When I first became aware of the cast list (Lancaster, Gish, Hepburn, Murphy, Bickman, Wiseman) & the director (the great John Huston) for this movie, I just knew it was going to be a great Western, but I was sadly disappointed. The acting is good, no doubt about it, & the direction is fair, but there are a few things that go too far astray here. I mean, really, could you fall in love with & want to marry a person who you thought was your sibling for the past 20+ years?! Another problem here is that Lancaster's character seems to be portrayed as the noble defender of his family & as such, the Indians are made out to be his enemy, so they would seem to be the "bad guys," when all they're trying to do is repatriate one of their own (initially in a very peaceful manner). If the white settlers were to do the same thing, they would be considered heroes for doing so, & they'd make a movie about it with John Wayne as the hero & call it "The Searchers!" Kidding aside, there is too much injustice here that is left unconsequated (such as the killing of dozens of Indians & the killing of an innocent man who was only attempting to speak the truth) for this to be a satisfactory film for me. Audrey Hepburn is miscast here. Also, the score by Tiomkin is OK, but did the music have to dominate in such a loud manner as to drown out all other aspects of the film, including some dialog? I rate this only a 5/10.
Review of The Unforgiven
