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The Unforgiven [1959]
![The Unforgiven [1959]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5170E3H5FZL._SL160_.jpg)
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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review
No relation to the 1992 Clint Eastwood film of almost the same name, 1959's The Unforgiven is based--like John Ford's The Searchers--on a novel by Alan LeMay. Again the story focuses on a frontier family divided by racism. But instead of the complex, endlessly resonant demonology of the Ford picture, here John Huston aims for a pat, civil-rights-era allegory of loving solidarity triumphing over societal prejudice--and, to be sure, some noble but dangerous Kiowas. Burt Lancaster and Audrey Hepburn costar as, respectively, the eldest son of a ranching family and the beloved sister who's not his sister at all, but an Indian. However, the film's dark heart belongs to Joseph Wiseman as an avenging ghost who materialises out of the wind and Lillian Gish as the matriarch who will do whatever she must to protect her clan. --Richard T Jameson
A classic western
Review date: 2008-09-25 Rating: 10 out of 10
I can't understand people who write reviews like the previous reviewer, he is nitpicking. He is obviously a professional critic, only those people write such rubbish.
This film is one of the best westerns made, it is a superior movie to the one eastwood made with the same title. The acting is superb, what can you expect, when you have such an all star pedigree cast.
If you love westerns and want a good film to pass the evening, when there is nothing interesting on the box. Put on this film, you won't be disappointed.
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Reviews
Strange cast - Muddled message *** spoilers ***
Review date: 2007-07-14 Rating: 4 out of 10
A strange and, ultimately, hypocritical Western.
Let's start with Audrey Hepburn. Hopefully this isn't spoilage for you: she plays an American Indian. Honest! There's a certain duskiness to her makeup but not enuf to give it away in the early scenes. (Plus, traces of her original accent remain to confuse viewers.) Bottom line: this somber character isn't the best of her performances.
Burt Lancaster and Audie Murphy as brothers. Honest! At least Audie gives a good performance - as he generally does when he's not a total good guy.
Silent screen star Lillian Gish is rather good as the fierce family matriarch of this tumbleweed ranch.
Joseph Wiseman, with his modern urban persona, has the supporting role of a crazed ex-soldier who makes ominous appearances.
John Saxon, painted up to a degree that Audrey Hepburn isn't so we'll accept him as a half-breed Indian. His supporting character is unpleasant and he's treated unpleasantly. But he has a great chase scene.
When I first saw this film, at the end of it, I wondered if the Indians deserved what they got. I now see that the blame falls on the muddled-thinking of the writers of this script who thought they could make a message movie that sanctions a romance between a white man and a Indian woman while whites defend themselves against the savagery of faceless Native Americans -- trying to reclaim the sister kidnapped from them years earlier. As an American Indian, I was shocked and saddened at the film's climax.
Product Details/Specifications
Actor(s):
Charles Bickford
Audie Murphy
Audrey Hepburn
Burt Lancaster
John Saxon
Creators:
Burt Lancaster (Primary Contributor)
Audrey Hepburn (Primary Contributor)
Director(s):
Recording label: MGM Entertainment
Manufacturer: MGM Entertainment
EAN: 5050070020335
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2004-03-01
Number of discs: 1
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 116 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1960-04-06
Language: English (Original Language)