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 ... See full summary »
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Notorious gunfighter Jimmy Ringo rides into town to find his true love, who doesn't want to see him. He hasn't come looking for trouble, but trouble finds him around every corner.
Director:
Henry King
Stars:
Gregory Peck,
Helen Westcott,
Millard Mitchell
A mountain man who wishes to live the life of a hermit becomes the unwilling object of a long vendetta by Indians when he proves to be the match of their warriors in one-to-one combat on ... See full summary »
A fiercely independent cowboy arranges to have himself locked up in jail in order to then escape with an old friend who has been sentenced to the penitentiary.
Director:
David Miller
Stars:
Kirk Douglas,
Gena Rowlands,
Walter Matthau
A gambler and a prostitute become business partners in a remote Old West mining town, and their enterprise thrives until a large corporation arrives on the scene.
Tom Logan is a horse thief. Rancher David Braxton has horses, and a daughter, worth stealing. But Braxton has just hired Lee Clayton, an infamous "regulator", to hunt down the horse thieves... See full summary »
Ace Bonner returns to Arizona several years after he abandoned his family, Junior Bonner is a wild young man. Against the typical rodeo championship, family drama erupts.
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 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." Written by
alfiehitchie
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".
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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".