Hombre (1967)

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 | Apache | Lodging House | Beautiful Woman | Abandoned Mine

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sat. Dec. 26

6:00 AM

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:

Filming on "Hombre" coincided with that year's Academy Awards. Co-star Martin Balsam was a Best Supporting Actor nominee for A Thousand Clowns (1965), and not having received permission to leave the set, Balsam sneaked off to attend the ceremony. He won the Oscar.

Goofs:

Plot holes: Three bandits bring Mrs Favor to the mine. One is sent "to flank" the party by covering the rear exit. After the final shootout, the Mexican and Grimes are killed and no mention is ever given of this third bandit.

Quotes:

John Russell: Hit something, Mendez, first the men, then the horses.
Henry Mendez: I don't know. Just to sit here and wait to kill them?
John Russell: If there was some other way, we'd do it.
Henry Mendez: Maybe we can keep going and try to outrun them.
John Russell: If you run, they're gonna catch you, they're gonna kill you. You believe that more than you believe anything.
Henry Mendez: All right.
John Russell: And try not to puke. You may have to lie in it for a long time.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Jeopardy!: (#22.69)" (2005)

One of the best westerns ever made

Outstanding direction, writing, acting, and cinematography make this film perhaps the best western ever made, and certainly outstanding in it's genre. The good guys aren't all that good, and the bad guys are despicable. The dialogue is from Elmore Leonard, and is some of the best dialogue ever written, western or not. Example: Early in the film Diane Cilento has retreated to the privacy of a shack to remove her petticoat because of the heat. Paul Newman is in the room, and watches her silently as she bears her legs. Then he says, "You'd better stop right there lady, or I'm gonna know all there is to know about you." Ms Cilento's character Jessie (a hard frontier woman who runs a boarding house and sleeps with the town sheriff) retorts, "You might have cleared your throat." Newman says, "I couldn't, my heart was in it." The minor part cast is also outstanding: Martin Balsam, Richard Boone, Cameron Mitchell, David Canary. I also mention the cinematographer, often overlooked, because it was James Wong Howe (Molly McGuires, This Property is Condemned, Hud, Fantasia) who was one of the greatest cinematographers that has ever lived.