Unconquered (Universal Cinema Classics)

Unconquered is set in colonial America several years before the American Revolution. Directed by Cecil B. DeMille, it's one of his many epic, spectacular films. DeMille had a knack of creating films that felt grandiose & were major events. Unconquered still stands as one of the best photographed movies in Hollywood history.The film opens with Abigail Hale (Paulette Goddard in her third DeMille film) on trial in England. She's sentenced to death for murder but is given a choice of accepting 14 years servitude in America. She accepts (duh) the offer. While crossing the Atlantic the other two main characters are introduced: Capt. Chris Holden (Gary Cooper in his fourth DeMille film) & Martin Garth (Howard Da Silva). The conflict is set early as Holden & Garth get in a bidding war over Abigail. Every time Garth makes a bid Holden says, "... And sixpence." Holden wins out & sets Abigail free but Garth destroys her papers & buys her, keeping her in slavery.Garth is friendly with many Indians west of the Appalachians. It's not so much friendship as it is the weapons that he's selling to them. He has secretly created an alliance with them to carve out a territory for himself.There's a bit of name dropping for historical buffs. There's much that centers on the village/fort of Pittsburgh. There's debate on whether Pittsburgh belongs to Virginia or to Pennsylvania. In order to resolve this dispute we get two surveyors: Mason & Dixon, though their roles are limited to one scene. Another name dropped is that of a young Colonel George Washington (Richard Gaines).John Fraser (Ward Bond) is Holden's good friend &, once again, Bond gives an excellent performance. Hannah (Katherine DeMille) is the Indian wife of Garth & daughter of Guyasuta (Boris Karloff). Guyasuta is the chief of the Senecas, one of the principal tribes involved in Garth's plot. Pontiac is the main chief in this plot though there's no screen appearance.Note: Katherine DeMille was the daughter of Cecil DeMille & at the time was Mrs. Anthony Quinn.There's a lot of action in the film with the inevitable confrontation between Holden & Garth. The Indians are treacherous & want to eliminate the white man from their lands. Part of this film is near ludicrous & yet enjoyable. Karloff is credible as Guyasuta yet is hard to take in this role.There are a lot of actors in this movie that were young & had futures of varying degrees. There are Lloyd Bridges (Lt. Hutchins), Lex Barker, Jay Silverheels (Tonto from the Lone Ranger) & Jeff York. There are some others that were reasonably established: Mike Mazurki (Dave Bone), Garth's main henchman, Cecil Kellaway (Jeremy Love), Alan Napier (Sir William Johnson) & C. Aubrey Smith (Lord Chief Justice). There are many Native Americans with roles in this film also that include Iron Eyes Cody in a non-speaking role ( also was responsible for the Native American dialog in the film), Chief Thundercloud along with Silverheels.Another interesting tidbit is the film has Noble Johnson in a small part. Noble was, perhaps, most famous for his portrayal of a zombie in The Ghost Breakers (Bob Hope & Paulette Goddard).The only bonus feature is an introduction by Robert Osborne. There are subtitles in English & French; & the movie is presented in the full screen format (1:33 to 1). Unconquered is a highly enjoyable & entertaining movie that just misses being an essential film.

Unconquered is an absolute delight to watch and the cast can't get any better than it is. Each of the players in this gorgeous Technicolor period piece, are at the top of their game in every way and there is one huge surprise that awaits you...Boris Karloff is cast as, Guyasuta - Chief of the Senecas! Whatever role Karloff plays, you can be certain you won't soon forget him! Gary Cooper plays the handsome Capt. Christopher Holden, the beautiful Paulette Goddard is cast as Abby, the Captain's eventual love interest, and the dastardly Howard da Silva is cast as Garth, a filthy, double dealing businessman who holds nothing sacred save money and power. Character actors are aplenty in this film and we have time in which to enjoy the abilities of the always wonderful Ward Bond, C. Aubrey Smith, Cecil Kellaway, Virginia Grey, Henry Wilcoxen, Katherine DeMille and others we know. After the French & Indian wars the Ohio territory is still a wide open and wild space filled with Indians, frontiersmen and settlers. Abby is an indentured, bonded slave, who has been shipped from England to serve her time. She is to be sold at auction but is saved from that fate by Capt. Holden who forces an auction on board ship. Unbeknownst to Abby, Capt. Holden is off to be married as soon as the ship docks and he leaves her paperwork in the hands of the slave master there! All is quickly re-arranged by Garth, who lost her to Holden at auction since he hadn't enough cash to pay for her on board ship. He pays off the slave master and instructs him to lose her Freedom papers upon arrival in the New World, after Holden goes ashore. He is to hand her over to his man, Bone, played by Mike Mazurki, another thoroughly unagreeable and dislikeable character who runs a tavern in the territory! Garth covets Abby, wants her for his own and will have her no matter what and he tells her that Holden sold her to him without telling her and his promise to free her has been dashed by the sale! Cecil Kellaway has all but adopted her while on board ship and stays with her, posing as her father and also working t Bones' tavern. Garth is intent on capturing all the Indian fur trade and is married to Chief Guyasuta's daughter, thereby having a huge advantage over any other white man. He fans the flames of hatred and pushes the Indians toward an uprising with the settlers. Watch as the real adventures begin and Holden discovers the treachery of Garth in his dealings with Abby and Guyasuta. Unfortunately he is hampered by his orders as a soldier but must find a way to uncover the truth and unmask this villain so he can prove to his superiors what is really afoot there. This film is well worth including in your classic film library so pick up the DVD...you won't be sorry you did!

Like Northwest Passage this film is a film about just one part of a larger story. Unconquered is just one film version in a series of book. Unlike the books this retelling is much more positive. The Five Rivers area (modern Pittsburg) is where most of the action takes place. A view of Fort Pitt opens the film in a unique flash back; first there is the city of Pittsburg in modern times and devolves back to its' earliest days. A great opening. The color was well preserved.The film deals with what today would be called white slavery; it depicts the disadvantages the indentured servants in days long gone. History is not always pretty. The film depicts how the English Legal system victimized indentured servants. The indentured servants were nothing more than white slaves.It is also a story of lost love and love found in the dark forests of early colonial America. Gary Cooper, the hero, is better than any Marvel Super Hero which we seem to worship today. Howard De Silva of 1776 fame is the villain and he does it well. You almost feel sorry for him. Paulette Goddard is the lady of Cooper and De Silva's desires and I can see why. Boris Karloff made a great Indian Chief. TMC hosts say it depicts Americans in a bad light. Well, frankly the "Savage" as the French called the American Indians were savage. The colonials were not perfect but the terror that the American Indian instilled in settlers is well documented, understandable and historically accurate. The film is fair to both white and red men. For children and educators this is good history.The only part of the film that was disjoint is the escape scene where the Cooper and Goddard go over a water fall and the grabbing of a tree branch was not quite optically successful. I can live with that. Otherwise this is well worth viewing.

good stuff

To make it clear. This review is for the UNIVERSAL Classic release, NOT the ODEON one. This transfer is excellent. The colour is vivid and the picture is clear with good sound. There is a special intro and subtitles. What can I say about the film? Well you should know what to expect...it's a Cecil B. DeMille epic. All of 2 1/2 hrs long. Mostly shot on (very) big studio sets, which still look good, with some glorious location filming here and there. A great cast. You spend an awful lot of the viewing time saying "Who IS that?" See if you recognise Marc Lawrence, Lloyd Bridges, Raymond Hatton, Jack Pennick, and Lex Barker (I didn't see him, but he is apparently in it) and many others. Talky? Yes, but a good epic story and I enjoyed it. A particularly good role too for Mike Mazurki as "Bone". Just to end on a personal slightly negative note. I thought there was zero chemistry between Coop and Paulette, and the screen should have sizzled instead of fizzled, and Howard Da Silva didn't quite have the necessary even tiny bit of charm his character needed. There!! Recomended to genre/Coop/Goddard fans. They don't make em like this any more.

Actually I did order two copies of it because I wanted to keep one and give one to my daughter. The dvds arrived as ascheduled and in perfect conditions. The film was made in 1947. When it came out in Italy in Italian I was a teenager and became a fan of Gary Cooper. Did not have the chance to own a copy until VCR and VHS came on the market. Now I have it on DVD and when the fancy strikes, I watch it again. My daughter loved it also and so will my grandson!

I saw this first in black and white on BBC 1 50 years ago.I loved it then and love it now.An epic of the old Hollywood.No CGI no swearing or gratuitous violence.just grat action and acting.Cooper and Goddard make a handsome couple.I think she was an underated beauty.It also has the added attraction of Boris Karloff as a typical for its time evil Indian .Of course now to be termed Native American .More correct of course but it does not have the same ring to it.Wonderful movie worth it for anyone with an interest in cinema.

Very happy to see this re-mastered version. Takes me back longer than I want to remember seeing this classic at the cinema. We definitely miss the calibre of these actors.

Good western but too long