What defines a genre? Is it a set of pre-established or agreed upon conventions? Is it a specific aesthetic or sort of character followed? When it comes to the Western, the genre is recognizable by those who know it best—and sometimes, that includes the characters within it. If there’s a single concluding line spoken by John Wayne in his big-screen horse operas that most perfectly defines the genre, it’s undoubtedly Hondo Lane's final remarks about the Apache in Hondo. In just a few short words, the hero makes it clear what this genre is truly all about.
As the titular hero watches the Apache take off in retreat, hoping to regroup before their next conflict with the U.S. Cavalry, Buffalo Baker (underrated Hollywood talent Ward Bond) notes that this will be the end of the tribe. “Yeah. End of a way of life. Too bad, it's a good way,” Hondo replies before urging the wagons forward. It’s a small moment of pause and reflection that, on the surface, appears to be nothing more than Hondo acknowledging the fading dominion of the Apache. However, upon further examination, we can see that it’s a line that speaks rivers of truth into the genre itself. The Western is largely about a period in American history that bridges the gap between the untamed West and the civilization that followed. Countless Western protagonists, Hondo included, are caught between the gun-toting life they’ve always known and the coming progress that threatens to strip down that identity for the sake of a more "tamed" society.
Many a Western teases the “end of the Wild West.” It's a common theme in the genre that reaches from some of the Duke's earliest pictures to his last. In this regard, perhaps Hondo is no different. The Western hero, unless domesticated, has no place in this new, "civilized" world. This line uttered by the Duke reflects the constant struggle that genre heroes—including folks like Alan Ladd’s Shane, Paul Newman and Robert Redford’s Butch and Sundance, or even Clint Eastwood’s “Man With No Name”—endure with each new interpretation. Hondo may be one of the best examples of the basic horse opera plot—one based on a short story by famed Western author Louis L'Amour—but it concludes with a sober-minded reflection that speaks to the Western genre as a whole, no matter what form it takes. (Consider reading the novelization, by the way, which L'Amour penned himself and can easily be finished in a weekend!)
The Western "way" of living was always best embodied on the big screen by John Wayne. Hondo is just one of many examples of Duke-led horse operas that could easily define the genre. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Stagecoach, The Cowboys, Rio Bravo, True Grit, and, of course, The Searchers are the most obvious films that come to mind. But none of them conclude with these simple words that remind the viewer just what the genre is about — and just like the Wild West era of history came to an end, so too does the Western film continue to remind us that this brief window into American history is a limited period, and the Western heroes are no more. Perhaps this side of Wayne's decades-long career, we can best understand that idea. After all, the Western genre is not at the same height that it was when it dominated film, television, and radio in postwar America.
Perhaps there's something to the fact that the genre's golden age concluded in the mid-1970s, around the same time John Wayne himself rounded out his career. In 1975, Gunsmoke, the long-running television series that Wayne helped launch in 1955, came to an abrupt end the same way the Wild West era did itself. A year later, the Duke's final on-screen role as J.B. Books in The Shootist premiered in theaters. This was a far cry from Hondo, but there's no doubt that, by looking at the past, the 1953 picture was able to predict the Western's future. Of course, the Western itself has never completely died. Its popularity may have waned over the years, but the horse opera continues to captivate viewers today for the same reason it did back when Hondo hit theaters — folks are looking back at a time long past, hoping it will reveal something more about our future.
Hondo is available for streaming on Prime Video.
