HONDO
(Wayne-Fellows-Warner Bros.) \ HEN a lanky stranger walks out of the wasteland up to’a farmhouse complete with a small boy and an agreeable looking woman, all set in the micdle of a wide screen and filmed in colour-as Hondo begins, in other words, you just might get the feeling that you've been here, or hereabouts, before.
Even the title looks a bit familiar: a man’s name, brief and kinda mysterious. But please don’t expect the likeness to go too far, because Hondo isn’t another Shane. If you know this in advance you won't expect too much and will probably enjoy, as I did, what you see, Actually, John Wayne as Hondo is no poor substitute for Alan Ladd, and other welcome familiar faces are Michael Pate and an old friend named Ward Bond, The woman is an able newcomer, Geraldine Page, who manages to convey the impression long before her missing husband pegs out that there’s a vacant place in her heart. All the same, she’s a woman of principle, as she makes clear when Hondo gives her a speculative peck. I haven’t seen many Westerns lately, but I have the feeling that while this isn’t in the Stagecoach-High Noon class, it’s above average. It moves along at a fair pace, seems to avoid (or at least to squeeze out of the frame) the shack tactics that have marred some other Westerns in recent years, and winds up, as it should, with an exciting fight with Apaches. John Farrow directed.
BAROMETER FINE: "Justice est Faite." FAIR: "Hondo." FAIR: "Keep An Eye on Amelia,"
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19550211.2.32.1.2
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 32, Issue 811, 11 February 1955, Page 16
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263HONDO New Zealand Listener, Volume 32, Issue 811, 11 February 1955, Page 16
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Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
Copyright in the Denis Glover serial Hot Water Sailor published in 1959 is owned by Pia Glover. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this serial and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the Listener. You can search, browse, and print this serial for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Pia Glover for any other use.
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