In a bid to fight the TV menace, Hollywood sought to invent as many crowd-pulling gimmicks as possible and 3-D was one of them, albeit perhaps the most short-lived and gimmicky of all; on the other hand, concerned film stars started to seek more control over their films and this resulted in several actors setting up their own production companies. John Wayne named his Batjac and, as it turned out, he had to step in as leading man in several of his own projects. The role of HONDO was intended for Glenn Ford but he declined after his unhappy experience with director John Farrow on PLUNDER OF THE SUN (1953), another Batjac venture.
While HONDO was itself shot in the 3-D process, wisely it is used only sparingly and, as a whole, the film must certainly rank with the best Batjac put out, an intimate yet stirring portrayal of Frontier life under a cloud of brewing Apache conflict. John Wayne creates a memorably laconic character, although in retrospect, he and Geraldine Page make a most unlikely romantic pairing but the latter, who was then only known for her stage work and whose first true appearance in film this was, acquitted herself extremely well in the role of the lonely but determined homesteader woman living alone on her farm with her young kid (Lee Aaker) on Apache territory and, indeed, most surprisingly for a film of its type, walked away with a Best Supporting Actress nod at that year's Academy Awards! The film also gives notable roles to Ward Bond (as a boorish Cavalry scout), Michael Pate (as the respectful Indian Chief who takes a liking to Page's son) and James Arness as a less reliable Cavalry scout.
John Farrow handles James Edward Grant's rather talky script - whose central relationship between Wayne-Page-Aaker brings forth the inevitable SHANE comparisons which, interestingly, was released earlier that year - quite admirably and, although John Ford himself had a hand in it as a second unit director, there is a terrific battle sequence which concludes the film. HONDO was also famed pulp writer Louis L' Amour's first real brush with the cinema and many adventure/Western films would subsequently be based on his work, most notably perhaps EAST OF SUMATRA (Budd Boetticher, 1953), STRANGER ON HORSEBACK (Jacques Tourneur, 1955), HELLER IN PINK TIGHTS (George Cukor, 1960) and SHALAKO (Edward Dmytryk, 1968).
While HONDO was itself shot in the 3-D process, wisely it is used only sparingly and, as a whole, the film must certainly rank with the best Batjac put out, an intimate yet stirring portrayal of Frontier life under a cloud of brewing Apache conflict. John Wayne creates a memorably laconic character, although in retrospect, he and Geraldine Page make a most unlikely romantic pairing but the latter, who was then only known for her stage work and whose first true appearance in film this was, acquitted herself extremely well in the role of the lonely but determined homesteader woman living alone on her farm with her young kid (Lee Aaker) on Apache territory and, indeed, most surprisingly for a film of its type, walked away with a Best Supporting Actress nod at that year's Academy Awards! The film also gives notable roles to Ward Bond (as a boorish Cavalry scout), Michael Pate (as the respectful Indian Chief who takes a liking to Page's son) and James Arness as a less reliable Cavalry scout.
John Farrow handles James Edward Grant's rather talky script - whose central relationship between Wayne-Page-Aaker brings forth the inevitable SHANE comparisons which, interestingly, was released earlier that year - quite admirably and, although John Ford himself had a hand in it as a second unit director, there is a terrific battle sequence which concludes the film. HONDO was also famed pulp writer Louis L' Amour's first real brush with the cinema and many adventure/Western films would subsequently be based on his work, most notably perhaps EAST OF SUMATRA (Budd Boetticher, 1953), STRANGER ON HORSEBACK (Jacques Tourneur, 1955), HELLER IN PINK TIGHTS (George Cukor, 1960) and SHALAKO (Edward Dmytryk, 1968).