Customer Reviews

Unconquered

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I waited a very long time for this movie to come out on DVD. First saw it in the movie theater. Am still a fan of the great Gary Cooper.

Set in the early days of America when many people were shipped to the "colonies" as bond slaves. A great adventure film and worth owning.

Abby Hale (Paulette Goddard), a pretty English convict girl, is ordered deported as a potential slave to the American Colonies. Captain Holden (Gary Cooper) saves her from being auctioned off into slavery, and when she's captured by Indians and subjected to a slow and tortuous death, Holden appears in a flash of gunpowder smoke convincing the Indians that he's a god, so they relinquish Abby to him................THE UNCONQUERED was DeMille's 5 million dollar Technicolored celebration of Cooper's virility and Goddard's femininity and the American Frontier Spirit. Spectacularly stirring and full of fine action scenes, DeMille again screen-vitalised a chapter out of American history. One may say that he supplied both a boistrous and sensational delineation of the frontiersman's era with the full complement of DeMille devices, even to the famed bath sequence, a dip into the serial thrillers when the hero and heroine shoot the rapids to the the edge of a waterfall, and the staging of the battle of Fort Pitt that far outdoes any conflict that was ever dreamt up for a World's Fair carnival!

"Unconquered" is a silly movie which provides more evidence that ole Cecil B. couldn't direct traffic let alone a major epic. That being said it is still a fun movie if one can overlook the absurd plot twists and Paulette Goddard's lack of talent.

One note on the history being portrayed in the movie: I've noticed that several reviewers believe this movie is set during the French and Indian War (1754-1763.) It's not. "Unconquered" is set in the period immediately following the F&I War when New France had already become British Canada. During this period the Indians of the Great Lakes region, under the leadership of an Ottawa chief called Pontiac, rose against the British conquerors because of restrictive British trade policies and in the forlorn hope of encouraging a French return to North America which would restore a trade balance. Pontiac's so called "rebellion" is the setting of "Unconquered" not the French and Indian War.

This was a mammoth production from director Cecil B. De Mille set in colonial America. The colonists confront Indians with a lot of gimmickry and daring-do. It is all based on the novel "The Judas Tree" by Neil H. Swanson and scripted by Charles Bennett, Fredric M. Frank and Jesse Lasky Jr. Gary Cooper as Capt. Christopher Holden once again gives a solid performance as the stoic yet homespun hero. Boris Karloff is over-the-top as the Indian Guyasuta. The amiable Paulette Goddard is good as Abigail Martha "Abby" Hale. Great action fight scenes punctuate this film. The moody woodland color images are the product of Technicolor pioneer Cinematographer Ray Rennahan. Composer Victor Young composed a rousing yet lyrical score. This film is pure entertainment and good old-fashioned moviemaking. It also starred Howard da Silva, Ward Bond, Cecil Kellaway, Henry Wilcoxon, Alan Napier, Marc Lawrence, Lloyd Bridges, Lex Barker, and Jeff Corey. The first-rate special effects were nominated for an Oscar.

Made during the golden age of Hollywood, this is an excellent historical drama that takes place during the French-Indian War with Gary Cooper in the lead role as a plantation owner/explorer who falls for an enduntured servant portrayed by Paulette Goddard.

While the story-plot is ficticious, it blends well with the historical saga of the French-Indian War. The relationship between the French and their Indian allies and the British and the American Colonialists. The only exception that is kind of far fetched is having Boris Karloff as the evil indian chief, but that can be overlooked since it is the immortal Boris Karloff and his superb acting.

Overall the action, the plot and the technicolor, which was new when this was filmed, makes this a movie that fans of historical drama and action would enjoy.

Unconquered is two-and-a-half hours of non-stop adventure set during the French-and-Indian War. It is also a wonderful love story. Gary Cooper and Paulette Goddard provide the fun with their on-again/off-again romance. It also has several spectacular set pieces, one of which is now a classic -- when Cooper and Goddard go over the waterfalls in a canoe. What's interesting about this is that DeMille doesn't simply toss this sequence in; rather, he sets it up with an earlier sequence in which Cooper stands under a rock outcrop by the waterfalls and studies an overhanging branch. The scene seems out of place and without purpose at the moment. But then comes the canoe and the falls and it all makes sense. This is prime DeMille hokum. Check it out.

UNCONQUERED is old-fashined romantic adventure at its best. Yes, it is absurd at times, the plot bordering on the cartoon-like, but it is also ripe old fun. Hair-breadth escapes, a genuine romance, and a surprisingly close reading of history during the French-and-Indian war in 1763. Gary Cooper, Paulette Goddard, Cecil B. DeMille, gorgeous technicolor, how can you go wrong?

"Unconquered" brings DeMille and Paulette Goddard together again after two other big budget pictures (Reap The Wild Wind and North West Mounted Police). She and Gary Cooper carry the star quality of this picture with style and color. Fine acting against a wonderful technicolor background of Colonial America. Goddard's gorgeous red hair matches Cooper's towering stauture. They work well together and create some very amusing and touching scenes. Then add Demille's suspenseful canoe over the rapids and Indian uprising and you have good movie stuff.

I only saw half of this movie and I loved it! It is a beautiful love story as well with action and adventure. Paulette Goddard is one of my favorite actresses and she and Gary Cooper give a great performance. This is when movies were actually about something and had a storyline. All in all, its a great film.

Paulette Goddard who plays 'Abby' is sentenced to 14 years slavery in the Americas, she is sold to Gary Cooper 'Chris Holden' and he sets her free, then, Howard da Silva 'Garth' gets the slave trader to double-sell her to him, Cooper finds out and tries to save her, but is captured by Indians, and nearly burned at the stake. the film is set in 1763 during the Indian uprising around Fort Pitt.