I love Unconquered, unsophisticated as it may be. It's Saturday Afternoon at the Bijou time, courtesy of the over-the-top presentation of Cecil B. DeMille. The film is rich in atmosphere and with an eye for detail in capturing colonial America, no matter how ludicrous the situations may be at times. Yes, the casting of Boris Karloff as an Indian chief is a camp enthusiast's delight but, if taken in the right spirit, only adds to the fun.The film is highlighted by a action set piece involving an escape from the Indians and a plunge over a waterfalls. No credibility whatsoever as far as the real world is concerned. But who says this is the real world? It's the movies where the impossible can happen and we are along for the ride which includes the wonderful Technicolor enhancing of its many visual pleasures.I can't recommend Unconquered enough for those adventure seekers fully prepared to suspend their sense of disbelief in advance, and it may be the only film ever made about Pontiac's Rebellion, although, Pontiac is never mentioned.

While Cecil B. DeMille is known for his sweeping (and often rather dull) religious epics, he actually made quite a few historical films about the history of North America such as "Reap the Wild Wind", "The Story of Dr. Wassell" and "Unconquered". While I wouldn't say any of these historical pieces are great, I do find them much more entertaining and less over-the-top than his 'religious' films. But, like his religious epics, these films, too, usually feature large casts, big budgets and long running times.The movie begins with Paulette Goddard being sentenced to death or indentured servitude in America. While choosing between the two fates is easy, it's not easy to understand why Goddard was cast as an English woman--especially since she never sounded the least bit English nor tried to.On board the ship taking her to the Colonies (circa 1763--give or take a few years), she runs afoul of a scoundrel, Howard De Silva--a man who almost always played jerks and heavies until being cast as Ben Franklin in "1776". De Silva insists on buying her and is enraged when nice-guy Gary Cooper purchases her instead. But Cooper doesn't want a slave and soon sets her free--he bought her mostly to tick off De Silva (who he really, really hates). As De Silva is a cheat, liar and rogue, he pays for Goddard anyway and convinces the auctioneer to take payment from BOTH Cooper and him--and giving him Goddard!! Goddard is told that Cooper really didn't buy her--and meant her purchase as a joke and she believes this.In the midst of all this, there is discontent among the Indian tribes of the West (at this point, the West is the Allegheny Mountains--near Pittsburgh). According to this film (and I am sure today the tribes involved would STRONGLY disagree), De Silva stirred up the natives and got them to stop their in-fighting and band together for war against the White settlers. And, for some reason, it's up to Cooper to put a stop to it.Now at this point, the casting is very interesting. In the politically incorrect manner of the day, the leading Indian is played by a Westerner--in this case, Boris Karloff. Now the weirdest thing about this is that Karloff actually passed for an amazingly authentic-looking guy in the film--just like he did in an earlier version of "Last of the Mohicans".The bottom line is can Cooper avert an all-out war? Can be kill the evil De Silva? And, will he get the girl in the end? Considering it's a Hollywood film, you kind of suspect the answer to these questions!!! But, in spite of this predictability, the film is quite entertaining. I also liked SOME of the outdoor scenes--some were quite spectacular. However, and this is my biggest gripe, is that all too often, instead of relying on location shooting it was all too often clearly shot in a sound stage...too often! So, despite the nice color film and acting, the whole thing looked a bit too stagy for my tastes...and sometimes the painted backgrounds are ridiculously bad. But if that's the worst of it, I can live with this.

Cecil B. DeMille had been doing a series of films about American History from 1937 (THE PLAINSMAN) to 1940 (THE NORTHWEST MOUNTED POLICE - although actually it was a film regarding Canadian history instead). His two film in World War II were THE STORY OF DR. WASSELL, which is a war picture set in the far east - but dealing with an American war hero, and REAP THE WILD WIND (set in the Caribbean, but dealing with pirates attacking our merchant marine in the 1840s). UNCONQUERED dealt with a period that he had not covered - the pre American Revolutionary period. It would turn out to be his last historic film about America (unless one looks at THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH as a view of part of our theatrical and cultural history in 1950). His choice was curious - he might have done a film on the fall of Quebec and deaths of Generals Wolfe and Montcalm, or a film on the American Revolution. Instead he chose events in 1763, just as the split between England and the colonies began to develop. But the events deal with the situation that led to what is called the "Conspiracy of Pontiac", where an intelligent Indian chief united many of the tribes in the Ohio Valley to revolt against American settlers and British troops, to preserve it for the Indians. The result was that many settlers and Indians were killed before the fighting ended, and Pontiac was killed. That is the story, but most is jettisoned for a fictional account of events in the Ohio Valley. The villain is Howard De Silva, intent on keeping out the colonists by arming the Indians, so that he could have a monopoly of the fur trade. He is also responsible for illegally bringing Paulette Goddard into the colony of Virginia as an indentured servant. Gary Cooper is the man opposing De Silva in his plans regarding the Indians and his plans regarding Goddard. The film is not DeMille's best, but it's Technicolor, De Silva's performance, the appearance of Boris Karloff as a villainous Indian (he would play an Indian again a few years later in TAP ROOTS), and the two leads make it entertaining enough. But my interest in it deals with two supporting roles. Porter Hall is Mr. Leech, who is bribed (although he is aware it is a hanging offense) to send the pardoned Goddard to the colonies as an indentured servant. He's not in much of the film, but it is a nice performance. But better is Mike Mazurki. The ex-wrestler was not an actor but occasionally turned in first rate performances such as his love-struck thug in MURDER MY SWEET, and Joan Blondell's boy-friend (and moral superior to Tyrone Power) in NIGHTMARE ALLEY. Here he is a minor villain - a thug for De Silva. For most of the film he is doing De Silva's dirty work without a thought. But at the film's conclusion he is faced with a moment of truth. De Silva, Cooper, Goddard, and Mazurki are trapped in a cabin, but have weapons to protect themselves. Cooper knows that troops will be arriving soon to rescue them. But De Silva is deluded into thinking he (and Mazurki) are safe because they have been arming the Indians - he's ignoring that as a white, Englishman/colonial he's as hated as the others. He tells Mazurki to open the door and signal the Indians to let them go. Mazurki, showing a commendable intelligence, refuses. De Silva orders him again, and then he decides to do it himself. He opens the door and an arrow hits him in the center of the chest. Mazurki gets up and closes the door from the back. He then tells Cooper they'll all wait until the troops arrive. The film soon ends, but to me that moment was one to treasure. Rarely has a subordinate have such a satisfactory way of being proved correct over his boss.

I had heard that Howard Hawks wanted Gary Cooper to play the lead in red river, but Cooper didn't want to play a character that dark so he played in this instead. That would of been cool to see Cooper play John Wayne's part in Red River. This movie has a great cast like Cooper, Ward Bond, Boris Karloff and directed by Cecil B. DeMille. This movie has been compared to Northwest Passage but i think this one is better. Cooper is good as usual and so is the rest of the cast.