Unconquered

"I bought this woman for my own… and I'll kill the man who touches her!"

1947 2h 27m EN

👍

6.5

SOLID

🍅

86%

FRESH

⭐

6.9

IMDB

★6.5TMDB · 67🍅86%Rotten Tomatoes★6.9IMDB · 3,336

DramaAdventureHistory

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

England, 1763. After being convicted of a crime, the young and beautiful Abigail Hale agrees, to escape the gallows, to serve fourteen years as a slave in the colony of Virginia, whose inhabitants begin to hear and fear the sinister song of the threatening drums of war that resound in the wild Ohio valley.

“I bought this woman for my own… and I'll kill the man who touches her!”

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Where to watch · US

Cast

Gary Cooper
Captain Christopher Holden
Paulette Goddard
Abby
Howard Da Silva
Garth
Boris Karloff
Guyasuta, Chief of the Senecas
Cecil Kellaway
Jeremy Love
Ward Bond
John Fraser
Katherine DeMille
Hannah
Henry Wilcoxon
Captain Steele

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Cecil B. DeMille
Writers: Charles Bennett, Fredric M. Frank, Jesse Lasky Jr.
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $4.4M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

79 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Cecil B. DeMille, shot by Ray Rennahan. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Victor Young. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Anne Bauchens shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Gary Cooper and Paulette Goddard and Howard Da Silva carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "I bought this woman for my own… and I'll kill the man who touches her!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0039931 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Cecil B. DeMille directs. Ray Rennahan behind the camera. Victor Young scores. Anne Bauchens cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $4.4M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
279 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Directed by Cecil B. DeMille, shot by Ray Rennahan. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Victor Young. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Anne Bauchens shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Gary Cooper and Paulette Goddard and Howard Da Silva carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "I bought this woman for my own… and I'll kill the man who touches her!".
8IMDB entry: tt0039931 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Only 67 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
10Classified under 11 themes, including "london, england", "british empire", "frontiersman", "18th century".

The technical file

Cinematography: Ray Rennahan
Original score: Victor Young
Editing: Anne Bauchens
Makeup / hair: Wally Westmore
Runtime: 147 min · 2h 27m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $4,371,593
Box office: $6,665,592
Return: 152% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Unconquered (1947)
Rotten Tomatoes: 86% 🍅 Fresh
IMDB rating: 6.9/10 · 3,336 votes
MPAA: Approved

Awards

Nominated for 1 Oscar. 1 nomination total

Also by

Cecil B. DeMille

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2019-05-11
★ 7/10
Unconquerable, because, they are strong and free! Unconquered is directed by Cecil B. DeMille and collectively written by Charles Bennett, Frederic M. Frank and Jesse Lasky, Jr. It is based on the novel written by Neil H. Swanson. It stars Gary Cooper, Paulette Goddard, Howard Da Silva, Boris Karloff, Cecil Kelleway, ward Bond and Katherine DeMille. Music is by Victor Young and cinematography by Ray Rennahan. Frontiersman Chris Holden (Cooper) becomes embroiled in the machinations of Martin Garth (Ds Silva), who for his own ends is helping the Native American Pontiac uprising. All this while trying to keep slave girl Abby Hale (Goddard) out of harms way… And 6 pence! So it comes to pass that this really is no historical document – shock! Based around Pontiac’s Rebellion, circa 1763 after the French and Indian War, it’s a fanciful narrative that’s a right old mixed bag. On one hand it’s the story of an all American hero and a fish out of water British woman traversing through perilous situations whilst simultaneously ignoring the attraction that exists between them. On the other hand it’s proud in propaganda flag waving, with heroic verve in full effect, but is gleefully executed with customary panache by DeMille. The Gilded Beaver! It’s a little too long at nearly two and a half hours, for there are exposition passages that don’t really serve the adventurous heart at core of story, yet the collective gathering of numerous characters does excite, DeMille excelling in that department. Action sequences are splendid, the fights with the Native Americans, repelling a siege of the fort as fiery death falls from the sky and bullets and blades do what they were designed for – sort of. Chase sequences, the best of which on the river rapids with incredulous tumble and all, and of course much shifty shenanigans and stoic glint in the machismo. The Compass Bluff! There’s the blend of fun scenes with the sadly elegiac, where a compass comes to the rescue of Holden and Hale for fun value, and the realisation of death being just yards away from homely comforts is sombrely played. There’s even some sexy spice in the mix, especially when the ravishing Goddard takes a barrel bath! Who cares about her non existing British accent?! Some of the attitudes within the narrative are suspect, towards race, nationality and womanhood, and the over talky sections tip it off the tracks at times, but it’s still ripper entertainment. It be colourful and vibrant, sexy and sharp, and boisterously proud into the bargain - enough good here in fact to forgive it the misdemeanors of the era. 7/10
CinemaSerf2022-07-07
★ 7/10
It's from Cecil B. De Mille so of course it's long - but for the most part, this frontiersman western flows OK, with a good cast delivering a well paced and written, action-packed historical adventure with plenty of good old cowboys and indians battles. Paulette Goddard is sentenced to deportation and indenture from the UK to her American colonies and finds herself the property of "Capt. Holden" (Gary Cooper) but the object of the desires of the sleazy "Garth" (Howard da Silva). Her emancipation (or not) is closely aligned with the survival of the British troops stationed in the Ohio wilderness against both the opposing French troops, and the sly, cunning Sececa indians - led by a rather oddly cast, but still decent Boris Karloff ("Guyasuta") - who just want shot of their interlopers so they can have their ancient hunting grounds back. It's got plenty going on, a bit of humour, some double-dealing and enough (but not too much) romance - actually Goddard proves to be feisty (not quite Maureen O'Hara, but you get my drift) and quite capable of looking after herself. Plenty of decent actors help the stars along - Ward Bond and Cecil Kellaway inject some character and there are also a few cameos from Sir C. Aubrey Smith and a young Lloyd Bridges to keep an eye out for too. Great photography and a decent - though not exactly memorable - score from Victor Young give it some scale and grandeur and all in all, make the entire thing well worth watching.
Wuchak2024-10-21
★ 6/10
Indian wars in Western Pennsylvania, 1763, with Gary Cooper A striking indentured servant from London arrives in America (Paulette Goddard) and ends up involved in the outbreak of Pontiac’s War as a colonist captain and a shady trader vie over her (Cooper and Howard da Silva). The latter is in league with Chief of the Senecas (Boris Karloff) and married to his daughter (Katherine DeMille). Helmed by Cecil B. DeMille, “Unconquered” (1947) involves the historical setting six years after the events in 1992’s “The Last of the Mohicans.” Coming out 45 years earlier, “Unconquered” is naturally quaint in some ways, think “Gone with the Wind” on the American frontier of the pre-Revolutionary War days. Yet if you can acclimate to the old-fashioned style and melodramatics, there’s enough good here to enjoy. Plus, it inspires you to look up the real history. The climatic attack on Fort Pitt was expensive with lots of dynamite, flash powder, flintlocks and fireballs. It was perhaps the most spectacular battle sequence shot up to that time with the intention of drawing people to the theater with its ‘wow’ power. Paulette, incidentally, refused to stand on the set while the fireballs were being hurled and this caused a rift between her and DeMille. He would not speak to her for years. Speaking of Goddard, she was 36 during shooting and stunning. It’s a very colorful production despite the hokey or corny elements. Unfortunately, there are too many unbelievable bits, such as the Indians not knowing what a compass was even though they had been trading with Europeans for over a century by that point. Earlier, Holden purchases an expensive bond slave and frees her, but totally disregards the all-important paperwork. Why Sure! For a more realistic account of those times and the same area (Pennsylvania), check out the obscure “Alone Yet Not Alone” from 2013, based on a true story. It runs 2 hours, 26 minutes, and was shot on Hollywood sound stages with some location shooting in Upstate New York and Western Pennsylvania, like Pittsburgh and Cook Forest State Park, as well as the river sequences done in Idaho on the Snake River or tributaries, such as Upper Mesa Falls on Henrys Fork in the east-central part of the state. GRADE: B-