Hondo (1953)

John Wayne is Hondo Lane, a cavalry dispatch rider left without a horse after a brush with Indians.

He arrives at the Lowe homestead looking for a new mount. He finds Angie Lowe (Geraldine Page) there with her young son, unaware of the danger posed by marauding Apache under Vittorio.

After performing a few badly needed chores — Angie’s husband has been gone a long time — Lane heads back to the cavalry post. Angie declines to leave her home, saying her family has always been friendly with the Apache.

Sure enough, Vittorio shows up. But when young Johnny Lowe displays unexpected bravery, the chief declares him a blood brother and begins to think he might need an Apache warrior for a father.

That is until the Apache capture Lane and discover young Johnny’s photo in his pocket. They return Angie’s “husband” to her unharmed.

But how did Lane wind up with that photograph? It belonged to Angie’s real husband.

John Wayne as Hondo Lane, remembering his Apache wife in Hondo (1953)

Geraldine Page as Angie Lowe, talking to Hondo about his time with the Apache in Hondo (1953)

Review:

Take John Wayne, add Western clichés and a string of implausible coincidences and you have Hondo.

There’s our hero in hand-to-hand combat with an Indian brave, the circling of the wagons and the young lieutenant who leads his troop into an ambush.

There’s Wayne killing a scoundrel, who just happens to be Angie Lowe’s husband, who just happens to be carrying a photo of his son, which Apache Chief Vittorio then finds on Hondo after he’s been captured, leading to the sparing of his life.

Hondo’s fellow scouts include Ward Bond, bearded so that you might not recognize him if it weren’t for that voice, and pre-Matt Dillon James Arness.

Lee Aaker, who plays Angie Lowe’s young son here, was a year removed from his starring role as Rusty in The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin. He played a young boy who is orphaned when his parents are killed in an Indian attack. He’s adopted by the cavalry troop at Fort Apache; Rin Tin Tin is his dog.

This marked the film debut and only Western for Geraldine Page, who was nominated for an Oscar for her performance. She later appeared in a pair of Civil War dramas. She was head mistress of the home for girls where Clint Eastwood “recuperates” from his wounds in “The Beguiled” (1971) and she had a role in the 1982 mini-series “The Blue and the Gray.”

Oh, and the film was originally released in 3D, which explains Wayne galloping toward the screen as the film opens and all those striped opening credits.

Michael Pate as Vittorio, leader of the Apache, visiting the Lowe ranch in Hondo (1953)

Lee Akar as Johnny Lowe, showing no fear when the Apache come calling in Hondo (1953)

Directed by:
John Farrow

Cast:
John Wayne … Hondo Lane
Geraldine Page … Angie Lowe
Ward Bond … Buffalo Baker
Michael Pate … Vittorio
James Arness … Lennie
Rodolfo Acosta … Silva
Leo Gordon … Ed Lowe
Lee Aaker … Johnny Lowe
Frank McGrath … Lowe’s partner
Tom Irish … Lt. McKay
Paul Fix … Maj. Sherry
Rayford Barnes … Pete

Runtime: 83 min.

Rayford Barnes as Pete and Ward Bond as Buffalo Baker watching a fistfight in Hondo (1953)

James Arness as Lennie, the cavalry scout who knows who killed Mr. Lowe in Hondo (1953)

Memorable lines:

Hondo Lane, about why he doesn’t want Angie Lowe to feed Sam, the dog who tags along with him: “Sam’s independent. He doesn’t need anybody. I want him to stay that way. It’s a good way.”
Angie: “Well, everyone needs someone.”
Hondo: “Yes, ma’am, most everyone. Too bad, isn’t it?”

Hondo to Angie: “Women always figure every man comes along wants them.”

Angie: “We’ve always gotten along splendidly with the Apache. They drink and bring their horses to our spring on the way north to the buffalo hunt … They won’t bother us. We’ve always got along very well.”
Hondo: “A couple people I know –man and his wife — got along real well for 20 years. Then one day, she up and blew a hole in him big enough to drive a stagecoach through. She got mad. Apaches are mad.”

Hondo, explaining how Indians can smell whites: “I could find you in the dark, Mrs. Lowe, and I’m only part Indian.”

Leo Gordon as Ed Lowe (right) confronting Maj. Sherry (Paul Fix) about protection for the settlers in Hondo (1953)

Tom Irish as Lt. McKay, the young officer who leads his troop into battle with the Apache in Hondo (1953)

Hondo, speaking of his former Indian wife Destarti: “You don’t look anything like her.”
Angie: “I am fully aware that I am a homely woman, Mr. Lane.”
Hondo Lane: “I didn’t mean that. I got a bad habit of tellin’ the truth, but being pretty isn’t much. I know a lot of pretty people I wouldn’t trust with a busted nickel-plated watch. But some others, somethin’ comes outta the inside of ’em and you know you can trust ’em. Destarti had that. And you’ve got it too.”

Angie: “I love you. I suppose I shouldn’t have said that with my husband dead so short a time.”
Hondo: “I don’t guess people’s hearts got anything to do with a calendar.”

Angie: “You and your silly ideals. You think truth is the most important thing.”
Hondo: “It’s the measure of a man.”

Hondo, on Vittorio’s death: “Everybody gets dead. It was his turn.”

Hondo Lane, about the wounded Lt. McKay: “How is he?”
Buffalo Baker: “He’ll make out. Don’t know much. Led us into an ambush. But I ain’t ashamed of him no how.” Bullet holes are in the front of him.”

John Wayne as Hondo Lane, in the Apache’s hands in Hondo (1953)

Rodolfo Acosta as Silva, liking how the battle against the whites is going in Hondo (1953)

Hondo (John Wayne) and Buffalo Baker (Ward Bond) discuss riding deeper into Apache country with Lt. McKay (Tom Irish) in Hondo (1953)

John Wayne as Hondo Lane with Geraldine Page as Angie Lowe in Hondo (1953)