The Undefeated (1969)

Not a great film, but better than almost anything you can see today

"The Undefeated" (Nov. 1969) was completely overshadowed by "True Grit" (June 1969). There is no way Col. John Henry Thomas can compete with Rooster Cogburn. Some people fault this film and even Rock Hudson spoke ill of it. However, I enjoyed watching more than I have enjoyed a great many modern movies. Sure, the plot is kind of screwy. I mean, how many Confederate military units moved their wives and kids to Mexico? But people do crazy things after losing a war. It may be hard to believe, but there were many in the South who regard that War Between the States as inconclusive and that the wrong side claimed victory. You do not have to look very hard to find whole groups of these people on the Internet today. So, the movie is kind of topical in that way.

So, the movie has one band of Confederates led by Rock Hudson (Col. James Langdon) headed towards Mexico under the protection of Emperor Maximilian. The other party is led by John Wayne (Col. John Henry Thomas) who has just retired from the military and wants to sell 3,000 wild horses to the U.S. Army to get money for his men to split as a final payday before they all head home. Of course, the groups become aware of each other and the plot twists involve how the groups of Yanks and Rebs interact. To make things more complicated there are Mexicans who want those horses, too.

There are many familiar faces in the film that make it a lot more fun: Harry Carey, Jr., Ben Johnson, Paul Fix, and others such as Dub Taylor. The movie also reflects its time by casting two famous football players. The L.A. Rams quarterback plays Wayne's adopted Indian son, Blue Boy and the great L.A. Rams defensive lineman (and later spokesman for FTD florists) plays Cpl Little George in the Confederate band. The female leads are all Confderate women. The Lanford daughter, Charlotte, is played by Melissa Newman, and the older sisters (one is a widow and a semi love interest for Wayne), are played by Lee Meriwether and Marian McCargo.

There are a variety of twists and turns and questions about the ideas about good guys and bad guys rotates around Wayne and his band throughout the movie.

Not great, but certainly enjoyable.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI
July 9, 2008

John Wayne - SUPER STAR

John Wayne - a western icon, but excellent in whomever he is portraying. My wife enjoys John Wayne so much that it is not uncommon for her to watch two movies a day - that's because she has so many of them and continually adding more to the collection. He IS the character he portrays, and the viewer feels his emotion and emphathy for whichever character he portrays. April 5, 2008

One Of Those Crappy Midlife John Wayne Movies

This movie is just pain crappy as a lot of John Wayne's later films were. That doesn't mean I didn't like John Wayne, he was and is one of my favorites, but this film sucks. March 22, 2008

About John Wayne' s centenary !

In the late sixties, the Western Genre experienced a visible twist of fate, due several conjugated factors, the surrounding socio- political reality and the presence of four notable directors who lived outdoors with a personal approach about this genre: Sam Peckinpah, who literally inspired direct and indirectly to many others filmmakers. Beware of two fundamental samplers: When a director of the artistic punch of Artur Penn decided to make Little big man", Sergio Leone and his "Once upon a time in the West"and then Andrew McLaglen with "The undefeated" curiously Peckinpah was filming in the same year, that the classic cult movie: "The wild bunch", the intention was clearly obvious; The western had to come out from its inner reality; Indians against the good guys was literally exhausted and they had to search new sources of inspiration. You may realize other four emblematic Westerns that definitively were on the other side of the accustomed frontier: "The lives and times of judge Roy Bean" of John Huston, "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid" and Richard Brooks' "Bite the bullet." Moreover, there is one point I want you to realize: Edward Dmytryk, (Warlock, 1959), Anthony Mann (The man in the west and The naked spur) Huston, Brooks, Sam Fuller (The broken arrow), were besides, remarkable directors in the Noir genre, which carves in relief the Western was still alive and enjoyed of good health.

And the occasion was propitious to take a look around the Mexican reality with Benito Juarez , joining an outlaw (John Wayne) who decides to sell guns and rifles, and his enemy Rock Hudson as a Confederate Officer, who by these destiny trickeries will join forces to carve in relief the patriotism was beyond any other ethic difference.

Action sequences are of first rate nature, and John Wayne in his absolute maturity as actor, was in the verge of making "True gift" an existential drama and Hudson combine their charisma to make a enjoyable movie with interesting plots and subplots to explore.
May 31, 2007

The Undefeated

I enjoyed this movie, a great group of actor's. A little taste of history, and beautiful country scenes through out. It takes you there. January 9, 2007

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