| The Undefeated | |
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DVD cover for the film |
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| Directed by | Andrew V. McLaglen John Wayne (uncredited) |
| Produced by | Robert L. Jacks |
| Written by | James Lee Barrett |
| Starring | John Wayne Rock Hudson |
| Music by | Hugo Montenegro |
| Cinematography | William H. Clothier |
| Editing by | Robert L. Simpson |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Release date(s) | November 27, 1969 |
| Running time | 119 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Undefeated is a 1969 American Western film directed by Andrew V. McLaglen and John Wayne (uncredited) and starring John Wayne and Rock Hudson. The film portrays events surrounding the French Intervention in Mexico and is also loosely based on General J. O. Shelby's escape to Mexico after the Civil War and his attempt to join with Maximilian's forces.
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After the American Civil War, Union Colonel John Henry Thomas (John Wayne) and company attacks a group of Confederate soldiers, only to be informed after defeating them that the war had ended days ago. The Confederate soldiers, led by Colonel James Langdon (Rock Hudson) prepare to join Emperor Maximilian of Mexico. Langdon torches his plantation before he departs rather than have it fall into the hands of carpetbaggers. At the same time, Thomas, with his adopted Indian son Blue Boy (Roman Gabriel) and his surviving command, brings a herd of 3,000 horses across the Rio Grande for sale in Durango, Mexico.
Halfway there, Blue Boy notices that the tracks of a group of bandits indicate that they are planning an ambush on a group of travelers. Blue Boy and Thomas go to warn the travelers, who turn out to be the Confederates. Together the Americans repel a group of Mexican bandits who attack the Confederate wagon train.
The two factions meet at a Fourth of July party and relive the war through a drunken brawl. They then split and go their separate ways. Meanwhile, Langdon's daughter and Blue Boy have fallen in love.
When Langdon's company reaches Mexican Republican General Rojas (Antonio Aguilar), he holds the Southerners hostage for Thomas' horses. Thomas orders the herd to stampede into the General's camp as ransom payment for their former enemies.
One glaring error is that while the Confederates are in the hands of General Rojas, the characters--both Mexican and American--keep referring to the war against Maximilian as a "revolution." As the Juarez government had never fled Mexico during the intervention, and consistently insisted it was the lawful government, no loyal Mexican would consider the war a revolution; it was the expulsion of a foreign invader.
Merlin Olsen plays the blacksmith Little George. Both Gabriel and Olsen were pro-football all-stars for the Los Angeles Rams. Olsen continued his acting and sports announcing after his gridiron days were over.[1]
O'Flaherty, Daniel C. "General Jo Shelby:Undefeated Rebel," (University of North Carolina Press) 1954; ISBN 0-8078-4878-6; republished, 2000.
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