Los invencibles

The Undefeated is directed by Andrew V. McLaglen and adapted for the screen by James Lee Barrett from a story by Stanley L. Hough. It stars John Wayne & Rock Hudson, features a musical score by Hugo Montenegro and William H. Clothier provides the South Western cinematography.

Much yee-hawing and lots of patriotic fervour, The Undefeated is a fun and undemanding way for the Western fan to spend a couple of hours. Plot basically revolves around some post Civil War rivalries between Union and Confederate leaders played by Wayne and Hudson respectively. Both men and the groups they have under their control, get mixed up in the Maximillian/Juarez revolution in Mexico. Cue moral quandaries, big decisions and life affirming human interests; as McLaglen (aided by Wayne apparently) directs unfussy without pushing the envelope of Western directing. True enough at times the tone is uneven, it's hard to tell if it's meant to be light hearted or serious during some passages (kind of why John Ford was a genre master since he could achieve it comfortably), and some casting decisions are rather baffling (hello Roman Gabriel); but it's all very spirited, especially Hudson, to round it out as a solid genre offering from the late 1960s. 6.5/10