages speak a made-up language, unless "iksa" is a prominent part of their Algonquian dialect. When they speak English, they say: "You burn white woman at stake." Paulette Goddard is a slave whose ownership is in question -- a tug of war between the honorable Cooper and the villainous Henry da Silva.

The legitimate owner, of course, is Cooper, who soon takes to romancing his slave. "The moonlight has turned your dress into emeralds." And "The starlight is dancing in your eyes." Now, lines like this don't come easily to Gary Cooper, nor does his dress uniform. Comfortable in fringed leather, he has to wear this garish outfit to the governor's ball. An absurd three-cornered hat. A bright blue jacket with scarlet facings and bright brass buttons. But BOOTS -- no white stockings for Gary Cooper. Real men don't wear white stockings. It's just one step away from fishnet and garter belts. All together, he carries on like a man with long, jointed sticks instead of limbs, but always honorable.

Cooper bamboozles a tribe of savages about to burn Goddard alive by playing tricks with a compass. The Indian chief, Boris Karloff, is stupefied by the unerring arrow of the compass. It's a scene out of Mark Twain's "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court." Karloff's character -- Guyasuta - Chief of the Senecas -- was a real historical figure, an early pal of, and guide for, George Washington. Paulette Goddard is an attractive women, even though she is no longer the sprightly nymph with the pretty legs from Charlie Chaplin's "Modern Times." And she's superb as a slave whose dress may be torn to shreds, who may be rough-housed by the villainous, cheating, thieving, lying, murdering, rapist Howard da Silva, dunked in a rapidly flowing river, and tortured by Indians, and who must scrub floors in a filthy tavern, but who never loses a false eyelash or is without lipstick and rouge. She was never a bravura actress but evidently a nice woman. When she died, she left most of her estate to New York University.

Those taverns, by the way, look convincing as all get out, like the other interiors. Production design and set dressing don't usually get their due but they should because they add so much texture to the images. That tavern is stuffed full of sacks of grain, hewn tables, simple rickety chairs, piles of corn, long rifles hung on racks, trenchers, pewter tankards and unidentifiable bits of feathered artifacts. The direction is by Cecil B. De Mille so don't expect nuance in the acting. When a woman is frightened, she doesn't just scream. She puts her clenched fists against her cheeks, pops her eyeballs, and shrieks in horror -- if she doesn't faint outright.

The movie has its merits. It's as colorful as a peacock's tail. The interplay between the characters is old fashioned but classic. We get to see George Washington when he was a mere colonel. And there is a genuinely exciting scene in which Cooper and Goddard escape from the pursuing Indians in a canoe. Their canoe plunges over a waterfall the size of Niagara and their escape is a miracle. At the end, Fort Pitt is besieged by whooping savages, scaling the palisades using canoes as ladders. The white defenders shoot them down by the hundreds, but savages are as many as needle on pine tree, mosquito in swamp, fish in Lake Erie, flea on hound dog, snake on head of Medusa, pigeon on statue, dollar in Trump wallet, fly on picnic table, illegal at border, gun in NRA closet.

The climax involves a shoot out between two enemies. "I know you can draw faster than me," says one of them, drawing a line quickly from a thousand and one scenes in cheap Westerns. Well, Fort Pitt is under siege and hopelessly outnumbered. And the outcome? The cavalry arrives and saves the day. Salutem ex mortuis.

Very poorly acted

[HotToastyRag · 2/10 · 24 July 2020]

In this grand Cecil B. DeMille epic, Paulette Goddard is auctioned off as an indentured servant after being brought to the colonies from London. On the slave ship, she strikes up a friendship with the comic swindler Cecil Kellaway, and she catches the attention of Howard Da Silva, who wants to buy her. Gary Cooper doesn't like Howard, and for no other reason, he outbids him in Paulette's sale. He's not interested in her, and the fact that he has an enemy doesn't guarantee he'll treat her any better-so why is Paulette so excited to become his property?

Normally, I'd spend the entire length of the review criticizing Gary Cooper's performance, but Paulette was so terrible, she distracted me. From start to finish, she gave the worst interpretation of the written lines, overacted her facial expressions, and didn't understand her character. She never once appeared to have suffered a months-long sea voyage on a slave ship, nor months of hard work as an indentured servant. You can only imagine what she would have had to endure, but she seemed like she was on her way to the beauty parlor and hoped to pick up a new boyfriend on the way. Why was she always so immodest, yet feigning virtue whenever Howard Da Silva showed her any interest? Howard was consistently kinder to her than Gary, and he repeatedly expressed his interest in her. Gary showed her time and again that he prioritized others over her, and when he was bidding to buy her on the slave market, he only did it to spite Howard's bid. "And sixpence" after each increase didn't mean he intended to treat Paulette with kindness and affection. Even she noticed he hadn't looked at her once during the auction.

If you're watching this movie for the supporting cast, you'll see Boris Karloff as the Indian chief, who's also Howard's father-in-law. Howard's wife is played by Katherine DeMille, C.B.'s daughter. She has a meaty role, and she's far better at it than Paulette is in hers. My favorite, of course, is Ward Bond, Gary's faithful pal. He adds much needed energy and enthusiasm in every scene he's in.

Couldn't write his own name!

[JohnHowardReid · 6/10 · 20 April 2018]

NOTES: Nominated for an Academy Award for Special Effects, but lost to the only other nominee, Green Dolphin Street. Negative cost: around $5 million. Location exteriors filmed near Pittsburgh (the forest scenes) and by Arthur Rosson's unit on the Snake River, Idaho (the canoe sequence).

COMMENT: No survey of Hollywood's treatment of big-budget westerns would be complete without a Cecil B. De Mille epic. What is curious about this one though is that it wasn't particularly popular at the boxoffice and actually lost money. This seems strange as most of the ingredients for popular success are here. True, the movie is overlong, but most cash-paying patrons will hardly object to this extra value for their money. (I thought the film would be improved if three or four of the long and rather pointless dialogue scenes between Cooper and Goddard were cut. My impression is that these scenes merely pad out the film as a sop to the two principals).

True, the script is somewhat naive and juvenile. It reduces historical figures to pasteboard cut-outs and then hands them verbose dialogue of appropriate banality. (It says much for the players that most are able to rise above their material). But the plot does allow for plenty of incident and spectacle, including shooting the rapids on the Snake which anticipates The River Wild.

It's a pity that the "peg" on which all this drama is hung, namely the conflict between hero Cooper and heavy Da Silva, is so disappointingly resolved with the villain receiving very cursory if just desserts from Cooper's faster pistol. It's true too that neither Cooper nor Miss Goddard seem entirely comfortable in their roles. The script forces Coop to do some remarkably stupid things, so it's probably no cause for wonder that he often appears to be acting half-heartedly at half-steam.

Miss Goddard seems far too elegant for a maid-of-all-work. Her make-up is too heavy. Her performance on the other hand seems too lightweight. Many of the support players also seem somewhat ill-at-ease. Fortunately, Da Silva makes his villain really mean and nasty.

Technically, the film's tension is a bit undermined by some obvious process screen effects. Director De Mille's hand is most in evidence in the crowd and action scenes. Rennahan's fine Technicolor photography is also a major asset.

P.S. When asked about Fredric (or is it Frederic?) M. Frank, his co-screenwriter Charles Bennett said in an interview with Pat McGilligan, "A lovely guy, but he couldn't write his own name." Well, that last comment was literally true anyway.

Unconquerable, because, they are strong and free!

[hitchcockthelegend · 7/10 · 11 May 2019]

Unconquered is directed by Cecil B. DeMille and collectively written by Charles Bennett, Frederic M. Frank and Jesse Lasky, Jr. It is based on the novel written by Neil H. Swanson. It stars Gary Cooper, Paulette Goddard, Howard Da Silva, Boris Karloff, Cecil Kelleway, Ward Bond and Katherine DeMille. Music is by Victor Young and cinematography by Ray Rennahan.

Frontiersman Chris Holden (Cooper) becomes embroiled in the machinations of Martin Garth (Ds Silva), who for his own ends is helping the Native American Pontiac uprising. All this while trying to keep slave girl Abby Hale (Goddard) out of harms way...

And 6 pence!

So it comes to pass that this really is no historical document - shock! Based around Pontiac's Rebellion, circa 1763 after the French and Indian War, it's a fanciful narrative that's a right old mixed bag. On one hand it's the story of an all American hero and a fish out of water British woman traversing through perilous situations whilst simultaneously ignoring the attraction that exists between them. On the other hand it's proud in propaganda flag waving, with heroic verve in full effect, but is gleefully executed with customary panache by DeMille.

The Gilded Beaver!

It's a little too long at nearly two and a half hours, for there are exposition passages that don't really serve the adventurous heart at core of story, yet the collective gathering of numerous characters does excite, DeMille excelling in that department. Action sequences are splendid, the fights with the Native Americans, repelling a siege of the fort as fiery death falls from the sky and bullets and blades do what they were designed for - sort of. Chase sequences, the best of which on the river rapids with incredulous tumble and all, and of course much shifty shenanigans and stoic glint in the eye machismo.

The Compass Bluff!

There's the blend of fun scenes with the sadly elegiac, where a compass comes to the rescue of Holden and Hale for fun value, and the realisation of death being just yards away from homely comforts is sombrely played. There's even some sexy spice in the mix, especially when the ravishing Goddard takes a barrel bath! Who cares about her non existing British accent?!

Some of the attitudes within the narrative are suspect, towards race, nationality and womanhood, and the over talky sections tip it off the tracks at times, but it's still ripper entertainment. It be colourful and vibrant, sexy and sharp, and boisterously proud into the bargain - enough good here in fact to forgive it the misdemeanors of the era. 7/10