The Undefeated

"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.

Wayne, discovering that the Union army is planning to cheat him on a horse-trading deal, decides instead to drive his herd down to Mexico to sell to the Emperor Maximilian; Hudson, meanwhile, is leading a wagon train of disgruntled Southerners to settle in Mexico at the Emperor's invitation. Their odysseys converge, and when their arrival in Mexico coincides with the Juarez revolt, they decide that the good old US of A provides better choices than these pesky foreigners after all.

Characteristically folksy Western, the Undefeated has a lively supporting cast, great camera work by William Clothier, and a very inspiring idea, exploring the relation between the former Union and Confederate post-civil war, and they realise they have something in common.

It's a good western, a bit slumbering in places, especially in the first half, then after that moves briskly. It's got a mix of action (horse stampede at the end is exciting), humour and drama, but it's the two stars The duke and Rock Hudson that carry the film. Both actors are like chalk and cheese, but they work well together. The romantic subplot can be a bit contrived, though.

There's a great one liner: "The conversation sorta dried up, ma'am" when a lady asks him why they stopped the conversation and shot the bandit.

The Civil War is over and it's been pretty costly to both sides. John Wayne has lost nearly every man who volunteered to serve with him and is broke. Rock Hudson who was also a Colonel on the other side went broke financing a regiment of his own and the Yankee carpetbaggers are ready to take over his plantation.

Wayne leads the remainder of his men to capture and tame wild horses to sell. Hudson gets an offer from Emperor Maximilian of Mexico to bring his people and resettle there. He needs all the help he can get to prop up his unpopular government. Hudson is certainly bringing a better quality of Anglo than Burt Lancaster did in Vera Cruz.

When Wayne feels a rip off coming from some middlemen horsetraders, he settles it in the usual Duke fashion and heads to Mexico himself. There the parties of Wayne and Hudson meet and their stories are entwined from then on.

With Wayne and Hudson co-starring, The Undefeated was led by two men who between them were number one at the box office for about a dozen years combined. Wayne was coming off his Oscar winning performance in True Grit. This film was definitely guaranteed an audience.

The story is both men are decent fellows and born leaders. Each is trying to pick up the pieces of civilian life and each is the leader of a party looking to them for leadership. A healthy and mutual respect develops between them despite previous political differences.

Wayne gets a whole load of players who worked with him before for this part. As he grew older he liked to have familiar faces around him. He had the star clout to insure it as well. Ben Johnson, Bruce Cabot, Edward Faulkner, Harry Carey, Jr., are some of the Wayne film veterans here.

Dub Taylor in his only film with the Duke does a very entertaining job as McCartney the cook. Dub did so many westerns when he wasn't doing hillbillies it's amazing that his and Wayne's path crossed only once.

This was also an early film for Jan Michael Vincent who went on to a star career of his own. Two members of the Los Angeles Rams, Roman Gabriel and Merlin Olsen were in this as well. Gabriel played a surrogate son to Wayne and rival for the hand of Melissa Newman to Vincent. Merlin Olsen is also here as a Confederate aide to Hudson. Gabriel decided movies wasn't his thing, but Olsen certainly had a substantial career after football.

The Undefeated has a nice, easy and charming flow to it, just like The Comancheros. Wayne and Hudson work well together in their only joint outing. Less action than you normally have in a Wayne film, but it's mixed in well with some good comic moments.

As Duke said parodying one of his one lines from a previous hit film of his, "Let's Take 'Em to Mexico." You'll like the ride.

The Undefeated is a pretty good Western flick. It's light-hearted (for the most part), solid entertainment. John Wayne plays a Yankee soldier who forms an unlikely friendship with a Confederate, played by Rock Hudson, very shortly after the end of the Civil War. The two are both leading men south of the border for various reasons, and as the film progresses, the two help each other, rescue each other, and share a few drinks a number of times.

That's why it's light-hearted, there's a lot of smiles from both lead actors, all the supporting cast and, I dare say, the majority of the audience. There are very few unlikeable parts to this movie. That's not to say it's outrageously good; some of the supporting cast look amateurish at times, and the music occasionally stifles the action on screen, but aside from that, it's fine. John Wayne and Rock Hudson were two of those rare actor types who can't put in a bad performance if they try, but I don't think I need to tell you that.

It's a good package. Perfect for evening viewing, I'd recommend, as I just spent a very profitable evening in front of it. Some short but sweet action scenes, some just plain sweet romance subplots and a good and happy ending makes for one satisfied viewer. Far from perfect but great all the same. *** / *****

This moving western has Yankee colonel Henry Thomas (John Wayne) joining forces with Confederate official named Langdon (Rock Hudson), during the post-Civil War and in Mexican territory . Wayne tries to sell wild horses to the French military in Mexico and Hudson leading a wagon train to Durango . Both colonels battling it out toe to toe and side by side across 2000 miles of thundering adventure . They feared no one , Juarista rebels , cut-throat bandits, the armies of Maximilian, as they challenged an angry land and each other . The two big men with reckless courage clash and nothing can match them ,the big men ride and nothing can stop them . Through a thousand dangers and a thousand thrills they fight their glorious way to destiny , conquering desert , risks , savage outlaws , and enemy soldiers.

This agreeable Western packs adventures , silly romance , action , shootouts and historical events about American Civil War and Mexican war between Emperor Maxilimilian and Juaristas . Casting is frankly good, the legendary John Wayne , Rock Hudson . Before filming began, John Wayne had to lose most of the weight he had put on in order to play Rooster Cogburn in True grit (1969). According to director Andrew V. McLaglen, his first choice for the role of Colonel James Langdon was James Arness, who was willing to do it but backed out just before shooting began ; Rock Hudson was brought in as his replacement . John Wayne became good friends during the shoot with Rock Hudson and even joked that he'd rather have been born with Hudson's movie star face than his own. Magnificent plethora of secondaries , as usual John Ford's actors , Ben Johnson, Bruce Cabot, John Agar, Harry Carey Jr , among others . Furthermore , ordinary cameraman William H Clothier (Cheyemne Autumm , Man who shot Liberty Valance , Horse soldiers) who creates a luminous and colorful cinematography . Lively and evocative musical score by Hugo Montenegro . The motion picture was well directed by Andrew V. McLagen , a known Ford's disciple . He's a Western expert (McLintock, Shenandoah, Bandolero, Chisum , Cahill , Way west) and warlike genre craftsman (Return to Kai, Wild Geese , Sea Wolves). Rating : acceptable and passable. The movie will appeal to Wayne and Hudson die-hard fans.