Hud

source: Hud

After looking forward to seeing this classic movie, with actors that I admire, I felt very disappointed. Yes the acting was fine and casting was fine and the sets were fine, but the plot line was just to flat for me. I love old movies and have rated many very highly, but this one just seemed pointless to me. There was nothing in the movie that I felt I could take away from it that was worthwhile. I would have to say my favorite part of the movie was Lon playing with his pocket transistor radio, as I could relate to that, growing up in that era. And yes the cattle being destroyed was poignant, but it just didn't seem to matter to the storyline and wasn't enough, oomph that I felt the movie needed. I did not connect to any of the characters and felt that the movie just didn't make you feel like you knew or cared for the characters. There are so many great older movies, but this is not one of them.

This is my favorite Paul Newman film. Paul gives his best performance as a low-life, hard-drinking, don't-give-a-damn s.o.b. He is absolutely beautiful in this movie with a presence that makes you not want to turn your head from the screen. Melvin Douglas gives an outstanding and Oscar winning performance as Old Homer Bannon. Patricia Neal won a Best Actress Oscar for her fine performance even though her character was really a supporting role, but let's not get technical. And ill-fated Brandon De Wilde is also truly amazing and beautiful as Lon who adores his Uncle Hud only to hate him later. 4 Stars

HUD is one of the best movies I have ever seen! Based on Larry McMurtry's early novel HORSEMAN, PASS BY, it works wonderfully as a modern morality play showing the seductiveness of hedonism (as represented by the attractive and persuasive Hud (Paul Newman) vs. the human decency and duty represented by Homer Bannion (Melvyn Douglas) as they battle for the soul of the grandson, Lon (Brandon De Wilde). There is an important lesson about the destruction of society by the cheapening of our standards of admiration. I absolutely love Patricia Neal in this film! Her earthy housekeeper, Alma, steals every scene she's in! I am so happy that she won the Academy Award for this role. I can't think of anyone, male or female, who gave a better performance that year. I love her line resisting Hud's advances, "No, thanks! I've done my time with one cold-blooded bastard. I'm not looking for another."

Just can't join in with the rave reviewers of this unappealing story. Everything about it may be as wonderful and special as they say, but in the end it's an intensely depressing, misery-making, simply feel-bad kind of film. Acting, writing, shooting are all excellent: but the characters and the theme are either deeply unhappy or repellent. There was an aura of cynicism and disillusion about many movies of this era, starting perhaps with Look Back in Anger, and the British school of kitchen sink, moving West with a variety of American productions, including this one, of course. The obverse of this trend was the birth of Rock and Roll, which took place at about the same time. Perhaps both trends had the rejection of parental values in common, but, frankly, I prefer the Elvis sneer to Hud Bannon's when it comes to offending the wrinkly and righteous. There is positively nothing interesting to me about Hud's personality: he's nothing but a good-looking jerk. Every episode presented, the opening scene, the pointless brawls, the greased pig contest, the ugly rape attempt, the cattle slaughter, the old man's death-rattle, just leave a nasty taste in the mouth. Don't bother.

In another review of Hud, someone says that he or she saw all the story needed from the first fifteen minutes, but that is the great art of this film. No one changes; there is no moment when Hud is struck down like Saul, on his way to town, and shown the error of his ways. He and Homer continue to butt their heads against the proverbial wall. Homer doesn't magically revive as he lays by the side of the road, and there is no phony deathbed reconciliation. One shudders to think of the mess that would be made out of this story today. Inspirational music would pour from the speakers; Hud would promise to do well by his father and on returning home from the funeral, he would find Patricia Neal had returned, while deWilde and he agreed to work the ranch together. Sometimes I wonder if director Ritt chose black and white so he would not be tempted to close the story on a more upbeat note. It is a debatable question whether Hud, or McMurtry's other masterpiece, Last Picture Show, could be made today. Studios don't like 'downers;' they don't fill the multiplexes and bring in the 50M gross weekends. The casting is inspired; Newman and deWilde do look like the offspring of Douglas. Maybe it's the cowboy hats that do it, but there is a flintiness to their eyes that binds them. Neal is simply beautiful in a way that many will never understand. Watch the performances, and note how each person makes room for the others. There is only four of them, so it is not an ensemble, but Newman is especially good at avoiding the scenery chewing that so many posters here confuse with good acting. This rates a true 10.

Paul Newman gave easily his greatest performance as Hud Bannen, the hard-fighting, hard-drinking, womanising ne'er-do-well, who casts a malign shadow over the lives of his family and their housekeeper on a Texas ranch. It is a strong all-round cast however, and Melvyn Douglas and Patricia Neal both won Academy Awards for their performances. The sparse and grainy cinematography by James Wong Howe (another Oscar winner) brilliantly captures the harsh, arid Texas landscape. Adapted from Larry McMurtry's novel Horseman Pass By, this is one of the finest examples of American Cinema in the 1960's, not least in its depiction of father-son conflict, and the way one in which one man can profoundly influence, for the worse, the lives of those around him. Newman worked as a ranch-hand in Texas to prepare for the role, which helped him obtain his authentic Texan credentials, most notably his accent, and his cocky strut and manner. A timeless classic, which can be viewed again and again.

Those are the nihilistic words of Hud Bannon, the swaggering antihero in the Martin Ritt directed film "Hud", set amid the vast, expansive high plains of West Texas. It's a somber affair. Hud lives with his elderly father Homer (a wonderfully understated performance by Melvyn Douglas) and nephew Lonnie. Their small, struggling ranch serves not only as a livelihood, but also the source of Homer's ethical values. Another main character is Alma, the attractive housekeeper and cook. For all four of them it's a hard life, but a worthwhile life, at least as Homer sees it. Hud sees it differently. But then Hud is a product of modern times, with differing values from those of Homer and his generation. When a crisis occurs that puts their ranch in jeopardy, these differing values clash, resulting in tension between Hud and his father. Hud's ongoing rebellion, rooted in heredity and environment, takes the form of booze, brawls, women, and anger. Hud is a heel, but a sympathetic heel. We understand his frustrations. Larry McMurtry's story presents a naturalistic interpretation of human character. Hud is constrained by forces over which he has no control. For him, like for many of us, freedom of choice is mostly an illusion. The morality of absolutes, as expressed by his father, does not work in Hud's favor. But there's a fifth character in this morality tale ... the land. The bleak, desolate plains with its buzzards, ubiquitous dust, and lonesome vistas can depress the most optimistic spirit. In this film, the monochrome canvas accentuated by James Wong Howe's use of single source lighting makes the natural environment seem appropriately oppressive. And the film's sounds amplify the gritty realism of this unforgiving land. I have a couple of minor criticisms. The screenplay puts too much emphasis on Alma, given that she is the housekeeper. Second, there's not enough music or humor. Others will disagree, but I would have preferred a more prominent role for the mournful sounds of Hank Williams type music, a la "The Last Picture Show". Interestingly, Hud's comment on life is the same in meaning as the words spoken years later by a real-life nihilistic antihero, who said: "No one here gets out alive". While we think we know what happened to the real-life antihero, we don't know what became of Hud. Perhaps someday someone will make a credible sequel. Then they can add more music. Imagine the mood evoked by the sight of Hud riding off into the Texas sunset, to the sounds of "Riders On The Storm".

Hud is a masterpiece!It takes the age old morality play and presents it in a fresh and believable light.The lead character has no socially redeeming qualities,in direct conflict with the high moral Stoddard's of his father. Paul Newman is flawless,and once said,"playing Hud came too easy".The cinematography is pristine and the sets bring you west.The solo guitar that plays in the background is subtle yet keeps you rapt with attention. The ending is logical and thought provoking.It is not one that has been tested on focus groups as Hollywood insists on today.There are no last minute plot twists to make for a happy ending. Sadly the days of movies of this quality coming from big studios are over.Cherish this one.

Hud is the finest American movie ever made. One hundred years from now people will want to know who we were, how we lived and what kind of problems we faced. Hud is a great movie not only because it is a great story with great actors, great direction and a great score but also because it helps future generations understand us. It is a great human interest story, a classic story of right and wrong. The movie gains power because it is shot in black and white with a spare score; and it is not afraid to experiment as when Hud Bannon (Paul Newman) refers to Lon (Brandon de Wilde) as Fantan. The scenes of everyday Texas in the 1950s are pure Americana. This movie is as refreshing today as when I first saw it as a boy in the 1960s; and the performances have not aged.