Hombre (1967)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Martin Ritt

Writers:

Elmore Leonard (novel)
Irving Ravetch (writer) ...

Release Date:

21 March 1967 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Western

Tagline:

Hombre means MAN... Paul Newman is HOMBRE!

Plot:

John Russell, disdained by his "respectable" fellow stagecoach passengers because he was raised by Indians, becomes their only hope for survival when they are set upon by outlaws.

Plot Keywords:

Stagecoach | Lodging House | Apache | Inheritance | Betrayal

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sat. July 25

12:15 PM

AMC

Cast

Paul Newman	...	John Russell
Fredric March	...	Dr. Alex Favor
Richard Boone	...	Cicero Grimes
Diane Cilento	...	Jessie
Cameron Mitchell	...	Frank Braden
Barbara Rush	...	Audra Favor
Peter Lazer	...	Billy Lee Blake
Margaret Blye	...	Doris Blake
Martin Balsam	...	Henry Mendez
Skip Ward	...	Steve Early
Frank Silvera	...	Mexican bandit
David Canary	...	Lamar Dean
Val Avery	...	Delgado
Larry Ward	...	Soldier

Runtime:

111 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Iceland:L | Singapore:PG | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:Unrated | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Bell Ranch, Santa Susana, California, USA

Company:

Hombre Productions

Trivia:

The photo in the closing credits of the film was taken in 1886 by Camillus Fly, the famous Tombstone (AZ) photographer. The white boy in the photo is Jimmy (Santiago) McKinn, captured by the Apaches in 1885. Like the Paul Newman character in the film, McKinn was totally assimilated in the tribe and was rescued against his will when Geronimo surrendered in 1886.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: John Russell's sidearm during the film is a Colt Single Action Army revolver with a 7" barrel. However, in the final scene where Russell is on the ground exchanging shots with the vaquero the revolver has changed to a modern (and not yet invented) large frame double action revolver.

Quotes:

Jessie: And we got him a marble headstone. It had his name on it, and underneath, we had them put, "In the Fullness of His Years." Is that all right with you?
John Russell: I'll settle for that. I'm not on the slab.
Jessie: Well, what do you figure yours is going to read?
John Russell: "Shot Dead," probably.
Jessie: Don't people take to you, Mr. Russell?
John Russell: It only takes one who doesn't.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Jeopardy!: (2005-12-15)" (2005)

"Hombre" is a Great Western With Excellent Performances All Around

This brutal western is easily one of Paul Newman's best performances, hearkening back to "HUD" in its power and forthright honesty. Newman plays a white man raised by Apaches on the reservation in Arizona who grew up to become a member of the Indian police. His real father has died and he cuts his long hair and goes down to the town to claim his inheritance, a boarding house which he intends to sell "for a herd of horses down in Contention." The residents of the building, including the attractive female manager, are thus made to leave and he accompanies them on their stage coach journey down to Bisbee. They are joined by the Indian agent, skillfully played by Frederic March, his snooty, sheltered wife, and a sinister stranger, wonderfully acted by Richard Boone at his most gritty and threatening.

The characters in this movie, regardless of their importance, are fleshed out convincingly. The writing is spare and fraught with meaning, in fact, it is almost too perfect. No words are wasted and no act appears frivolous. Newman plays the quintessential stoic, an Indian mystic who rises above the circumstances of his harsh existence out of sheer detachment. He accepts the brutality of the world at face value and harbors absolutely no illusions. He doesn't stick his neck out like some damn fool in order to impress anybody and he survives because he deals with what comes his way, yet refuses to be affected by it, no matter how tough things get. Just to watch his very convincing interpretation of this sort of person is rewarding enough, but that is only one of the roles so well evoked in this excellent drama. Richard Boone has some of the great lines, such as, "Mr., you've got some mighty hard bark on you coming down here like this," followed by, "Well now, what do you suppose HELL is gonna look like?" Frederic March hands in a good performance as the crooked Indian agent, a role quite unlike his great offerings in earlier films such as "Man in the Gray Flannel Suit" or "The Best Years of Our Lives." "Hombre" is first-rate movie fare, an entertaining, action-filled story brimming with conflict. As art, it is right up there with the best films ever made, a philosophical masterpiece.