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Hud

Hud (1963)

May. 28,1963
|
7.8
|
NR
| Drama Western

Hud Bannon is a ruthless young man who tarnishes everything and everyone he touches. Hud represents the perfect embodiment of alienated youth, out for kicks with no regard for the consequences. There is bitter conflict between the callous Hud and his stern and highly principled father, Homer. Hud's nephew Lon admires Hud's cheating ways, though he soon becomes too aware of Hud's reckless amorality to bear him anymore. In the world of the takers and the taken, Hud is a winner. He's a cheat, but, he explains, "I always say the law was meant to be interpreted in a lenient manner."

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Plantiana
1963/05/28

Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

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Platicsco
1963/05/29

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

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Baseshment
1963/05/30

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

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Tayyab Torres
1963/05/31

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

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grantss
1963/06/01

Homer Bannon is an honest, hard-working, by-the-book Texas rancher. His son, Hud, is quite the opposite - amoral, unscrupulous and tending to prefer chasing married women around, rather than working on the ranch. The two are in constant conflict. Stuck between the two are Lonnie, Hud's nephew, and Alma, the Bannon's live-in housekeeper. Lonnie is a naive, impressionable young man who simultaneously idolises Hud and despises some of the things he does. Alma is constantly positive, is happy to overlook Hud's antagonism and tries to stay out of the fights. What happened to Lonnie's father, Hud's brother, hangs over the family, but nobody dares speak about it. The feud between Hud and his father comes to a head when a possible epidemic strikes their cattle herd...Great character drama, driven by some fantastic performances. Plot is a bit of a slow-burner, though it is never dull. The interactions between the main characters drive the movie, and your engagement.Quite powerful ending.As mentioned, it is the performances that drive this. Three of the four main actors - Paul Newman (as Hud), Melvyn Douglas (Homer) and Patricia Neal (Alma) got Oscar nominations with Douglas and Neal picking up Oscars (for Best Supporting Actor and Actress, respectively). Paul Newman, who is superb in a rare bad guy role, missed out to Sydney Poitier in Lilies of the Field.Brandon De Wild, the only one of the four to not get an Oscar nomination, is great as Lonnie and is unrecognisable from the irritating kid who yelled "Shane! Shane!" all the time in Shane.How this movie didn't get nominated for the Best Picture Oscar in a year when the eventual winner was the mediocre Tom Jones, I don't know.

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jc-osms
1963/06/02

Rare to see Paul Newman play such an anti-hero and it's clear he relishes it. Counterpointed by strong performances from veteran Melvyn Douglas as his long- suffering father, Patricia Neal as their worldly housemaid and the young newcomer Brandon De Wilde as the impressionable youth whose loyalties are tried, tested and ultimately destroyed by Uncle Hud's selfishness and boorishness.These four actors and their characters' inter-relationships are pretty much the movie in a story that feels at times theatrical but in fact was adapted from a novel. I'd describe the plot as like "Shane" reflected through Tennessee Williams, so that the perhaps mis-directed hero-worship of a young man is this time thwarted by an idol with feet of clay.Throughout the film, Hud does nothing admirable or selfless and sort of tolerates the young acolyte trailing in his wake before a drunken attempted rape of Neal breaks the spell. I didn't however like Neal's acceptance of her ordeal, especially when she says she would have eventually let him have her in the future, betraying an unacceptable streak of chauvinism in the writing. Better to watch are the tensions and conflicts between grandfather-patriarch Douglas, errant, number two son Hud (we're made aware that Hud is responsible for the premature death of the elder son, De Wilde's father) and De Wilde himself, torn between his admiration of the former and misplaced envy of the latter's hedonism.Newman's on record as saying this is one of his favourite of his own movies and it's easy to see why. He's hardly every off the screen and he's excellent in his cast-against-type lead role. A contemporary Western shot in beautifully-lit black and white by James Wong Howe and sensitively directed by Martin Ritt, this was a gripping and involving family saga featuring a great star turn by one of the best actors of the 60's.

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ma-cortes
1963/06/03

Intelligent semi-Western, well directed and wonderfully performed by Newman as a man with the barbed wire soul . Hud Bannon(Paul Newman who dubbed this one pretty good) is a ruthless young man who tarnishes everything and everyone he touches . Hud represents the perfect embodiment of alienated youth . Instead of helping his dad , Hud drunkenly chases the family's housekeeper (Patricia Neal) and establishes relationship with his hero-worshipping nephew (Brandon De Wilde , Shane) , both of whom emotionally involved with him . As the father-son conflict is deeply observed by other members of the household , the maid and the nephew . Then , a government order to slaughter the ranch's entire herd as a precaution leads to tragedy and the ranch owner siding the law . Exciting and thought-provoking clear-eyed story of growing in Texas plenty of interesting drama , emotion and a strong antagonism between the free-drinking son and a sternly moralising patriarchal ranch owner , including elements of Greek tragedy . Various studio-characters furnish the basis for this Western-drama ; filmmaker Martin Ritt has got a big success in delineating their troublesome roles . Terrific Paul Newman in an enjoyable performance, though using the Stanislawski method , it results to be a superb piece of acting . Paul Newman played the part of Hud as a villain . He was later stunned that so many young moviegoers had a poster of Hud and viewed him as their hero. In preparation for his title role , Paul Newman worked on a Texas cattle ranch for several weeks acquiring genuine calluses and a cowboy's lope . Melvyn Douglas gives a superb acting as old rancher who has fallen on hard times and shows to mourn the old-free-ranging ways of the frontier days . Terrific interpretation by Patricia Neal as a mature woman to whom Hud pursues and she wants nothing to do with him . Interesting screenplay dealing with brooding themes such as the disintegration of a heritage , including engaging dialogs haunted by frames of decay and death ; being nicely written by Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank Jr. from a novel by Larry McMurtry . Evocative cinematography by James Wong Howe , he's a classic cameraman who won two Oscars (for Hud, and Rose tattoo), working from silent cinema . Elmer Bernstein's score for Hud runs approximately six minutes, making it one of the shortest film scores ever. But what a six minutes it is - in fact, it's perfection and just right for the film . The music is sparse, yes, but it's potent every time it appears. There's also some source music in the film - car radios, jukeboxes, records.This understatement motion picture was well produced and directed by Martin Ritt, who worked with Paul Newman in two Westerns : ¨Hombre¨ and ¨Outrage¨. Ritt was an expert on dramas such as ¨Stanley and Iris¨ , ¨Nut¨ , ¨Norma Rae¨ , ¨The front¨, ¨The Sound and the Fury¨ , ¨Black orchid¨ , though also directed films of all kind of genres such as : ¨The Spy Who Came in from the Cold¨ , ¨The Great White Hope¨ , ¨Mafia¨ and ¨Molly McGuire¨ . This ¨Hud¨ film will appeal to drama enthusiasts and Paul Newman fans . Rating : Above average, well worth watching ; along with ¨Outrage¨ , being one of Ritt's best movie.

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Mr Spark
1963/06/04

One of Martin Ritt's true masterpieces. A movie that describes an egotistic man named Hud Bannon that torments the lives of his loved ones while he acts like a suitable role model for his younger nephew. The acting has truly changed my perception of Paul Newman who plays the anti-hero with great prominence and innuendo. Above all Patricia Neal's performance glitters like gold, her Oscar was well deserved. No need to mention the outstanding performance of Melvyn Douglas and Brandon De Wilde. The cinematography is where I really want to focus since I have never seen a Simple drama film like this have such a wonderful feeling of smooth camera work. The depiction of the plot on camera is subtle and uniquely satisfying. The scene that grasps my admiration is the murdering of the cattle, the way it is filmed leaves the viewer to assume and imagine the horror of what is happening in that pit. Overall i give this films a well deserved 8/10.

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