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The Unforgiven (1960 film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Unforgiven | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover |
|
| Directed by | John Huston |
| Produced by | James Hill |
| Written by | Alan Le May (novel) Ben Maddow (screenplay) |
| Starring | Burt Lancaster Audrey Hepburn |
| Music by | Dimitri Tiomkin |
| Cinematography | Franz Planer |
| Editing by | Russell Lloyd |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
| Release date(s) | 1960 |
| Running time | 125 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Unforgiven is an American western film released in 1960. The troubled film was directed by John Huston and starred Burt Lancaster, Audrey Hepburn, Audie Murphy, Charles Bickford and Lillian Gish. The story was based upon a novel by Alan Le May.
The unusual film originally was meant to spotlight the issues of racism in the Old West. However, the movie is better known for problems behind the scenes than the movie itself. Huston often said this was his least satisfying movie.[1]
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An old man, Abe Kelsey (Joseph Wiseman), claims that a member of a thriving frontier family, Rachel Zachary (Audrey Hepburn), is actually a Native American, secretly adopted as a child. The Kiowas claim that she is one of their own, stolen in a raid. The dispute results in the rest of the whites turning their backs on the Zacharys when the truth is revealed by the matriarch, Mattilda Zachary (Lillian Gish). Ben Zachary (Burt Lancaster) tries to defend the family, but Cash (Audie Murphy), his hotheaded brother, is unable to deal with his "sister" being a "red-hide Indian." He leaves, but returns to help them fight off an Indian raid, during which Rachel kills her Kiowa brother, thus choosing sides once and for all.
Aside from the unusual casting of Hepburn, the film is most notable for its behind-the-scenes problems. Production was suspended for several months in 1959 after Hepburn broke her back when she fell off a horse while rehearsing a scene. Although she eventually recovered, the accident was blamed for a subsequent miscarriage Hepburn suffered. According to several published biographies of Hepburn, Huston blamed himself for the accident and subsequently all but disowned the film, although he did complete it when Hepburn was well enough to return to work. Hepburn took the next year off work in order to successfully have a child, and returned to the screen in 1961 with Breakfast at Tiffany's.
In addition, Huston was constantly battling with Burt Lancaster and his company, which was financing the movie, over how to film the movie. Lancaster's company wanted a more commercial, less controversial, picture, while Huston wanted to make a statement about racism in America.[2] The result is that neither got exactly what they wanted.[3]
- Burt Lancaster as Ben Zachary
- Audrey Hepburn as Rachel Zachary
- Audie Murphy as Cash Zachary
- John Saxon as Johnny Portugal
- Charles Bickford as Zeb Rawlins
- Lillian Gish as Mattilda Zachary
- Albert Salmi as Charlie Rawlins
- Joseph Wiseman as Abe Kelsey
- June Walker as Hagar Rawlins
- Kipp Hamilton as Georgia Rawlins
- Arnold Merritt as Jude Rawlins
- Doug McClure as Andy Zachary
- Carlos Rivas as Lost Bird
- ^ goatdog's movies - The Unforgiven (1960). goatdog.com (March 27, 2006).
- ^ Schwartz, Dennis (January 18, 2005). Ozu's World Movie Reviews - The Unforgiven. sover.net.
- ^ Schmidt, Rob (June 14, 2007). Review of The Unforgiven. bluecorncomics.com.
- The Unforgiven at the Internet Movie Database
- The Unforgiven at Rotten Tomatoes
- The Unforgiven at All Movie Guide
- geocities.com review