1969’s The Undeafeated opens with a shot of a Confederate flag in tatters but the Civil War is still going on. The Union (led by John Wayne) advances behind a round of cannon fire and the battle is over as quickly as it begins. This, however, is only an introduction to the setting as news of the Civil War’s end reaches the troops. Rock Hudson portrays a Confederate officer leading his unito to Mexico, presumably to fight another day.
Jan Michael Vincent shows up in an early film role alongside Lee Meriwether, Richard Mulligan, Bruce Cabot, Dub Taylor, Merlin Olsen, and perennial 50’s and 60s character actor John Agar. Some of those name won’t mean anything to you, but if you’re a fan of film the faces will at least be familiar.
Most of the plot takes place in Mexico, where Wayne’s retired leader is taking a large herd of horses to sell. It takes almost half the film for the two leads to meet up, and of course there are problems. The Undefeated could be an interesting character study of two men from opposing sides of the Civil War on neutral ground, but it simply takes a while to tell its story about honor and loyalty. At two hours it feels overly long.
Despite the length The Undefeated is enjoyable to watch, but that’s because I like John Wayne and Rock Hudson as well as westerns. There are no special features.