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

Cast

  (Complete credited 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:

Anachronisms: The horse the bandito is riding has a snap to connect the throatlatch. None of the bridles of that day would have used snaps as they had not been invented at that time.

Quotes:

Grimes: [after going through Favor's luggage and taking out the money] Looks like you did good and we did better.
Lamar Dean: That was pretty smart, billin' the government for food for the Indians and then keepin' the money while them poor Indians starve to death.
Grimes: You know, the thing is; he ought to be over here with us instead of standin' over there
[laughs]

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.