HONDO wasn't even released on VHS until 1995 when it was out of circulation for almost 30 years. Now Paramount home video has seen fit to release it on DVD, and it's about time since it has a lot of great macho dialog from Wayne, along with that classic scene of Wayne coming in from the desert, carrying his saddle with 'dog' by his side. That seems to be one of his most famous movie poses of all time.
The film itself is a little rough during the opening and closing titles, yet by and large, looks pretty clean considering it's age and the big, clumsy 3-D camera they used to film this thing with.
One of the first Louis L'Amour novels to hit the screen, this one involves Army scout Hondo Lane protects woman (Geraldine Page) and her son (Lee Aaker) from marauding Apaches led by Vittorio (Michael Pate) who wants her to marry one of his braves and become his squaw. In the meantime, Hondo has to kill her husband (Leo Gordon) because he tried to backshoot Hondo near a watering hole. It pains Hondo to have to tell the woman and her son this, but she doesn't care a whole lot because she didn't think much of her husband, anyway.
Hondo also has to contend with kill-happy sidekick to Vittorio, Silva (Rodolfo Acosta) and they have a pretty good knife duel until Vittorio stops it, thinking Hondo is the woman's real husband and not the guy Hondo had to kill earlier. Silva also leads the Apache attack at the end where there's that climatic battle with the wagons circled with Hondo leading the Army and settlers in fending off the attack. You know the rest.
DVD extras include a trip to the vaults with Michael Wayne and interviews with surviving actors Michael Pate and Lee Aaker. Not sure why Geraldine Page received an Oscar nomination for this one since she seems more an extra here than someone who's on screen a lot of the time. She wouldn't make another movie again for almost 10 years.
It's not my favorite Wayne western since that's reserved for the John Ford/Wayne pictures, but this one holds it's own.
6½ out of 10
The film itself is a little rough during the opening and closing titles, yet by and large, looks pretty clean considering it's age and the big, clumsy 3-D camera they used to film this thing with.
One of the first Louis L'Amour novels to hit the screen, this one involves Army scout Hondo Lane protects woman (Geraldine Page) and her son (Lee Aaker) from marauding Apaches led by Vittorio (Michael Pate) who wants her to marry one of his braves and become his squaw. In the meantime, Hondo has to kill her husband (Leo Gordon) because he tried to backshoot Hondo near a watering hole. It pains Hondo to have to tell the woman and her son this, but she doesn't care a whole lot because she didn't think much of her husband, anyway.
Hondo also has to contend with kill-happy sidekick to Vittorio, Silva (Rodolfo Acosta) and they have a pretty good knife duel until Vittorio stops it, thinking Hondo is the woman's real husband and not the guy Hondo had to kill earlier. Silva also leads the Apache attack at the end where there's that climatic battle with the wagons circled with Hondo leading the Army and settlers in fending off the attack. You know the rest.
DVD extras include a trip to the vaults with Michael Wayne and interviews with surviving actors Michael Pate and Lee Aaker. Not sure why Geraldine Page received an Oscar nomination for this one since she seems more an extra here than someone who's on screen a lot of the time. She wouldn't make another movie again for almost 10 years.
It's not my favorite Wayne western since that's reserved for the John Ford/Wayne pictures, but this one holds it's own.
6½ out of 10