Unconquered

Unconquered is a 1947 American historical epic adventure film produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Gary Cooper and Paulette Goddard. The supporting cast features Boris Karloff, Cecil Kellaway, Ward Bond, Howard da Silva, Katherine DeMille (the director's daughter), C. Aubrey Smith and Mike Mazurki. Released by Paramount Pictures, the film depicts the violent struggles between American colonists and Native Americans on the western frontier in the mid-18th century during the 1763 Pontiac's Rebellion, primarily around Fort Pitt (modern-day Pittsburgh). The film is characterized by DeMille's lavish style, including colourful costumes and sets, thousands of extras, violence, and sensationalism. Plot In London in 1763, Abigail "Abby" Hale is tried for the death of a Royal Navy officer which occurred when she tried to save her sick brother from the press gang. The judge condemns her to be hanged, then offers her the "king's mercy": transportation to the British colonies in North America and a term of "not less than 14 years as an indentured servant, to be sold at auction". She chooses the latter. Aboard ship as it nears Norfolk, Abby incurs the anger of trader Martin Garth, who then insists upon the auction being held there and then. There is a bitter bidding war between Garth and Captain Christopher Holden, which Holden wins with an exorbitant bid. A friend reminds Holden he is engaged. He sets Abby free, but afterward, his fiancée Diana informs him that she has married his brother. Meanwhile, Garth bribes the slave dealer into saying that Holden was only jesting and never bought her, and destroys the bill of freedom. Garth takes Abby to the western frontier, where he is selling guns to the Indians towards the end of the French and Indian War. Holden's friend John Fraser shows him something he got from an Indian who tried to kill him. Holden and Abby's paths cross, but Garth convinces Holden that Abby came to him of her own accord.