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Hondo (1953)
Director: John Farrow
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
John Wayne's favourite John Wayne movie. Louis L'Amour's source novel is a variation on Shane, with Wayne as the eponymous stranger, a cavalry scout, whose manly ways recommend him to a homesteader (Page) and her boy, though here her husband's a ne'er-do-well the Duke kills in self-defence. The film extends liberal respect to the Indians, and even implicitly endorses a romance between a white woman and the half-breed Hondo. Page won an Oscar nomination for this, her first film role, but Wayne's guileless performance is even better: gently self-mocking, while still every inch the embodiment of the conviction that 'a man ought to do what he thinks is best'. Robert Burks' cinematography is a major plus (the film was originally released in 3-D, but there's precious little gimmickry). A rarity until restored by the John Wayne Society for re-release in 1995.Author: TCh
Cast & crew
Director: John Farrow
Producer: Robert Fellows
Cast: John Wayne, Geraldine Page, Ward Bond, Michael Pate, James Arness, Rodolfo Acosta, Lee Aaker, Leo Gordon, Lassie full cast
Genre(s): Westerns
Duration: 84 mins
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