Cheap The Unforgiven (DVD) (Burt Lancaster, Audrey Hepburn) (John Huston) Price

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Customer Reviews of The Unforgiven

Brother-sister romance? Yuck!
"The Unforgiven" is a relatively forgotten western despite having a cast that included Burt Lancaster, Audrey Hepburn, Audie Murphy, and Lillian Gish and being directed by John Huston. One would think with that cast and director a classic could have been made. However, "The Unforgiven" is nothing special and some elements of it are just awful. It has probably one of the cheesiest soundtracks ever done for a western. Also, whoever was responsible for that tacked on romantic subplot involving two of the main characters should be locked up as a degenerate.

These two characters have spent their entire lives thinking of each other as brother and sister. Yet the day after they discover they're not really related they propose marriage and start giving each other passionate kisses. Am I the only one who thought that was little bit on the disgusting side? I know women were scarce back in the Old West, but the idea that someone can instantly turn what had been sibling love into romantic love is beyond weird. Some parts of this movie are quite well done, especially its actions scenes, but the annoying score and the gross-out romance really ruined the movie for me.

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Incredibly powerful movie.
This is an excellent movie that explores prejudices, family ties, and our preconceived notions about ourselves. It is set in the Old West, but the issues it explores are still relevant today. Director John Huston has done a masterful job with this film.

Audrey Hepburn is elegant and beautiful in the role of a sister who may have a "questionable" birth. Audie Murphy is her somewhat simple-mindedly prejudiced brother, Burt Lancaster is her older brother, whom she quietly adores. (And we soon see, the feeling is mutual.) Lillian Gish is just fantastic as the matriarch of the family, and Joseph Wiseman is excellent, as always, as an enigmatic stranger. Also, look for John Saxon in a small role as a Native American ranch hand.

A must-see. Incredibly well done, with wonderful performances by Hepburn, Lancaster and Gish, especially.

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Audrey Hepburn as an American Indian?
This film doesn't rank as a classic or great Western in my opinion, but it's worth a look. The sets and cinematography are probably the most realistic I've ever seen in a Western: the dustiness, the sod-roofed cabin, the griminess of the actors, the plain (very plain) clothing, etc. However, I found it a bit hard to accept Audrey Hepburn portraying an American Indian (even though she is an exceptional actress, she isn't a convincing Indian). Her speech patterns differ greatly from everyone else's in the film, and when she says "ain't ya?" with her European-style speech, it made my skin crawl. She just appears anachronistic in this film; it's not Audrey's style or form. However, Charles Bickford, Lillian Gish, and Audie Murphy are all excellent in their respective roles. Burt Lancaster has seen better films, though. In addition, the chemistry was absent between he and Hepburn. She obviously had a schoolgirl-type crush on her adopted big brother, but I never felt that his supposedly romantic feelings for her were genuine. The lynching scene is effectively horrifying, as is the final scenes of mass slaughter. This is a disturbing movie, and although quite dated, it does address race relations between the pioneering whites and the American Indians (of course, all from the pioneers' point of view, which was typical of 1950s Westerns). Worth a look, but I wouldn't purchase it unless you are an intense Western fan or just want to see Audrey Hepburn in an incredibly unusual role.