Timothy E
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Hondo is Hondo Lane (John Wayne), a cavalry rider who arrives at the ranch of Angie Lowe (Geraldine Page) and her son Johnny (Lee Aaker) after losing his mount to Apaches. Angie is waiting for her husband Ed (Leo Gordon) to return, and Hondo finds himself in the position of protecting mother and son as his affections for both of them dictate him to act. The cast also includes Ward Bond, Michael Pate, and James Arness. This HD release still includes the intermission card at the midpoint of the film that allowed theaters projecting the film in 3-D to change reels before resuming the presentation.
Studio: Paramount
Year: 1953
Rated: Not Rated
Film Length:1 hour, 24 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Audio: English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD, English Mono Dolby TrueHD, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, and Portuguese 5.1 Dolby Digital
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese
Release Date: June 5, 2012
The Movie
Hondo was based on the short story "The Gift of Cochise" by Louis L’Amour. James Edward Grant (Donovan’s Reef, McClintock!) adapted the story at Wayne’s request into a full length screenplay after Wayne’s Batjac production company acquired the screen rights to the story. The screen story is full of enough action despite its slower moments and, at 84 minutes, the film never overstays its welcome.
Hondo was directed by John Farrow(Copper Canyon, The Sea Chase). Historian Frank Thompson states in the commentary that Farrow’s style included bizarre camera angles. Regardless of whether one agrees with that statement, it is clear that the shots in Hondo were composed well to take full advantage of the 3-D format. Obstacles are placed strategically in the foreground in many shots, and there are many other shots in the film in which action is deliberately staged in the background of the speaking actors in a manner that might be considered distracting in a film produced solely for 2-D viewing. As well, Hondo has more than the average number of dialogue scenes in which one actor is facing the camera in an "over the shoulder" shot of the other actor, and principals tend to appear and retreat more while visible as opposed to appearing and disappearing at camera left and right. Since Hondo was so obviously designed to take advantage of the 3-D process, it is unfortunate that it is not being released now on 3-D Blu-ray.
Video
Hondo appears on Blu-Ray in its original 1.78:1 aspect ratio. This film was originally produced in the Academy aspect ratio of 1.375:1 and soft matted for wide screen release, cutting off portions of the top and bottom of the negative. Previous VHS, laserdisc, and DVD releases of Hondo have presented the film in the Academy aspect ratio. Although the wide screen presentation here is the one intended by the director, I would like to see both versions included in future releases of films that were presented in more than one aspect ratio, if for no other reason than for comparison purposes.
The video quality is generally excellent, although there is a large number of dupes cut into the negative which creates a fluctuation in quality, even in the middle of scenes. Daniel Symmes performed a complete restoration of Hondo in 1994 which took over 20 minutes of intermediate stock that had been cut into the negative over the years and replaced it with footage restored by use of the color separations. According to accounts, the restored footage actually appeared superior to the original negative: http://www.hometheaterforum.com/t/320871/a-few-words-about-hondo-in-blu-ray/30.
My belief after seeing this Blu-ray disc is that the Symmes restoration footage was not used for this BD release. If anyone can state otherwise with firsthand knowledge, I will change this review to reflect it. If I am correct, then there may be footage in existence that could support a higher quality release of this film in 2-D or 3-D in the future.
Colors are warm and vibrant, and color correction has been performed on the original WarnerColor so that John Wayne’s bandanna does not change colors from scene to scene. Film grain is appropriately present without obscuring contrast and fine detail in most scenes, with exception of the dupe footage.
Audio
English speakers may choose between the original restored English mono in Dolby True HD or the English 5.1 TrueHD. The Dolby 5.1 has richer tones but both options have clear audio with no perceptible defects in audibility of dialogue, music, or sound effects. The audio may not have great dynamic range but this film probably never sounded so good in its original theatrical presentations.
Special Features
Hondo includes a number of special features that have been ported over from the DVD release. All of the special features are presented in standard definition, with the exception of the theatrical trailer presented in high definition.
The special features include all of the following:
Introduction (2:32): Leonard Maltin appears to introduce Hondo. The viewer may select the film to play with or without this intro.
Commentary by Leonard Maltin, Frank Thompson, and Lee Aaker: This commentary was produced for the DVD release in 2005. Maltin and Thompson comment on how the colors on Wayne’s bandanna change during the film, but this is actually no longer the case on this BD release which has color correction completed to remove this defect in the original WarnerColor.
The Making of Hondo (42:00): This can be viewed with a "Play All" option or watched in its 3 separate parts: The Making of Hondo (19:50), Profile James Edward Grant (12:35), and The John Wayne Stock Company (9:35).
From The Batjac Vaults (2:28): Wayne’s son Michael Wayne gives Leonard Maltin a tour of the vault housing John Wayne’s film collection and memorabilia from his estate. This piece aired originally as part of Entertainment Tonight on October 26, 1994, to promote the VHS release of Hondo.
The Apache (14:51): This informative historical featurette provides a background on the Apache tribes with discussion of context from the film.
Photo Gallery: This feature may be viewed using the left and right selection arrows on your remote control.
Original Theatrical Trailer(2:51): This trailer looks great in HD although not restored to the same full extent as the film, which makes one appreciate the generally high quality of restoration on this BD.
Conclusion
Hondo is a solid Western film starring John Wayne. It may not be the Duke’s greatest film, but it is well worth seeing for his fans. The video presentation is mostly excellent, although it fluctuates in quality. The audio is much better than average for a 60 year old film. The special features ported over from the DVD release are worthwhile, even though they do not appear in HD. Hondo on Blu-ray is recommended for fans of Westerns and particularly fans of John Wayne.
