The Unforgiven

In the old American West, an apocalyptic horseman startles lovely, dark-haired Audrey Hepburn (as Rachel) with some prophetic proclamations. Later, matriarchal widow Lillian Gish (as Matilda Zachary) takes aim at the old codger, but he leaves without enticing a bullet from Ms. Gish's shotgun. Gish runs her ranch with three very able bodied sons - Burt Lancaster (as Ben), Audie Murphy (as Cash), and young Doug McClure (as Andy). Ms. Hepburn is the fair-haired clan's adopted sister. As it turns out, a local Native American (Kiowa) tribe wants to right an old wrong by taking Hepburn away from her adopted family. Or else, everyone dies!

John Huston's "The Unforgiven" is a flawed, but excellent film. It does seem like some positive thesis regarding race relations - explicitly "Injuns" / implicitly others - was being attempted. But, however well-meaning the project started out, the end result is a negative. All was lost, for me, the moment Mr. Lancaster orders young Mr. McClure to make a pivotal killing. That doesn't mean the movie isn't exciting or aesthetically appealing. Hepburn's authenticity should invite no criticism; remember, she is supposed to be fooling even Mr. Murphy's keen sense of "Injun" smell; yet, she sounds too liltingly "finishing school" sophisticated for the role.

As good as he is, Lancaster doesn't really command the film's attention, either. He and Hepburn are saddled (sorry) with a love story subplot dependent upon the characters being aware they are not really brother and sister, and Hepburn being ready for action. This goes nowhere. There are several other great performers in the cast, but the film belongs to the "Zachary" family members. McClure as Lancaster's wide-eyed younger brother is nicely cast. But, the real energy comes from the characters played by Gish and Murphy; both have a couple of great cinematic moments, though, like others involved here, they had off-screen problems during the filming.

******* The Unforgiven (4/6/60) John Huston ~ Burt Lancaster, Audrey Hepburn, Lillian Gish, Audie Murphy

Which is a shame because after an admittedly slow laborious first third, the film kicks on from the moment the Kiowa Indian's turn up asking for the return of their kin. The film is gorgeous to look at (Franz Planer shooting out of Durango, Mexico) and benefits from some sterling performances from those involved. Big bad Burt Lancaster broods as the big brother, and it was wonderful to see Audrey Hepburn playing a down to earth character, no glam and glitter here; in fact it was kind of special watching her with rifle in hands firing away. The ending took me a little by surprise (but in a good way), and I was fully satisfied that I had just watched an involving and entertaining genre piece. If Huston did indeed consider this one of his worst films then I look forward to catching many more of his misfires. 7/10

This film, The Unforgiven, as opposed to Clint Eastwood's classic is taken from a novel by Alan LeMay who also wrote The Searchers. Both stories are about the post Civil War Texas frontier. But in this one we have the Indians seeking out one of there's who's been taken by whites and raised as one of their own. The person in question is Audrey Hepburn who's been raised by Lillian Gish as her own daughter and sister to her three sons, Burt Lancaster, Audie Murphy, and Doug McClure.

It was an unwritten law of Hollywood that no one shoots a film in Monument Valley except John Ford. So John Huston made due with Durango in Mexico which had become a favorite western location site also. Huston got some good performances out of his cast although he had many problems.

Audrey Hepburn fell off a horse and was injured for a few weeks. Audie Murphy nearly drowned in a river. Topping it all off, according to a recent biography of Burt Lancaster was the fact that Lillian Gish served as a kind of back seat driver to John Huston. She was forever telling him that D.W. Griffith did this or that a different way. But apparently Ms. Gish was satisfied with the finished product because she acclaimed Huston as another Griffith when it was over.

The story really gets going when some Kiowas come knocking on Lillian Gish's door demanding Audrey Hepburn's return. When it's discovered that Hepburn in fact is an Indian, the reaction of the neighbors and some of the family is to send her back. Lancaster, Gish, and McClure aren't having it though.

The Unforgiven was butchered in the editing department. One role that was mostly left on the cutting room floor apparently was John Saxon as a halfbreed named Johnny Portugal. Standing out though is Joseph Wiseman as the crazy ex-cavalryman now turned preacher who has a hate for Audrey Hepburn. Why he does you'll have to see the film, but it's an interesting problem.

Its parts, its individual performances make The Unforgiven an uneven film where the whole is not greater than the sum of those parts.

I wasn't expecting to like The Unforgiven. Don't get me wrong I don't mind westerns and I am a fan of both Audrey Hepburn and John Huston. However, prior to seeing this film I heard a lot of negativity on it. After seeing it for myself, I think it is very underrated. It is flawed, but I do admire this film.

It does begin in a lethargic manner and I personally thought the final scene could have been better thought out. Also, despite my love for her, I was not entirely convinced by Audrey Hepburn. She is graceful, charming and elegant and I applaud her for taking on a completely different role to any other she's played, but she was never quite believable in her role, to me her accent sometimes came and went and she felt somewhat out of place.

However, it looks gorgeous with the cinematography beautiful and the scenery magnificent. The music is very rich and wonderful, the dialogue is thought-provoking and the pace in the middle I had no problem with. I was pleasantly surprised at how ambitious the story was, the subject of racism could have easily been dealt with in a heavy-handed way like in Crash, but it doesn't thanks to the construction of the story which is quite impressive and it also helps that the characters are surprisingly credible. John Huston's direction is also terrific, and the acting ensemble is very good generally. Burt Lancaster is a charismatic presence, while Audie Murphy is a sheer delight in this movie.

In conclusion, it is a good movie despite the miscast(I do say this with a heavy heart) and one or two scenes that could have been better judged. 7/10 Bethany Cox

When I first became aware of the cast list (Lancaster, Gish, Hepburn, Murphy, Bickman, Wiseman) & the director (the great John Huston) for this movie, I just knew it was going to be a great Western, but I was sadly disappointed. The acting is good, no doubt about it, & the direction is fair, but there are a few things that go too far astray here. I mean, really, could you fall in love with & want to marry a person who you thought was your sibling for the past 20+ years?! Another problem here is that Lancaster's character seems to be portrayed as the noble defender of his family & as such, the Indians are made out to be his enemy, so they would seem to be the "bad guys," when all they're trying to do is repatriate one of their own (initially in a very peaceful manner). If the white settlers were to do the same thing, they would be considered heroes for doing so, & they'd make a movie about it with John Wayne as the hero & call it "The Searchers!" Kidding aside, there is too much injustice here that is left unconsequated (such as the killing of dozens of Indians & the killing of an innocent man who was only attempting to speak the truth) for this to be a satisfactory film for me. Audrey Hepburn is miscast here. Also, the score by Tiomkin is OK, but did the music have to dominate in such a loud manner as to drown out all other aspects of the film, including some dialog? I rate this only a 5/10.