One of John Wayne’s best westerns is now free to stream ‣ Diverse Daily

Whenever I think of Western movies, two actors usually pop into my head almost immediately: Clint Eastwood and John Wayne.

Both actors are Hollywood icons and legends of the Western genre, with Clint Eastwood starring in countless epic Westerns, including The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Pale Rider, and Unforgiven, the latter of which won Eastwood two Oscars in 1993 for Best Director and Best Picture.

And don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge Clint Eastwood fan, but John Wayne’s role in helping popularize and define the Western genre, long before Eastwood’s film career even began, can’t be understated. With masterpieces like Stagecoach and The Searchers, along with films from the ’60s like The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and True Grit, Wayne built a legacy that few actors can match.

While all of these films are amazing and absolutely worth watching, there’s one John Wayne film that I think is often overlooked and arguably one of his best Westerns: Hondo.

Directed by John Farrow and released in 1953, Hondo is based on the short story The Gift of Cochise by renowned Western author Louis L’Amour. The film follows Hondo Lane (John Wayne), a US Army Cavalry scout who arrives at a remote Arizona homestead and finds Angie Lowe (Geraldine Page) and her young son, Johnny, alone after her husband abandons them. When tensions between the Apaches and the US Army threaten the family, Hondo steps in to defend them while forming a complicated relationship with Angie.

If you’ve never seen Hondo, or it’s been a while since your last watch, there’s no better time to revisit this Western classic, as it’s now streaming for free.

Hondo is now available on Pluto TV

You can stream this iconic John Wayne Western for free, with ads

Every month, Pluto TV adds more free movies to its library, and as part of its wave of over 100 new movies for August, the streaming service added Hondo.

This means you can watch Hondo in its entirety for free, with the only catch being you’ll have to watch a few ads during it, since Pluto TV is a free, ad-supported streaming service.

However, if you’d rather not have to deal with ads during the movie, you can watch Hondo on Prime Video ad-free, but only with a Prime Video Ultra subscription. Alternatively, if you want to add Hondo to your physical media collection rather than stream it, you can get the movie on Blu-ray from Amazon.

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More free Western movies to stream

Plus other iconic films

Besides Hondo, there are a couple of other great Westerns available to stream for free on Pluto TV right now, including The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and The Magnificent Seven (1960). And on Tubi, another popular free streaming service, you can find a few more great Westerns that were added this month, including High Noon and Slow West.

Beyond Westerns, Pluto TV also has a few other iconic movies available to stream this month, including Drive (2011), All the President’s Men, Beverly Hills Cop, and Paranormal Activity. Over on Tubi, you can also find Assassin’s Creed, Ghost Rider (2007), and the first three Mission: Impossible movies.