Hud (1963)

Director:

Martin Ritt

Writers:

Larry McMurtry (novel)
Irving Ravetch (writer) ...
(more)

Release Date:

29 May 1963 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Western

Tagline:

The man with the barbed wire soul!

Plot:

Hud Bannon is a ruthless young man who tarnishes everything and everyone he touches. Hud represents the perfect embodiment of alienated youth...

Plot Keywords:

Cattle Shooting | Psychopath | Family Relationships | Buzzard | Bar Brawl

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 11 wins & 14 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Fri. Feb. 19

10:00 PM

TCM

Cast

Paul Newman	...	Hud Bannon
Melvyn Douglas	...	Homer Bannon
Patricia Neal	...	Alma Brown
Brandon De Wilde	...	Lon 'Lonnie' Bannon (as Brandon de Wilde)
Whit Bissell	...	Mr. Burris
Crahan Denton	...	Jesse
John Ashley	...	Hermy
Val Avery	...	Jose
George Petrie	...	Joe Scanlon
Curt Conway	...	Truman Peters
Sheldon Allman	...	Mr. Thompson
Pitt Herbert	...	Mr. Larker
Carl Low	...	Mr. Kirby
Robert Hinkle	...	Rodeo Announcer Frank
Don Kennedy	...	Charlie Tucker
Sharyn Hillyer	...	Myra (as Sharon Hillyer)
Yvette Vickers	...	Lily Peters
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Charlie Briggs	...	Voice on Lonnie's radio (uncredited)
Peter Brooks	...	George (uncredited)
Elmer Wayne Brown	...	Cowboy (uncredited)
Nino Candido	...	Patron (uncredited)
Dennis Hedlund	...	Patron in Cafe (uncredited)
John Indrisano	...	Bar-room Brawler (uncredited)
David Kent	...	Donald (uncredited)
Frank Killmond	...	Dumb Billy (uncredited)
Montie Montana	...	Cowboy (uncredited)
Simon Prescott	...	Man in greased pig sequence (uncredited)
John Michael Quijada	...	Cowboy (uncredited)
Carl Saxe	...	Proprietor sweeping glass (uncredited)

Directed by
Martin Ritt

Writing credits
Larry McMurtry		(novel "Horseman Pass By")
Irving Ravetch		(writer) and
Harriet Frank Jr.		(writer)

Produced by
Irving Ravetch	....	producer
Martin Ritt	....	producer

Original Music by
Elmer Bernstein

Cinematography by
James Wong Howe

Film Editing by
Frank Bracht

Art Direction by
Tambi Larsen
Hal Pereira

Set Decoration by
Robert R. Benton		(as Robert Benton)
Sam Comer

Costume Design by
Edith Head

Makeup Department
Nellie Manley	....	hair styles supervisor
Wally Westmore	....	makeup supervisor

Production Management
Lloyd Anderson	....	unit production manager (uncredited)
Andrew J. Durkus	....	unit production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Charles C. Coleman	....	assistant director (as C.C. Coleman Jr.)

Sound Department
John R. Carter	....	sound recordist (as John Carter)
John Wilkinson	....	sound recordist

Visual Effects by
Farciot Edouart	....	process photography
Paul K. Lerpae	....	special photographic effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Rex Wimpy	....	photographer: second unit

Music Department
Bob Bain	....	musician: guitar (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures
• Salem-Dover Productions

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1963) (USA) (theatrical)
• Paramount Pictures (1967) (USA) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1967) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Paramount Home Video (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Filmax S.A. (1963) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Paramount (1963) (France) (theatrical)
• Paramount-Films (1963) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Lusomundo Audiovisuais (200?) (Portugal) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (Spain) (2005) (Spain) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2004) (Italy) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Entertainment (2003) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Berliner Synchron  German dubbing

Runtime:

112 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | UK:12 (1998) (uncut) | UK:A (1963) (cut) | USA:Approved (certificate #20308) | Germany:12 (DVD rating) | West Germany:16 | Finland:K-15 (new rating: 2001) | Portugal:M/12 | Australia:M | Australia:PG (alternate rating) | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16

Filming Locations:

Camp Waldemar - 1005 Ranch Road 1340, Hunt, Texas, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Finnish censorship visa # 65965 delivered on 19-7-1963.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: In the first scene, you can see the cameramen and tripod of the cameras in the window of the store.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Lonnie Bannon: OK, thanks for the lift.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Beyond the Sea (2004)

Soundtrack:

The Great Titanic (It Was Sad When That Great Ship Went Down)

Potent study of nihilistic youth and hero worship, Paul Newman's definitive rebel role.

Not only a stark morality tale brimming with grit and substance, "Hud" is a vigorous character study replete with intelligent, Oscar-winning performances.

The vast, desolate "Lone Star" landscape has often inspired potent Hollywood screen-writing (witness "Giant," and "The Last Picture Show"). 1963's "Hud" is no exception. The story focuses around a bored, aimless, arrogant ne'er-do-well whose utter contempt for humanity threatens to denigrate and destroy all those exposed to it. Thrust in a dusty, dried-up, decaying Texas cattle town (awesomely photographed in black-and-white by Oscar-winning cinematographer James Wong Howe), the story bears down assertively on its straightforward themes of nihilistic youth and misguided hero worship.

Paul Newman was awarded an Oscar - but not for "Hud." He took home the award much later for his performance in 1987's "The Color of Money" but for me it was a restitutive pat on the back for his probing, higher-calibre work here in "Hud," among others. Newman gives an assured, excitingly reckless performance, the creme of the crop of earlier, jaunty perfs. All swagger and bluff, reeking with cocky sexuality, Hud Bannon is the personification of cool, callous cynicism at its most reprehensible...and alluring. The world is this cowboy stud's oyster. He takes what he wants, whenever he wants it - whether its coveting his father's land or coveting another man's wife, whether its peddling sick cattle on others or peddling his ethics on a susceptive boy - it's all at the core of a dangerously irresponsible life's dogma. A loser's warped vision of winning. It was a risky star performance for Newman as Hud has no redeeming qualities whatsoever, but the actor plays out his acting cards brilliantly and winds up with a royal flush.

Newman is bolstered by a choice cast. Dusky-voiced Patricia Neal, whose looks had begun to harden by this time, is fascinating as the forlorn, slovenly housekeeper Alma who has her careworn hands full just keeping the lustful, roving Hud in line. Hud (and the audience) is perked by her stifled but not yet snuffed out sensuality, as she wisely avoids the obvious come-ons tossed her way. Making relative peace with her lonely, desultory existence, Alma has overcome a difficult past and find a sense of being as the makeshift homemaker to an aging rancher/widower (Melvyn Douglas) while tending to his impressionable grandson (Brandon de Wilde), instilling in the boy some good old-fashioned sense and motherly attention when necessary. Neal is top-notch especially in her final scenes and quite deserved her Oscar.

Oscar-winning Douglas is superb as Hud's upstanding, uncompromising father, a cattle man in the twilight of his years. Chocked full of conventional wisdom and righteous indignation, the prideful old-timer may or may not have contributed to his son's acute moral letdown, having given up on him as a "bad seed" long ago. Their confrontational scenes are pocked with harsh accusations and bitter conflict - never to be resolved. De Wilde, in a coming-of-age extension of his memorable "Shane" role, again portrays the embodiment of idolizing youth as the teenage Lon. Drawn to the brawling, good-looking "outer package" of his older Uncle Hud, deWilde is touching as his character gradually wises up to the realization that this superficial "package" is damaged goods, while those nearest and dearest to him fall by the waste side.

A near-classic to be sure. The performances alone make this a not-to-be-missed item.