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A little old west history

S. Brand | United States | 03/27/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I liked this film because to me it was different than most westerns which feature gunslinging, tobacco-chewing tough guys. There's a bit of history included here, and an interesting combination of it at that. At the end of the Civil War, soldier of the north, John Wayne, and soldier of the south, Rock Hudson, meet up in Mexican territory, they and their followers still holding resentment and distrust for each other. When the Southerners are trapped and held prisoner by Mexican revolutionaries, the Yanks come to their rescue, bringing 2000 wild horses for ransom, though they had spent the last few years catching them for profit. They have to fight their way through French soldiers who try to block them because the horses will be used by the Mexicans in their war effort against the French. The acting is not exceptional, but the characters do have some charm. My interest in this film is for the glimpse into its historical setting."

Former foes become allies

Chrijeff | Scranton, PA | 02/05/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"In this film Wayne, as former Union Colonel John Henry Thomas, and Hudson, as former Confederate Colonel James Langdon, re-enact on a small scale the slow and painful psychological healing and reunion of the divided nation following the Civil War. Thomas and the remnants of his unit (including the ever-delightful Ben Johnson as Short Grub and Roman Gabriel somewhat less than sterling as Thomas's Cherokee adopted son, Blue Boy) return to the West to hunt wild horses for a living, while Langdon and his, unwilling to submit to the indignities of Yankee occupation and carpetbagger rule, burn their homes, pack up their families, and head for Mexico, where they hope to join the French Interventionists (a plan historically followed, though without the noncombatants, by General Jo Shelby). Somewhere in Northern Mexico the two groups meet, and after some mutual suspicion become uneasy allies to beat off a gang of bandidos. When Langdon's company unwittingly blunders into a trap set by the Juaristas, Thomas and his men agree to surrender their catch of horses as ransom. Much of the charm of the film arises from the head-butting of the two veteran commanders (particularly the sequence in which Hudson utters his memorable line, "If I can find the *time* I'm gonna siddown and write the social history of Bourbon!"), which is, of course, echoed by their men (most notably the quiet rivalry of Short Grub and Robert Donner as Judd Mailer). Yet Blue Boy is early attracted to Langdon's daughter (despite the presence of her long-time suitor, Jan-Michael Vincent as Bubba Wilkes), and even Thomas finds a kindred spirit in his rival's widowed sister-in-law. A good movie about the aftermath of war and the healing of wounds."