The Undefeated (1969)

Director:

Andrew V. McLaglen

Writers:

James Lee Barrett (screenplay)
Stanley Hough (story)

Release Date:

27 November 1969 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Plot:

After the Civil War, ex-Union Colonel John Henry Thomas and ex-Confederate Colonel James Langdon are...

Plot Keywords:

Colonel | Mexico | Civil War | Bandit | Horse

Cast

John Wayne	...	Col. John Henry Thomas
Rock Hudson	...	Col. James Langdon
Antonio Aguilar	...	Juarista Gen. Rojas (as Tony Aguilar)
Roman Gabriel	...	Blue Boy
Marian McCargo	...	Ann Langdon
Lee Meriwether	...	Margaret Langdon
Merlin Olsen	...	Cpl. Little George
Melissa Newman	...	Charlotte Langdon
Bruce Cabot	...	Sgt. Jeff Newby
Jan-Michael Vincent	...	Lt. Bubba Wilkes (as Michael Vincent)
Ben Johnson	...	Short Grub
Edward Faulkner	...	Capt. Anderson
Harry Carey Jr.	...	Soloman Webster (Thomas rider)
Paul Fix	...	Gen. Joe Masters
Royal Dano	...	Maj. Sanders (one-armed major)

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish | French

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Australia:G | Australia:PG (TV rating) | West Germany:12 (f) (re-rated) | West Germany:16 (f) (original rating) | New Zealand:PG | Germany:16 (DVD rating) | Finland:K-12 | South Korea:12 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:G | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

According to director Andrew V. McLaglen, his first choice for the role of Colonel James Langdon was James Arness, who was willing to do it but backed out just before shooting began. Rock Hudson was brought in as his replacement.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When Mrs. Langdon wants to break up the brawl that broke out in the Fourth of July celebration, she grabs a rifle and fires three shots into the air in quick succession. The rifle she used was a single-shot carbine, which requires that the shooter manually eject the shell and reload between each shot. It would have been impossible to fire three shots as quickly as she did without ejecting and reloading.

Quotes:

Col. James Langdon: [on finding his men still in uiform] Captain, it is my impression that General Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox some weeks ago; yet everywhere I look I see men in uniform with the battle flag still flying! Take it down!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Jan-Michael Vincent Is My Muse (2002)

Not perfect, but exceptionally watchable

John Wayne and Rock Hudson play off each other with confidence and style in this fine movie western.

THE UNDEFEATED endlessly frames its two super-popular movie stars from low camera angles and often adds perfect blue skies above and picturesque western vistas in deep focus behind. Both in full command of the camera, regal, standing straight and tall -- here John Wayne and Rock Hudson live forever larger than life. THE UNDEFEATED is pure hero worship eye candy!

Although the story is rather flawed, everything else is A+. The music is among the best of bold western movie scores. The direction as noted above is respectful to the picture's two great American icons. It is not perfect, but THE UNDEFEATED is an exceptionally fun movie to watch.