Hondo (1953) Online

Complete credited 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
	Tom Irish	-	Lt. McKay
	Lee Aaker	-	Johnny Lowe
	Paul Fix	-	Maj. Sherry
	Rayford Barnes	-	Pete - Card Player in Saloon

John Wayne was originally to be only the producer for his Batjac company, and wanted Glenn Ford for the title role. However, Ford had such an unpleasant working experience with Director John Farrow on their previous collaboration, Plunder of the Sun (1953), that he turned down the offer. Wayne then took on the role himself.

John Wayne attributed the film's moderate performance at the box-office to its similarity to Αρπαγές της Γης (1953).

In Married...with Children (1987) season eight, episode twenty-four, "Assault and Batteries", Al Bundy says that "Hondo" is his favorite movie of all time, and he spends the entire episode trying to watch it in peace, unsuccessfully, of course.

Pal, the dog that played Sam, was the original screen Lassie. In this movie, he is supposed to be vicious and ill-tempered, but the temperatures during filming were so hot, he simply panted instead of snarling when on-camera. In order to overcome this, he was kept in a special air-conditioned crate while on-set, and was only brought out for his shots.

According to TCM, John Wayne won the well-trained dog Sam from his owner/trainer in a poker game after the movie wrapped.

Katharine Hepburn was originally planned to have been cast as the female lead, with the idea being that her part and John Wayne's would be roughly equal. However, the female lead role grew less prominent as the script was developed, until it was clearly subservient to Wayne's. Therefore, Producer Robert Fellows sent a letter to Hepburn's agent expressing his belief that such a role was beneath a star of Hepburn's stature, and explaining that rather than embarrass her by offering her a part she would be forced to turn down, he decided not to offer it to her at all. The role went to Geraldine Page, instead, while Hepburn and Wayne finally teamed up more than twenty years later in Ο μονόφθαλμος (1975).

Geraldine Page, a Broadway actress with very liberal political views, was horrified by the right-wing views of John Wayne, Ward Bond, James Arness, and John Farrow. However she felt Wayne's remarks were more reasonable than the views expressed by Bond and Farrow.

After viewing the finished film at a private screening, John Wayne jokingly said, "I'll be damned if I'm not the stuff men are made of!"

Originally filmed in 3-D.

John Ford directed the climactic battle scenes at the end of the movie, according to a special feature on the 2005 DVD release. Director John Farrow had to leave to start another film commitment, and Ford took over as a favor to John Wayne. His work was uncredited.

Vittorio was based loosely on the real-life Apache chief Victorio.

The Apaches all ride bareback with just a blanket on the horse. The Chief, Vittorio, has stirrups, and what looks like a sparse saddle, under his blanket.

This movie was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Motion Picture Story, but the nomination was disqualified by Louis L'Amour, who asserted that his short story was not an original motion picture story.

At one point, Hondo referred to a ranch he had in California, just east of San Dimas. John Wayne grew up just east of San Dimas.

Although it has often been described as the film debut of Geraldine Page, she had already played Florence in Taxi (1953), released earlier in the year.

Just before filming started in summer of 1953, Geraldine Page had made her Broadway debut, starring in a play called "Mid-Summer", and had won the Theatre World Award.

The plot line of this movie was loosely based on the story "The Gift of Cochise" (published in 1952) by Louis L'Amour. Hondo Lane bears a striking resemblance to L'Amour's character of Ches Lane. Ed and Angie Lowe appear in the story and the movie. Vittorio, the Apache chief, shares a similar character with the story's version, Cochise.

According to a Wayne autobiography, with Wayne knowing the movie had a kissing scene, and hearing Page's teeth were in extreme neglect, he authorized a discreet dental treatment for her, prior to filming.

John Wayne and his producing partner Robert Fellows wanted to shoot the film in the trendsetting 3-D format. Warner Brothers supplied the production with the newly developed "All Media Camera", which could shoot in any format, including 3-D, using twin lenses placed slightly apart to produce the stereoscopic effect necessary for it. Despite the fact that they were smaller than the twin camera process used previously for 3-D, the All Media Cameras were still bulky and made the film shoot difficult, causing delays when transporting the cameras to remote desert locations. Furthermore, Director John Farrow and Cinematographer Robert Burks were unfamiliar with the new technology, and had trouble adjusting to using it. Also, the cameras were frequently broken due to wind blowing sand into the mechanism, or from other inclement weather conditions. Farrow used the technology to produce fewer gimmicks than other 3-D films did at the time, with only a few scenes showing people or objects coming at the camera, such as gunfire or knives. Instead he preferred to use it to increase the depth of the expansive wide shots of the Mexican desert, or figures against a landscape.

The casting of Geraldine Page as the female lead was considered quite puzzling to many in Hollywood at the time. She had been known primarily as a Broadway stage actress and employed the Method acting style deemed too introspective for film, and especially for Westerns.

The two male and female main character names ("Lane" and "Mrs. Lowe") reappear in John Wayne's Οι ληστές των τρένων (1973), with Ann-Margret instead of Geraldine Page as Mrs. Lowe.

Near the end of the movie, James Arness takes four soldiers with him to gather up settlers. The first two names he calls out are Wilson and McGrath. Terry Wilson and Frank McGrath worked on the film, and became famous for their roles on Wagon Train (1957) as Hawks and Wooster.

The role of Angie was originally intended for Katharine Hepburn, but as the project developed and the role became a supporting one, the role was given to the fast-rising Geraldine Page, who was seventeen years younger than Hepburn.

Second Unit Director Andrew V. McLaglen directed John Wayne in Ο Μεγάλος ΜακΛίντοκ (1963), Hellfighters (1968), The Undefeated (1969), Εναντίον όλων των παρανόμων (1970), and Τετάρτη πρωί, η εκτέλεση (1973).

One of the most prevalent images of John Wayne remains a full-length publicity photo from the film in which Wayne wears the buckskin suit and military hat.

The first film shot with Warner Brothers' "All Media Camera", which was actually a two-camera rig for 3-D films that allowed more flexibility for things like camera movement and close-ups than older 3-D rigs. The name was based on the studio's claims that it could shoot 3-D or 2-D, color or black and white, standard or WarnerScope widescreen, and WarnerPhonic sound. Ultimately, WarnerScope was never used for any film, and WarnerPhonic had nothing to do with the camera rig.

Michael Pate, who played Vittorio, reprised that same role on the Steve McQueen television show Wanted: Dead or Alive (1958), season one, episode thirty-one, "Bounty for a Bride".

Although the film received high praise from critics, John Wayne and director John Farrow had an adversarial relationship on the film which grew considerably worse on their later film together, "The Sea Chase". After Farrow's death, Wayne even suggested that the director had contributed very little to "Hondo", implying that he himself had done a good deal of directing on it.

Although their appearance in the film has not been confirmed, The Hollywood Reporter news items add to the cast Martin Diaz, Jay Scott, and Margaret Fellows, who was the daughter of Producer Robert Fellows.

When the soldiers arrive at the Lowe Ranch to meet with Hondo (John Wayne) in preparation of fighting Vitario and the Apaches, as the camera pans the hillside there's a powerpole in the center of the screenshot. Ooops!

Geraldine Page appeared on three television shows in 1952, all theater anthology shows.

Mihcael Pate who plays the Indian chief was also in real life an expert in Old West Military procedure. He told later that the indian attack in the movie was not realistic at all, because Indians were experts in guerrilla and would never have been trap into a arroyo by the US Army.