I am sure most of you have seen Hondo and Shane which was released the same year (1953). I like to discuss the two movies, and your opinion on the two. They had similarities as well as differences. I'd love to hear about that. I have seen Hondo, but haven't seen Shane.

The characters are a very simular type. I know the title rolls were played by Duke and Alan Ladd. I am sure that most of you will say that you liked Hondo better than Shane, because of the Duke's roll. So, lets not get into that either. I want to know objectively about the two movies.

Shane did better at the box office (that's a fact), it was released earlier, so that might have made a difference in it's popularity. Could Hondo done better if it was released earlier (Release date in November, 1953)? Did 3-D ruin the picture upon release?

Any other comments would be great. Keep on topic, please.

Hondo B)
Duke Head

Hi Hondo
"Shane" was released earlier which caused a critic to state: "Isn't it a Shane about Wayne?"
True, the first act is very similar: Plainsman comes out of the desert alone. Makes friends with the young boy. Falls for the woman - but in both cases, she is married. That is, however, just the basic plot. The films are as different as any two westerns you might name. While Hondo is a first rate action-film with a intimate story, Shane is trying to achieve a message about how the west was won.
Max Steiner wrote the music and might sound familiar because he did the scores on many of JW's films as well.
But if you haven't seen Shane yet, drop everything and get yourself a copy. It's worth it. It's one of the great westerns.
The Jack Schaefer novel of "Shane" I didn't care for much, yet Louis L'Amour's "Hondo" (even though he wrote it after the film) is one of the very best.

hi hondo,

after having watch both hondo and shane they are similar but different both main characters have a fight with the husband but hondo kills the husband and shane didn't. there are no indians in shane but the fight is with a cattleman against farmers the idea is the same about rights to the land. hondo gets the lady at the end where as shane rides into the sunset. they are both about frontier life and the struggle to survive, both of these movies are great to watch so if you can find shane and see it you will see that in some places the story line is similar but different if you know what i mean. they are two great movies to watch back to back if you have the time and compare them i liked both because they basically told the same story but in different places. good topic hope to see more thoughts on this subject.

cheers smokey

Hondo, great topic.

It has been a long time since I watched Shane, but I did read that releasing Hondo in 3-D did a lot of damage at the box office.

Northerner. :)

I will probably start a war with this but I think Jean Arthur in Shane was much better looking than Geraldine Page. The movie Shane portrayed a young boy and Alan Ladd in a very believeable story line.

Of course John Wayne had to cope with the killing of the boys dad and in Shane the father was alive and there was more of contest between the father (greenhorn) and Alan Ladd an expert in everything.

I will throw in that I wish they had found a different actress than Patricia Neal to play opposite John Wayne in some other movies.

Chisum,

I agree with you about Jean Arthur, she was totally hot, and in much demand. Her credits include, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Lady Takes A Chance (with Duke), The Plainsman, You Can't Take It With You, Mr. Deeds Goes To Town, Only Angels Have Wings, The Talk of the Town, and Shane. Not crazy about her voice, but makes it up with beauty. Anyway, I wasn't crazy about Page at all, and she admitted that she was a plain woman, so I will simply agree with her.

Hondo B)
Duke Head

You're right guys, Jean Arthur is a true Babe with a capital "B".


Chester

JW himself would probably agree. There are a lot of reports that he and Page didn't get along too well, mainly because Mrs Page didn't use soap. It think it was Chuck Roberson in his book "Fall Guy" who wrote JW lost his nerve when she ate with her fingers at one time. But then - she was nominated for Best Actress!

Chisum,

I don't think anyone is going to go to war over Geraldine Page so don't worry. Jean Arthur was a rocket! According to 'John Wayne American', Geraldine was something of a tramp on set as well as being a swine.

Northerner.

All this talk has me hankerin' to head out to the video store to rent both Hondo and Shane and watch them together. Hondo is next on our "buy" list, but I want to see it at the same time as Shane, so we'll rent it this time around.

I just read an incredibly interesting article about the movie Shane, and here's the link for those of you who might be interested:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mccandlestex...as/message/7925 (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mccandlestexas/message/7925)

It is written by a Michael Blake, who wrote a book called Code of Honor: The Making of Three Great American Westerns -- 'High Noon,' 'Shane' and 'The Searchers' published by Taylor Trade Press.

(Itdo probably already has a copy of this book on his shelf :D )

Enjoy!

Chester

P.S. I'll be back in a few days to let you know my thoughts on these two movies.

Nope, I haven't! There are so many books about the subject western out there, and after reading some they start repeating the same stuff all over again. But let me know if this one is any good if you're going to read it!

Well, we did run out and rent both Shane and Hondo, though we didn't watch them in one sitting. Of course, being good John Wayne fans, we watched Hondo first.

Both of them were outstanding westerns of that era. Until reading it here, I hadn't realized that Hondo was originally released in 3-D, but while watching it, some scenes were obviously geared to a 3-D effect.

While Shane was an excellent movie, Hondo left me with a better feeling at the end. In Shane, I was disappointed at the wimpy settlers who didn't have the gumption to pull a gun on the bully cattleman. The Indian/settler chase near the end of Hondo was definitely dynamic, and Ward Bond was great - no wimps in that crowd!

One difference was in the husbands portrayed in the films. In Hondo, the husband was a jerk, and you weren't sorry to see him get killed. In Shane, Joe Starrett was a fine man who loved his wife and son and was trying to do what was best for them. His wife's attraction was most likely a fleeting infatuation - she had a good man, and she knew it.

As far as which movie was the best, it would be interesting to find out how many VHS copies of Shane have sold compared to the same statistic for Hondo, or more currently, DVDs. There are probably statistics somewhere that show how much profit each movie has made since both came out in 1953.

If I think of anything else, I'll be back . . . . ;)

Chester

hi chester,

so what did you really think of shane :D only pulling your leg yes of the two i did like hondo the best so did the little fella (bloke) but we had to be critics for a change so that is what i tried to do though not very well i think :lol: as we love dukes movies the best. to change the subject found out that we can get multi zone dvd players here though they cost a pretty penny. am looking forward to starting up my dvd collection very soon. hope to catch up soon

cheers smokey :)

I saw Hondo for the first time when I was 8yrs old. My folks were divorced and in the 50's that was unique. Here came this man rescuing the boy and his mother. I'm convinced I adopted The Duke as a father figure. A guy could do worse. So, my opinion of the films is certainly biased. They are both classics in my opinion. Shane obviously being the darker of the two. The acting is superb. I especially enjoy Ben Johnson's Chris. Hondo is a great example of the group of friends enjoying working together ie Wayne, Ward Bond, James Arness etc. An interesting footnote to Hondo is that since The duke was producing the movie,he wanted Glenn Ford to play Hondo. The company distributing and helping back the film said it would only back it if Wayne played the lead. We need Hondo on DVD

I remember about 10 years or so back, Michael Wayne made a fine deal with Hondo, and it seemed everybody was jumping on the bandwagon: The TV premiere was widely advertised as being in 3-D, and Burger King (or some other burger joint, my memory is clouded about that) was giving out the special Hondo 3-D-glasses (still have mine). The 3-D-effect was pretty cool, I hope they try something like that when bringing it to DVD. Michael Wayne said in an interview at that time that he held back Hondo for so long because he was looking for the right way to show it in 3-D again. Maybe that's a reason what's holding up the DVD release.

Did you know that Hondo's dog "Sam" was actually "Lassie" (well, one of the Lassies they used) with a good hair spraying? One night, JW won him in one infamous poker game from the dog trainer but gave it back the following day.

Hondo vs. Shane, Hondo hands down. I have never been an Alan Ladd fan.
I think the only movie I cared for by him was the McConnle Story

Brian
Tulalip wa