Les Géants de l'Ouest

The Civil War is over but certain Confederate units refuse to call it quits. Colonel John Henry Thomas (played by The Duke)and his gang encounters one such band of rebels at the start of this film. Then there is the unit led by Colonel James Langdon played by Rock Hudson. They accept the fact the war is over but decide rather than live under the stars and stripes head out lock stock and barrel for Mexico women and children included. Wayne and his men bid farewell to the Army and set out to make a buck or two rounding up and selling wild horses. Wayne and his men cross paths along the way with Hudson and his refugees which make up the bulk of the story.

It's a little easy to understand Thomas and his men but not so easy to understand the Langdon group. When they encounter trouble it's almost hard as a viewer to have any pity for them.

Wayne gets support from a number of actors who co-starred with him in several of his films. Veteran character actor Dub Taylor is along as a nasty Chuck Wagon driver. Former Los Angeles Rams Quarterback Roman Gabriel is cast as a native American who served for Wayne during the war and is now his main man when it comes to tracking, scouting etc. Gabriels Ram teammate Merlin Olsen is also featured as a Confederate soldier who hates to fist fight but is called upon to do so. Decent western John Wayne film all in all. The Confederates may have lost the war but in this film they certainly ate better than the Yankees do.

"The Undefeated" (1969) teams up John Wayne and Rock Hudson as ex-Union and Confederate officers after the Civil War in Mexico. Langdon (Hudson) wants to relocate his family & friends whereas Thomas (Wayne) wants to make money selling horses to Emperor Maximilian. The problem is that Benito Juarez and his followers are at war with Maximilian and this causes unforeseen problems for the Americans, who have no choice but to team-up.

The set-up of story is great and loosely based on Joseph Orville "Jo" Shelby and his Missouri raiders and their families who really did seek to relocate to Maximilian's Mexico, but had to return after the victory of Juarez' forces. The movie starts with a Civil War battle and the announcement that Lee has surrendered and the war is over, which segues into Langdon and Thomas and their people going to Mexico for completely different reasons; and then they meet. This is great, but the filmmakers add some goofiness, like an over-the-top, fun-spirited brawl between the Confederates and Federals at a 4th of July party in the wilderness. These types of scenes were fairly common in Wayne Westerns at the time and I always thought they detracted from these movies. There's a way to mix realistic comedy into a movie and a way not to and this isn't the way. Besides, how can a serious brouhaha be fun? When you punch people in the face in real life they get bloody noses and missing teeth; here they just laugh it off.

Another problem is NFL quarterback Roman Gabriel as a full-blooded Native American and adopted son of Thomas. No matter how you slice it, he looks like a white dude with a mop of black hair. To add insult to injury, Langdon's cute daughter (Melissa Newman) falls head-over-heals in love with him and the way it happens simply isn't realistic. Would a genuine Southern belle really swoon over a full-blooded Indian who visits their encampment? Would no one notice that the two have wandered off to make-out, in plain view of the others? Would Col. Langdon really not mind that his daughter is sucking face with a full-blooded Native? In our day and age it's no big deal and most people could care less, but it's still an issue in some circles; how much more so back then, particularly with a proud Southern Colonel and his people?

If you can overlook these flaws, however, this is a very worthwhile Western with quality drama, action, characters and locations (shot in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Durango, Mexico). The cast is also notable. Besides the two stars, you also get Lee Meriwether, Marian McCargo, Jan-Michael Vincent (in a too-small role), Merlin Olsen, Ben Johnson and various Wayne Western staples.

This is a likable Western because the people are so likable. For instance, the way one group is unselfishly willing to let go of something of great worth on behalf of another group blows the mind, but it reveals their nobility and the fact that they value human beings more than they do monetary gain, but only because they've found them worthy. It also reveals respect and the willingness to forgive & heal after the nation's most bloody war.

The film runs 119 minutes.

GRADE: B-

Set in the period just after the Civil War, "The Undefeated" pits ex-Union officer John Wayne against ex-Confederate officer Rock Hudson in an amiable, if uneven, big-budget western. Hudson, as Colonel James Langdon, leaves his ancestral home after the defeat of the Confederacy and leads his family and friends southwards on a trek to find a new home in Emperor Maximilian's Mexico. Meanwhile, Colonel John Henry Thomas, played by Wayne, gathers his ex-army buddies and endeavors to round up and sell horses to the U.S. Army. The two men and their followers meet up in Northern Mexico and find themselves embroiled in the struggle between French-backed supporters of Maximilian and Mexican nationalists who back Benito Juarez. The resulting film, directed by Andrew V. McLaglen, is a predictable western with enough action and friendly verbal sparring between the former battlefield enemies to entertain for the two-hour running time.

Besides Wayne and Hudson, the cast benefits from such veteran western stalwarts as Bruce Cabot, Ben Johnson, Paul Fix, Harry Carey Jr., John Agar, and Dub Taylor. However, the film's most outstanding assets are a fine musical score by Hugo Montenegro and exceptional cinematography by William H. Clothier; Clothier captures sweeping vistas of northern Mexico, a herd of galloping horses, mounted cavalry advancing across battlefields, and horse-drawn wagons fording a river that enhance the visual spectacle of "The Undefeated."

Unfortunately, the film falters during a silly mass fist fight between the Northerners and Southerners, and the anachronistic romance between a Native American scout and Langdon's daughter creates a time warp; the pairing of a Southern white woman with a Native American in the days after the fall of the Confederacy is pure fantasy. Well coiffed and made-up ladies in formal French gowns dining on make-shift tables outside their covered wagons is also a stretch of credibility; no dust or grime intrudes on their frontier life. The friendly bonding between the former adversaries Langdon and Thomas and their followers is equally unlikely, and, although Wayne and Hudson make strange bedfellows, they work well together. While not among the landmark westerns of Wayne's career, "The Undefeated," elevated by Clothier's outstanding cinematography, Montenegro's score, and a supporting cast of familiar western faces, is solid entertainment and well worth discovering or re-discovering.

Saw this film around 30 years ago. At that time I thought it just a fairly formulaic star vehicle, bringing together the grizzled, typical Wayne cowboy character with someone who was a newer and - at the time -a really big name in Rock Hudson. Seeing it anew in 2007, I realise my earlier estimate was too dismissive by far. It has a good plot with many original aspects, well described already on the web-site by earlier reviewers, especially the linkage of US civil war with events happening at the same time in Mexico. Not being a huge fan, ordinarily, of either of the main stars, it has to be said they both turn in good performances and are fully believable as leaders whom other men would naturally follow, and who inspire fierce loyalties. The dialogue has a few unexpectedly good lines and is generally above average standard. The stars play it light-heartedly, and this gives the film warmth, colour and humour. Some aspects of the film, admittedly, conform to the hackneyed Wayne cowboy film recipe, such as the free-for-all fist fight, but in general the film stands up well nearly 40 years after it was made, and it has held on to a much more modern feel than other Wayne westerns. The musical score just about carries enough grandeur to match the action and the occasionally majestic cinematography, especially the scenes involving the drive across country of a few thousand horses. Any film-lover who enjoys the more upmarket western should give this film a try. The nearly two hours pass quickly, and it's a film to make you think (about the nature of war against your fellow countrymen, about loyalty, friendship and heroism) and escapist enough to make you smile.

"The Undefeated" is one of the finest of John Wayne's later westerns, "True Grit" excepted and taking into consideration that "Big Jake" is nothing to slouch at.

"The Undefeated" is the Duke's biggest large-scale epic since "The Alamo" a decade earlier. The battle scenes and the shots of the horse drive are stirring and impressive.

Another thing that separates this film from other post-1965 Wayne westerns (except for "The Cowboys") is the dialog. It's sharp, crisp, witty and often fun.

Here's a good example of that sharp, witty & pointed dialogue: Duke and co-star Rock Hudson had just returned to their camp after being forced to kill a Mexican bandit leader, who, with his gang wanted Rock & Duke's valuables, their horses and their women. When one of the women asks the Duke why he had to kill him, he replied matter of factly, "The conversation sorta dried up." Classic stuff!

And Hugo Montenegro's memorable score is terrific - the best work I personally have heard from him. It helps perpetuate the whole notion that this is indeed an epic western.

I'm amused at some of the wanna-be Rex Reed's here, the "I am a critic so I can't really, actually, truthfully admit that I loved something like this" with their "ho hum, it's passable, I guess"; and their "it's an okay time killer if you've got nothing better to do." How too, too cool. Give me a break, you elitist wanna-be's!

"The Undefeated" is long on length and even longer on entertainment. This is a grand western.