Hud (1963)

Directed by Martin Ritt. Starring Paul Newman, Brandon deWilde, Melvyn Douglas, Patricia Neal, Whit Bissell, Crahan Denton, Yvette Vickers.

On a Texas cattle ranch, young buck deWilde finds himself torn between two family figures: his righteous and inflexibly traditional grandfather, Homer (Douglas), and his immoral, self-serving uncle, Hud (Newman). Adaptation of Larry McMurtry’s novel “Horseman, Pass By,” the film is as much a King Lear-esque patriarchal melodrama as it is a parable of moral decay and capitalist irresponsibility in the stark but sincere dressings of a revisionist Western. James Wong Howe’s bitterly filtered black & white photography of the desolate landscapes is memorable, as are the performances; Douglas and Neal both won Oscars (the latter inexplicably for a lead performance, even though she’s only onscreen for about twenty minutes), but it’s Newman who’s the real standout, playing a remarkably arrogant and unsympathetic character, yet the actor’s insuppressible magnetism makes him an anti-hero instead of an antagonist. Indistinct motivations and a moseying pace at the outset contribute to its “grower” status, and the lead-up to the resolution has enough painterly contrivances to see every brushstroke, but the acting and timeless family drama bedrock overcomes the deficits.

76/100