The Undefeated (1969)

John Wayne is Union Col. John Henry Thomas and at the end of the Civil War he has just a handful of survivors among the cavalrymen he led off to battle when the war began in 1861.

Now he figures to take those men West, collect a large herd of mustangs and sell them to the army for one big payday before he and those men before they head home for good.

Meanwhile, Confederate Col. James Langdon (Rock Hudson) isn’t ready to give up the cause. Instead, he’ll lead followers all the way into Mexico where they’ve been offered a fresh start under the Rebel flag by the occupying French forces under Maximilian.

The two likely crossed paths without knowing it during the war. And they’ll cross paths in their post-war endeavors because, after rounding up those mustangs, Thomas discovers that the same Maximilian is the most willing to pay top dollar for horse flesh.

But the land just south of the border is plagued by bandits. The there’s a revolution in Mexico too. And the forces fighting for Juarez just might alter some of those post-war plans.

John Wayne as Col. John Henry Thomas in The Undefeated (1969)

Rock Hudson as Col. James Langdon in The Undefeated (1969)

Review:

This film isn’t as highly regarded as many of Wayne’s Westerns, but it’s a highly entertaining romp through the post-war West with a smart script and just the right mix of drama, humor and action.

John Wayne and Rock Hudson are in fine form as the leading men, but this is a deep cast that includes Ben Johnson, Dub Taylor and Harry Carey Jr. as members of Wayne’s trail crew and Jan-Michael Vincent and Edward Faulkner as men under Hudson’s command.

For curiosity, the film also features two then-current stars of the Los Angeles Rams. Quarterback Roman Gabriel plays Wayne’s adopted son Blue Boy, an Indian scout who winds up romancing Hudson’s daughter (Charlotte, played by Melissa Newman). Defensive lineman Merlin Olsen plays Little George, a misnomer if there ever was one. He’s a giant of a man frequently called on to defend Southern honor with his fists.

Gabriel has by far the more prominent role here, but it’s Olsen who would go on to enjoy a far longer acting career, including a prominent role in Michael Landon’s “Little House on the Prairie.”

The film also features Lee Meriwether as Hudson’s wife and Marian McCargo as his sister Ann, who lost her husband in the war but comes to rethink her notions about Yankees thanks to John Henry Thomas.

Roman Gabriel as Blue Boy in The Undefeated (1969)

Melissa Newman as Charlotte Langdon in The Undefeated (1969)

Directed by:
Andrew V. McLaglen

Cast:
John Wayne … Col. John Henry Thomas
Rock Hudson … Col. James Langdon
Antonio Aguilar … Gen. Rojas
Roman Gabriel … Blue Boy
Marian McCargo … Ann
Lee Meriwether … Margaret
Merlin Olsen … Little George
Melissa Newman … Charlotte
Bruce Cabot … Jeff Newby
Jan-Michael Vincent … Bubba Wilkes
Ben Johnson … Short Grub
Edward Faulkner … Anderson
Harry Carey Jr. … Webster
Paul Fix … Gen. Joe Masters
Royal Dano … Maj. Sanders
Richard Mulligan … Dan Morse
Carlos Rivas … Diaz
John Agar … Christian
Guy Raymond … Giles
Don Collier … Goodyear
Big John Hamilton … Mudlow
Dub Taylor … McCartney
Pedro Armendariz Jr. … Escalante
Gregg Palmer … Parker

Runtime: 119 min.

John Wayne as Col. John Henry Thomas with Ben Johnson as Short Grub in The Undefeated (1969)

Dub Taylor as McCartney, the cook for John Henry Thomas’s outfit in The Undefeated (1969)

Memorable lines

Union Col. John Henry Thomas, upon informing the Rebels of Lee’s surrender. And finding out they already knew: “Are you telling me you intend to keep fighting?”
Confederate Maj. Sanders: “Haven’t we just proven it, sir.”
Thomas: “Why?”
Sanders: “Because this is our land. And you’re on it.”
Thomas: “We’re all Americans.”
Sanders: “Yes, sir. That’s always been the saddest part of it.”

Charlotte: “I’m too young to marry.”
Bubba Wilkes: “No girl looks the way you do is too young to marry.”
Charlotte: “Well, I am. And if you don’t believe me, ask my daddy.”

Edward Faulkner as Capt. Anderson in The Undefeated (1969)

Merlin Olsen as Little George in The Undefeated (1969)

Horse buyer, after watching John Henry Thomas slug his partner: “I didn’t do anything.”
John Henry: “You should have.”

Short Grub: “You aren’t expecting trouble, are you, John Henry?”
John Henry: “Trouble? Well, let’s see. We’ve got Maximilian on one hand, Juarez on the other, and bandits in between. And on top of that, we’re Americans in Mexico taking a herd of horses to a very unpopular government. Why should we expect trouble?”
Short Grub: “How come you didn’t tell us that beforehand?”
John Henry: “How come you didn’t ask me?”

Rock Hudson as Col. James Langdon learns of his band’s bleak future from revolutionary Gen. Rojas (Antonio Aguilar) in The Undefeateed (1969)

Jan-Michael Vincent as Bubba Wilkes in The Undefeated (1969)

John Henry Thomas: “Why did you come clear out here to continue a war that ended months ago in Virginia?”
Col. James Langdon: “Because I’m a stubborn man. Does that satisfy you?”
John Henry: “Nah.”
Langdon: “Because I got no taste for losing to a bunch of Yankee rabble. How ‘bout that?”

Ann Langdon, after John Henry guns down the Mexican bandit leader: “You went out there to talk. Why’d you have to shoot the man?”
John Henry Thomas: “The conversation kind of dried up, ma’am.”

Bobby Joe, of the impending fight with Little George: “He’s the biggest Rebel I ever saw.”
John Henry Thomas: “He’s the biggest anything I ever saw.”

Marian McCargo as Ann, a Civil War widow, in The Undefeated (1969)

Lee Merriwether as Margaret in The Undefeated (1969)

Rock Hudson as Col. James Langdon in The Undefeated (1969)

John Wayne as John Henry Thomas in The Undefeated (1969)