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BROWSE REVIEWS Click on a letter to browse through the reviews on this site: |
HUD Adapted from a novel by Larry McMurtry, this
1963 film revolves around a small group of people and where their morals lie,
not only from within themselves but from tradition. The film stars Paul
Newman as the title character, Hud Bannon. Hud isn’t exactly the friendliest
person you’d ever meet. He has little to no respect for his loved ones, is
insensitive to the feelings of others, is consumed by greed and bitterness
and has absolutely no contempt for how to make an honest living. He drinks
hard; he sleeps with married women and is basically an all around ass. His
father, an elderly Texas rancher by the name of Homer (wonderful performance
by the great Melvyn Douglas), is a man who respects the law and the laws of
nature. He has made a humble success with his cattle ranch, where his nephew
Lon (Brandon de Wilde), and housekeeper Alma Brown (Patricia Neal), resides
with him. Unlike his son, he is not motivated by greed and the notion of
getting rich quick. However, tragedy strikes when he discovers that his
cattle are all infected with a disease that would spread through Texas cattle
quickly if they are not destroyed. His entire stock is infected, and by
government law they must all be destroyed. But Hud insists that they sell the
cattle quickly to unsuspecting buyers and claim ignorance about their well
being later on. But Homer refuses to start an epidemic. Hud quips, Why
this whole country is run on epidemics...Where you been? Big business,
price-fixing, crooked TV shows, income tax finagling, souped-up expense
accounts. How many honest men do you know? Insulted by even the idea of
ruining another man’s business by selling him bad produce, Homer replies, You're
an unprincipled man, Hud. Meanwhile, Hud’s teenage nephew Lon takes an
interest in his Uncle. Being fatherless, he looks up to Hud as a role model,
despite Hud’s lack of interest in even noticing the boy at first. Hud is much
more interested in making advances towards Alma, a simple looking woman who
is grounded with her own morals and is repulsed by Hud while at the same time
turned on by his care free attitude. She still remains loyal to Homer and am
other figure to young Lon. Eventually, the cattle are all slaughtered in the
films most difficult scene to watch, as the cattle are herded into a pit,
shot to death then buried. It don't take long to kill things, not like it
takes to grow says a saddened Homer, as he looks on. By the end of the
film Hud is the only one unchanged while those around him have grown and
moved on. He is still the greedy, selfish bastard he was from the very
beginning, and that is probably the only sympathy his character ever gains. The movie is definitely groundbreaking in its
theme of being anti-Western, with an anti-hero lead with Hud. Hud is the
center of the film, and all we can see is this cynical, money-grubbing
boozehound who has no respect for the ways of honesty and loyalty. As his
father explains to him, You don't give a damn. You don't value nothing.
You don't respect nothing. You live just for yourself. And that makes you not
fit to live with. Newman delivers another great performance, and was on a
roll with his film as he already had the wild success of CAT ON A HOT TIN
ROOF and THE HUSTLER behind him. He doesn’t give Hud any
undertones of sympathy or regret, but makes sure the audience despises him
without reservation. Melvyn Douglas delivers a very subtle and
memorable performance and is certainly among his very best. He marvelously
captures the essence of honesty and tradition and he delivers his dialogue
with such heart that if a person ever existed in ones life, he’d certainly
have instant respect and admiration. But he is obviously a man who has
developed into such a kind-hearted person, as Hud simply cannot forgive him
the past, and vice versa. De Wilde gives a solid performance as the nephew,
and his final scene speaks volumes of how someone can eventually open his
eyes to the world around him and become his own person without being corrupted.
And Neil is of course spectacular in her role as the plain looking housemaid
who is not naive to the world around her. Her most gripping scene is when
Newman attacks her and attempts to rape her in a drunken range. Her reaction
afterwards is perhaps her characters most heartfelt moment. It is a powerful
performance. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards
and took home three. Douglas, with his first of two Oscar wins (his second
win would be for 1979’s BEING THERE), won for Best Supporting Actor.
Neil won the Best Actress Oscar (she would be nominated once more five years
later in THE SUBJECT WAS ROSES), and James Wong Howe won for his
cinematography (whose only other Oscar win was for THE ROSE TATTOO in
’55, though I could be wrong). Newman received his third nomination (he
wouldn’t win for another twenty-three years though), and lost out to Sydney
Poirtier that year for LILIES IN THE FIELD. Though the film was
bypassed for a Best Picture nomination (it lost out, unfortunately, to CLEOPATRA),
its director, Martin Ritt was nominated for Best Director (he lost out to
Tony Richardson for TOM JONES). Certainly one of many great films to come out
of the 60’s, and one of Newman’s very best performances of his extraordinary
career. Not an upbeat film by any means, but it is an intriguing one. My Grade: A |