Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

For the first 20-30 minutes, "Hondo" seems like it just might transcend the "typical Duke western" label. Some SPOILERS AHEAD: The title character (played by Wayne) wanders out of the dusty plains and into a homestead run by Angie (Geraldine Page) and son Johnny (Lee Aaker). After helping Angie with some work, Hondo quickly discovers that her husband has deserted her. Riding back to the U.S. Calvary regiment that he sometimes scouts for, Hondo gets into a barroom fistfight with a local scoundrel...a scoundrel who turns out to be Angie's "lost" husband!At this point in the film, I thought it had real potential to be a great western tale. A lot of interesting pieces were established that could have been built upon. Unfortunately, from that point onward it becomes stock cowboys vs. Indians fare. Director John Farrow tries to weave a subplot about the white men and the Indians co-existing with each other, but everything we see/feel on screen says otherwise.At the end of the film, after a group of Cavalry men have fought off a warring band of Indians, Hondo makes the following quote: "It is the end of a way of life. A good way." This after an entire movie of killing more Indians than anyone else on screen. Now, I realize that movies (and especially westerns like this one) were made for different reasons and even different audiences than today and should be partially judged as such. However, in today's Hollywood, that type of empty moralizing is inexcusable. History, then, is not kind to a film like "Hondo".Overall, "Hondo" is a decidedly average (or maybe even a bit below) western. I give it three stars because the Duke gives a good performance and the setup did hold my interest for a time. In the wide view, though, I think the only reason this movie gets as much "press" as it does is because it became quite rare before coming out on DVD. When history has its say, it doesn't really stand out in any way.

I love a good western and actors like John Wayne personify the western genre. Hondo Lane played by superstar John Wayne at the age of 44 is a lone cowboy travelling with what Hondo calls Sam, his independent dog who has a prominent scar running across his face and down the bridge of his snout. Most likely from fighting off a cougar or a bear. After surviving an attack by Apache Indians Hondo walks a few miles after losing his horse in the battle with the Apaches to the farm house of Mrs. Angie Lowe (played superbly by stage actress Geraldine Page in her first on screen performance). There Hondo is provided food, water, shelter and also provided with an opportunity to break a wild horse that Mrs. Lowe's absent husband has not yet broken.The film focuses on the rugged Hondo who although he remains very independent, Hondo admits to Mrs. Lowe that he had spent five (5) years living with an Apache tribe and taking on a squaw Indian as his partner, not as his love interest. Now Angie has a ten (10) year old son named Johnny (Lee Aaker) who is desperate for a male figure in his life with his father nowhere to be seen so young Johnny looks up to the rugged Hondo who teaches Johnny very quickly to be wary of his independent dog Sam who will not hesitate to bite Johnny if he gets too close, and he also shares with Johnny very quickly the tricks to fishing and swimming.There is an also excellent cast of supporting characters such as the army Indian scout Buffalo Baker (Ward Bond of the subsequent 1957 TV's Wagon Train series), Major Sherry (Paul Fix of 1958 TV's Rifleman series), Apache Chief Vittorio (Michael Pate), Apache hothead Silva (Rodolfo Acosta) who hates Hondo and wants to kill him, a mean spirited army Indian scout named Lennie (James Arness of the subsequent 1955 TV's Gunsmoke fame), and the well known hulking character actor Leo Gordon who usually plays the villain plays Angie's absentee no good husband Ed Lowe, who actually has abandoned his wife Angie and his 10 year old son Johnny. This strong supporting cast along with lead actors John Wayne and Geraldine Page provide an endless supply of great characters who are attempting to survive and thrive on land previously dominated by the various tribes of the Apache nation.Yes, there are plenty of fights between the cowboys and Apache's, and a few fights between the cowboys themselves, but what makes this another great John Wayne western are the complex personalities of Hondo Lane, Angie Lowe and Apache chief Vittorio. The scenery of the western plains is grand and director John Farrow utilizes his backdrop to the viewers benefit making us believe we are definitely on the wide open expansive spaces with sandy steep hills that the horsemen do not have the easiest time travelling over as the chases between the cowboys, cavalry and Apaches are harrowing to say the least.This film does not use romantic songs to pull us in, nor does it use excessive violence, instead director John Farrow relies on the strong performances between his two main stars Angie Lowe and Hondo Lane. Geraldine Page and John Wayne were excellent star crossed lovers who overcome early settlers adversity and the Apaches and we are provided with a sense of relief that they survive multiple Apache war raids in the open prairies and that Johnny learns to become a man with the support of a strong male figure who will remain in his life, Hondo Lane and he will be proud to call Johnny his son.I give this western classic Hondo, a very good 8 out of 10 rating.

Directed by John Farrow and co-produced by John Wayne (with Robert Fellows), in the title role, this Louis L'Amour story was adapted by James Edward Grant, who would earn his only Academy recognition 5 years later with an Oscar nomination for the Western comedy The Sheepman (1958), featuring Glenn Ford. Wayne's co-star Geraldine Page earned her first Oscar nomination (Supporting) and L'Amour his only (Best Writing, Motion Picture Story).This slightly above average Western also features Ward Bond and James Arness as Army Indian Scouts, and Michael Pate (among others), as well as an uncredited wonder dog (like Lassie). What makes this film particularly real are all the things Wayne does at the beginning of the film, after his character has walked out of the desert and onto Page's ranch, including shoeing a horse (though it's obvious that a stunt double was used to break the wild one). Originally released in 3-D (which explains a few of the contrived action sequences).Ten year old Johnny Lowe (Lee Aaker) notices a man walking towards their remote ranch nestled in Apache Indian territory. He calls to his mother Angie (Page), who witnesses the man coming out the arid landscape carrying only a saddle bag and a rifle, but accompanied by a brown collie-like dog. They later learn that the man's name is Hondo Lane (Wayne); the dog's name is Sam. His demeanor at first frightens Mrs. Lowe, who insists that her husband has gone after some cattle and will be back soon, but Hondo later learns that she was lying. However, she needn't have feared Hondo, even after she reads his name off his rifle and correctly identifies him as a gunman who has killed others. Hondo is an independent man who lives by an honest code of the West, as a scout and messenger frequently employed by the Army. In fact, he is a sterling example to her son and a sharp contrast to the husband that abandoned her, after he married her for her ranch. Later, through a series of circumstances, Angie's husband Ed (Leo Gordon) encounters Hondo, who kills the married man in self defense even after he'd saved Ed's life in an Indian attack. Ed was a dishonorable man, a fact Angie later wants kept from her son despite Hondo's wanting to tell him how his father had died.Hondo's character and the fact that he knows Angie and her son saves his life later when Vittorio (Pate), the Chiricahua Apache Chief, discovers a connection between them. After a captured Hondo had won a knife fight with another Indian (Rodolfo Acosta), Vittorio learns that Hondo had once lived with the Apaches (in fact, he'd been married to one) and finds a photograph of Johnny on his person. Vittorio had allowed the Lowes to continue to live on their ranch, despite his tribe's murderous rampage (caused by the white man breaking their treaty, naturally), because Johnny had showed such a resistive spunk that he'd dubbed him 'Small Warrior' and instructed his mother to find her husband, or pick one of his braves, to raise him properly. Once the Chief sees the photograph, he assumes Hondo is Mr. Lowe and, fearing for his life, Angie doesn't let him think otherwise. For his part, Hondo was somewhat incapacitated having been burned by torture, stabbed during the knife fight, and carried over the back of the horse on the journey to the ranch. As Hondo recovers, Vittorio tests him and becomes satisfied with the man's honor such that he allows the three of them to continue to live in their territory.But all good things must come to an end. The army, who'd been instructed to rescue the settlers in Indian territory, arrive at the Lowe ranch with scouts Buffalo Baker (Bond), an old friend, and Lennie (Arness), who reveals the secret of Ed's death to Angie, under the command of a young Lieutenant McKay (Tom Irish), fresh out of school. However, the information about her husband's death serves as a mere speed bump in Hondo's relationship with Angie. Despite Hondo's advice, the greenhorn officer continues into Apache land, but comes limping back after an ambush. Hondo takes charge of the scouts and the Lieutenant's command to lead the Army and the rescued settlers through a series of "circle the wagons" stands that wrap up this heretofore fine Western in a disappointingly stereotypical way.

I've watched around fifty films starring John Wayne, but 'Hondo' was the first. It's a good starting point - a basic Western that depends almost entirely on its leading man. It'd be unfair to describe 'Hondo' as simply a beginner's guide to John Wayne, though. I believe that his fans who are acquainted with his other work will also enjoy this film, as they'll be able to pick out a handful of familiar faces: Ward Bond and Paul Fix are among the cast, as is the man who led 'Gunsmoke' for twenty years, James Arness. But the standout performance doesn't come from any of these men. The female leads of John Wayne films were sometimes great (e.g. Maureen O'Hara in 'The Quiet Man') and sometimes… not so great (e.g. Ann- Margret in 'The Train Robbers'). Although the family-friendly nature of this film doesn't really give the actors room to display the full extent of their talents, Geraldine Page's performance in 'Hondo' firmly belongs in the former camp. She makes the Apache threat seem somewhat more real, and her fear for both her life and her son's is conveyed very effectively. 'Hondo' is a simple film, and I don't think it deserves to be considered alongside some of the masterpieces led by John Wayne. The cast is small, the film is less than 90 minutes long, and John Farrow is no John Ford. Still, 'Hondo' holds a simple, endearing charm - one denied to many of the greatest Westerns. It isn't brooding like 'The Searchers' and 'Red River', but it handles its innocence well - more competently than most other family-friendly Westerns.