Hondo

In the rugged Southwest of 1874, U.S. Cavalry dispatch rider Hondo Lane seeks refuge for himself and his dog Sam at Angie Lowe's ranch, after losing his horse in a battle with Apache Indians. While offering Hondo her hospitality and a horse, Angie tells him that she and her young son Johnny are expecting her husband Ed to return home at any moment. However, Hondo sees through her lie, and she later admits that Ed deserted her in the aftermath of an Indian uprising. After telling Angie that Apache Chief Vittoro has called a war council, Hondo tries to persuade Angie to leave the ranch before the next raid, but she refuses, insisting that the Apaches are friendly. Shortly after Hondo leaves Angie, Apaches surround her ranch and menace her. When Johnny tries to protect his mother by firing a gun at one of the Indians, Vittoro commends the boy's bravery and makes him a blood brother. Before leaving, Vittoro promises Angie that no harm will come to her now that Johnny is his blood brother. Meanwhile at the frontier post, Hondo is challenged to a fistfight by a poker player, who he later learns is Ed Lowe. Vittoro, who believes that Angie's husband is dead, returns to the Lowe ranch and demands that Angie choose one of his braves to be her new husband. Angie protests Vittoro's order, but the chief is determined to see Angie marry an Apache if her husband does not turn up. While Hondo makes his way back to the Lowe ranch, he discovers that Ed is following him. Hondo later saves Ed's life when they come under attack by the brother of Indian sub-chief Silva. However, Hondo kills Ed when he tries to shoot him in the back. Hondo then resumes his journey, but not before taking a tintype of Johnny from the dead man. Back on the trail, Hondo is captured by the Indians, and is tortured by Silva. When Vittoro discovers the tintype, he believes that Hondo is Johnny's father and orders a halt to the torture. Before freeing Hondo, though, Vittoro orders that he engage Silva in a knife fight to give Silva the opportunity to avenge the killing of his brother. Hondo is injured in the fight, but is delivered to Angie, who tells the chief that he is her husband. Before leaving the Lowe ranch, Silva exacts his revenge on Hondo by killing Sam. When a Cavalry unit arrives at the Lowe ranch, Hondo keeps his promise to Vittoro and refuses to help the men save the remaining settlers. Vittoro is killed in a battle with the Cavalry, and afterward, Silva becomes the new Apache chief. After killing Silva, Hondo takes Angie and Johnny to his ranch in California to begin a new life. (official distributor synopsis)