A man oughta do what he thinks is right. Leonard Maltin proudly does the intro for the DVD special edition of Hondo, his regard for the film is obvious. Maltin, who also provides a commentary track for the film, muses on the importance of Hondo in light of the 50s tonal shift in the Western genre. A time when the Western cast off its one dimensional approach of cowboy/cavalry heroes slaughtering the enemy…

Though the premiss here is hardly original, I still found this to be one of John Wayne's better efforts. He is the eponymous army rider who happens on a remote ranch inhabited by "Angie" (Geraldine Page) and her young son "Johnny" (Lee Aaker) who appear to have been deserted by her husband. He knows that the local Mescalero Apache are disgruntled because the army have broken the truce, but cannot persuade them to…