Customer Reviews

The Unforgiven [VHS]

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I've always wondered why this film is never spoken in the same breath with "Shane" or "The Searchers". "Great" Westerns are usually described as being epic in scale, but "The Unforgiven" has an authentic feel to it. From the dusty look everything has, to the sod hut the family lives in, to the realistic period dress, this movie has a look that is unlike any other I have seen. The DVD has the best print and sound I have seen and heard since the film was released in 1960, with sharper definition and bolder colors than before (obviously better than the VHS tape). Some viewers may find tiny faults here and there, but overall this film needs to be viewed by any lover of Western movies.

This is the best western I have ever seen. I knew it would be a classic at age 10 when I first saw it in a movie theater in Tacoma, Washington. And time has not changed that. I would give it 6 stars, if possible. The cast and their performances are brilliant, especially Charles Bickford as the clan patriarch, Burt Lancaster, Audrey Hepburn, and all the others. The music is grand and the plot is ever so interesting. No western that I have ever seen has even come close to undertaking the complexities of race relations (a term scarcely known in 1850) in the Wild West. One of the most intense scenes I have ever seen on film is when they are about to hang the old Hunter, Abe Kelsey. This is simply a John Huston masterpiece. Every camera shot is outstanding and the dialog is superb. You can never forget Kelsey's warning, "You ALL turn to devils! Devils!" Incidentally, altho I have forgotten his real name (John Wiseman?) I believe he also had a bit part in "Masada" as another type of prophet-patriarch. Forget about the fluff & huff of modern, politically correct "westerns" of today's producers, with their blow-dried hair doos. If you want an authentic western at its best, this is a must see. And you're entire family can watch it. No -F- words, of course. That in itself is testimony to another era of golden film making -- all acting, no cheapness. "The Unforgiven" goes into my book as one of the top 10, all time great movies.

This is an excellent movie that explores prejudices, family ties, and our preconceived notions about ourselves. It is set in the Old West, but the issues it explores are still relevant today. Director John Huston has done a masterful job with this film.

Audrey Hepburn is elegant and beautiful in the role of a sister who may have a "questionable" birth. Audie Murphy is her somewhat simple-mindedly prejudiced brother, Burt Lancaster is her older brother, whom she quietly adores. (And we soon see, the feeling is mutual.) Lillian Gish is just fantastic as the matriarch of the family, and Joseph Wiseman is excellent, as always, as an enigmatic stranger. Also, look for John Saxon in a small role as a Native American ranch hand.

A must-see. Incredibly well done, with wonderful performances by Hepburn, Lancaster and Gish, especially.

This film doesn't rank as a classic or great Western in my opinion, but it's worth a look. The sets and cinematography are probably the most realistic I've ever seen in a Western: the dustiness, the sod-roofed cabin, the griminess of the actors, the plain (very plain) clothing, etc. However, I found it a bit hard to accept Audrey Hepburn portraying an American Indian (even though she is an exceptional actress, she isn't a convincing Indian). Her speech patterns differ greatly from everyone else's in the film, and when she says "ain't ya?" with her European-style speech, it made my skin crawl. She just appears anachronistic in this film; it's not Audrey's style or form. However, Charles Bickford, Lillian Gish, and Audie Murphy are all excellent in their respective roles. Burt Lancaster has seen better films, though. In addition, the chemistry was absent between he and Hepburn. She obviously had a schoolgirl-type crush on her adopted big brother, but I never felt that his supposedly romantic feelings for her were genuine. The lynching scene is effectively horrifying, as is the final scenes of mass slaughter. This is a disturbing movie, and although quite dated, it does address race relations between the pioneering whites and the American Indians (of course, all from the pioneers' point of view, which was typical of 1950s Westerns). Worth a look, but I wouldn't purchase it unless you are an intense Western fan or just want to see Audrey Hepburn in an incredibly unusual role.

Tempers reach a fever pitch and a post-Civil War Texas community threatens to explode when people begin to suspect the adopted daughter of a respected family is a Kiowa Indian.

John Huston directed THE UNFORGIVEN in 1960, one of the last of the `message' westerns of that era which includes such notables as BROKEN ARROW (message = practice racial tolerance) and HIGH NOON (message = McCarthyism is bad.) I'm not a big fan of message westerns. Too often the sermon drowns out the story. As they used to say, if I want a message I'll call Western Union.

Still, Huston was one of the smartest directors around and the cast - Audrey Hepburn, Burt Lancaster, Lillian Gish, and Audie Murphy - are all first-rate.

Audrey Hepburn, the luminous Audrey Hepburn, plays the young woman was a foundling and now is the subject of an increasingly acrimonious dispute over her pedigree. Gish plays the foster mother and Lancaster and Murphy the Kiowa-hating half-brothers. Murphy a little top heavy with hate, Lancaster a little light in the keel when called on to remember the brother part. They aren't really kin, one coyly tells the other early on.

The first half of THE UNFORGIVEN is pretty interesting. There's a wild, one-eyed wraith, dressed in torn and faded Confederate gray, claiming to be the `sword of God' and warning any and all of Hepburn's true heritage. A young John Saxon plays a half-breed wrangler named Portugal who... well, rather mysteriously disappears rather early on. It has nothing to do with the plot per se, it's just that his character suddenly just isn't in the movie anymore. And that's the rub. Huston builds and maintains an intriguing story up until the last act, which is nothing more than a protracted shoot-`em-up that ends with survivors locking hands and singing Kumbaiyah. Huston usually tacks a brilliant ending onto his movies, and the one here is lame by anyone's standards. I think I know why this is so.

According to a reliable internet source THE UNFORGIVEN was attended by more than its share of misfortune leading to tragedy. Hepburn, pregnant during filming, was seriously injured in a horse riding accident between scenes. She was hospitalized, returned in a neck brace, and after the movie was completed ultimately miscarried the baby. Director John Huston blamed himself for the accident and reportedly hated this movie. Huston's disdain is, I think, apparent. How else to explain an interesting set-up followed by one of the weakest last acts he ever filmed? My guess is that somewhere along the line Huston simply lost interest in the movie, and he wrapped it up in a tried and true and uninspirited and insipid manner.

THE UNFORGIVEN is okay, not great and not always really very good. One of Huston's lesser efforts.

Not to be confused with Clint Eastwood's 1992 film "Unforgiven", "THE Unforgiven" is a 1960 John Huston film that is almost worthy of joining Eastwood's as one of the top ten westerns of all-time. That it falls slightly short of that status could be because Huston withdrew from the project in post-production, after the studio insisted on toning down his message of racial tolerance to give the film more commercial appeal. Although this tampering tends to cloud his political message, it is still there if you do conduct a little analysis. "The Unforgiven" does lay claim to the distinction of being the most ambitious western of all time.

Based on an Alan LeMay novel, as was John Ford's "The Searchers", "The Unforgiven" presents the flip side of the search for a missing sister. Here it is an Indian looking for his sister who was abducted as a baby by a white man and then adopted by his family. The obvious complaint is that the Indians are the villains in both films. But there is a distinction as the little girl in "The Searchers" was abducted when she was nine years old and she retained a desire to be reunited with her white family. The girl in "The Unforgiven", Rachel (played by Audrey Hepburn), has only known her adopted family.

John Huston once said that a good story should have "excitement, color, spectacle and humor, adventure, high drama, tragedy, good conversation, truth and irony". Even the studio cut of "The Unforgiven" does a pretty good job of bringing all these elements to the screen. The most obvious sign of studio tampering is the inconsistency in John Saxon's character (Johnny Portugal), a half-breed who is often harassed by the local cowboys and is meticulously set up to be Ben's (Burt Lancaster) rival for Rachel's affections. But Portugal mysteriously disappears from the film by the half-way point and there is no attempt to resolve his situation with Ben and Rachel.

Ben is the eldest son of a ranching family. Audie Murphy is the middle brother Cash. Doug McClure is Andy, the youngest brother. Lillian Gish is their mother Mattilda.

The film's title refers to the attitude of Abe Kelsey (Joseph Wiseman-later to play Dr. No), a bearded half-crazy avenger who has tormented the family for many years, ever since his son was abducted by the Indians and Ben's father refused to trade Rachel for Abe's son. The twist is that only Wiseman and Gish know that Rachel's biological parents were Indians, everyone else (including Rachel) believes that she was the only survivor of a massacred settler family.

Rachel has grown up to be a loving and happy young woman. Huston's intention is to demonstrate that one race is not inferior to another; that while cultural differences are very real, there is no biological reason for racism. When Rachel's actual parentage is revealed it divides the family; Cash leaves to go on a wild bender, the other two brothers distance themselves from Rachel and she from them, and the surrounding settlers shun the family.

One scene is absolutely riveting, Rachel is comforting the mother (played by June Walker) of the boy she was to marry. Walker slowly looks up at her and then suddenly goes absolutely ballistic. Hepburn's stunned reaction appears to be absolutely genuine, as if Huston had altered the script and not told her about the change.

Interestingly, the climax actually occurs just after this and before the final shoot-out. The Indians come to the homestead to take Rachel. She attempts to join them, reasoning that they will spare her family once they have her. Ben physically restrains her and has Andy shoot one of Indians, rendering Rachel's intended sacrifice useless because the Indians will now attack to avenge the killing. But more important, this demonstrates to Rachel that they still consider her their sister, the first sign of this since everyone learned of her Indian parentage.

You can quibble that Hepburn is physically miscast, at a minimum they should have made her hair darker, but the story requires that the character look "non-Indian" as she has been successfully passing for a white girl for many years. Watch for the scene where she is outside a coral watching as they break horses. She simply glows in this shot. How ironic that someone who was so closely associated with high fashion and glamor would look even more beautiful as a dusty tomboy and as a dirty-faced flower girl.

My only real criticism of the film is the moronic nature of the final shootout. There was no need for a war party, a handful of Indians would have been better. Otherwise this is a thoughtful and entertaining story that moves along briskly as Huston nicely crafts a number of rounded characters. He utilizes a variety of camera angles and positions, which enhance the story without drawing attention to the technique. Lancaster is excellent as man of character and conviction who manages to convey the conflict between brotherly love for his adopted little sister and the growing sexual attraction between them. Gish is amazing and Murphy turned in the best performance of the whole ensemble, playing against type and showing an unexpected range.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

THE UNFORGIVEN has always been one of my favorite films right up there with THE BIG COUNTRY and THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN. I have seen it many times. I love Dimitri Tiomkin's score and the photography. It is a very atmospheric and somewhat offbeat film. Tiomkin's score was recorded over in Italy giving it a very lyrical sound. It has always been an endearing film for me. The casting adds to the unusual mood of this film. Some character actors give some of their best performances in this film. John Saxon as Johnny Portugal, Audie Murphy as Cash Zachary and especially Joseph Wiseman as the mysterious and enigmatic Abe Kelsey add to the atmosphere and depth of this film. Abe Kelsey is such a ghostlike character coming into view and then quickly vanishing into the dustbowl moodily filmed by cinematographer Franz Planer. Some of the images are disturbing such as seeing Albert Salmi as suitor Charlie Rawlins meeting a rather grotesque and heartbreaking demise impaled with Kiawa arrows. The dramatics of this film are deep examining the nature of the human soul and seemingly unmotivated bigotry. Burt Lancaster as Ben Zachary and Audrey Hepburn as Rachel Zachary give gripping performances. Lillian Gish's performance as Mattilda Zachary is cruelly demented as juxtaposed against that Wiseman's non-malicious Abe Kelsey who holds a key to the truth behind the tale. There are hidden secrets and hatreds and loyalties that the entire cast of characters comes to grips with. This is a classic film from director John Huston whether recognized for that distinction or not.

This was a very good movie showing descrimination against Indians. Audie Murphy as Cash was a perfect example of hatred for Indians, even though she had been raised his adopted sister,during the time depicted. Burt was Burt (great) as well as Hepburn (awsome).

But for a weak ending The Unforgiven would be up there with the Searchers, Shane, Gunfight at the OK Corral and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence as one of the greatest westerns ever made. Sorry I forgot to include the Magnificent Seven.

This is a dark film and for it's time (1960) very bold. It is a film about racism. Burt Lancaster plays the head of pioneer family who with his mother. Lilian Gish, and his brothers Audie Murphy and Doug McClure live a sod roofed house, shack would never the mark, and ranch cattle. The problem is that the brothers have an adopted sister, Audrey Hepburn, whose family were killed by the Indians. It is clear that Lancaster and Hepburn have feelings for each other, which may not quite be incest but are near enough to make the viewer uneasy.

However the real problems come when a crazed figure from the past played by John Wiseman, reveals that Hepburn is in fact not from a White family killed by the Indians, but from an Indian family killed by the Whites. The racist feelings are so strong that Audie Murphy leaves the family in disgust. The family's neighbour and partner (Charles Bickford) also turns his back on them. Then the Indians (Kiowas) turn up and demand that Hepburn is returned them.

What makes this film stand out are it's dark themes and it's realism. Unlike most Westerns, in this film you do get the feel of how isolated a Texas ranch was and the main features of the landscape are dust, dust and more dust.

John Huston who can normally do no wrong may be unforgiven for the ending, which I will not reveal but this is still a film worth watching and for 1960, pretty brave.

Excellent film. I never heard of this movie & iam a huge fan of Audrey Hepburn. This film which is such a powerful western about racism & shows us what true love is , remains a forgotten classic which will hold & command anyones attension who is fortunate to see this movie. Hepburn is so beautiful & earthy , I never saw her like this. Watch it! You won't be sorry!