Hud (1963)

"Hud" is a great film, if not a bit odd. I watched this 1963 drama about Texan cattle ranches after Paul Newman passed away in September. Based on a Larry McMurtry novel, it features another of Newman's great performances. But that's almost the catch here.

Newman plays Hud Bannon, a seemingly immoral son of an aging rancher (Melvin Douglas) who has lost his wife, his favorite son, and now stands to lose his home and business after his stock fall ill. Hud is the bane of the old man's existence, but father is reliant on son nonetheless. Hud drinks, swears, fights and sleeps with the wives of other men. He also has red-eyed lust for the family housekeeper (Patricia Neal). Just using his eyes, Newman shows the broken man under Hud's blazing exterior, the man has lost much and suffered greatly, and can only show it through rage. Newman blows every one else off screen, even those who you are supposed to sympathize with. It reaches a point where we almost care for the one person who cares for nothing, and that creates a dramatic fault.

It doesn't help that Hud's nephew, who's to be the hero and true man of the piece, is played blandly by Brandon De Wilde. See it for Newman's performance; the morality of the play is up for grabs. B