Hud
1963 Directed by Martin Ritt
Synopsis
The man with the barbed-wire soul.
Hud Bannon is a ruthless young man who tarnishes everything and everyone he touches. Hud represents the perfect embodiment of alienated youth, out for kicks with no regard for the consequences. There is bitter conflict between the callous Hud and his stern and highly principled father, Homer. Hud's nephew Lon admires Hud's cheating ways, though he soon becomes aware of Hud's reckless amorality to bear him anymore. In the world of the takers and the taken, Hud is a winner. He's a cheat, but, he explains "I always say the law was meant to be interpreted in a lenient manner."
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The study of family dynamics have always been one of my most favoured themes in films, and Martin Ritt’s examination of his characters is quite extraordinary.
I have only seen one other Martin Ritt film; The Spy Who Came In From The Cold (also based on a novel) which although I don’t enjoy all that much, I admire a lot of its ideas. It features a lot of the same ideas that Hud does. The chemistry between the characters in both films is quite similar in retrospect and it’s easy to see how Ritt had developed his ideas in those years.
Paul Newman takes on the lead role of the largely unpleasant and selfish outcast of the family, and his…
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That scene with all the cows is one of the best ever. I don't know how old Hud is supposed to be, but Newman was 38. He's a little old to be breaking barber shop windows.
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Film #5 of the Paul Newman Project
"Well, I've always thought the law was meant to be interpreted in a lenient manner. Sometimes I lean one way and sometimes I lean the other." Hud Bannon (Paul Newman)
Paul Newman plays Hud Bannon, a very selfish and cynical man. Behind his charm, lies a drunk, and womanizer who has no redeeming quality about him. This displeases his father to no end, who sees Hud as never being able to measure up to his deceased brother, and for pursuing nothing but his own hedonistic desires above all else. Now, Hud's nephew is coming of age, and he wants to follow in his footsteps, but a crisis on the ranch has everyone on…
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A very memorable, well-acted and sharply composed character study of a pretty bad guy (few protagonists are this unlikeable), the coming-of-age tale of his nephew and a family tragedy all in one, documented by Howe in glorious black-and-white images. Structurally, 'Hud' reminded me of a great stage play, and I mean that in the best possible way.
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Hud is the proverbial fool.
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During the movie I kept saying to myself, "Boy, Lonnie sure looks familiar." If he had just whistled, it would have come to me. This ain't no Shane idolization for the young man, for as much as he wants to revere his uncle, Hud knocks himself off that pedestal time and again. Alma's having the same problem with Hud and so am I. Here's a man who oozes charm and vitality, but is so swallowed up inside himself, he can only use it for his own gain. Somehow he got it in his head, the world was nothing more than a commodity for the taking. He told himself this long enough, that he built a brick wall to the truth,…
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Film #5 of the Paul Newman Project
"Well, I've always thought the law was meant to be interpreted in a lenient manner. Sometimes I lean one way and sometimes I lean the other." Hud Bannon (Paul Newman)
Paul Newman plays Hud Bannon, a very selfish and cynical man. Behind his charm, lies a drunk, and womanizer who has no redeeming quality about him. This displeases his father to no end, who sees Hud as never being able to measure up to his deceased brother, and for pursuing nothing but his own hedonistic desires above all else. Now, Hud's nephew is coming of age, and he wants to follow in his footsteps, but a crisis on the ranch has everyone on…
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A stark, disturbing film with a slew of brilliant performances.
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For my money, this film and American Cowboy are the definitive films regarding the death of the American West. Ripe with powerful imagery & stellar performances (Newman's best in my opinion), Hud is sadly an often overlooked gem.
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“Little by little the country changes because of the men we admire.”
– Homer Bannon / Hud’s FatherIt’s ironic to me that the name HUD spelled backwards is a word/sound that I use to define men just like Paul Newman’s outstanding character Hud Bannon in the American masterpiece “Hud”. Guys like HUD have a head so dense with ignorance and bull they release DUH into the air. It's astonishing why people typically flock to it as some sort of charm or confidence radiated from their arrogance and ignorance. Yet, people love the idea of the outsider or the tough guy, the anti-hero, and in general all people can be pretty ignorant. I'm guilty.
I particularly don’t flock to such…
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As a Paul Newman vehicle, Hud is a masterwork. Every attention is given to centering his performance, even at the expense of the well-rounded subplots (Patricia Neal's presence feels less and less necessary as the film proceeds) or, to the benefit of soap opera splashes (Hud's dark, dark secret is terrifically implausible, though somehow Newman makes this point seem almost unimportant). Melvyn Douglas' turn is superb as well; He plays the aging patriarch of the ranch who is, at once - somehow - completely forgiving and utterly begrudging. It doesn't all come together as smoothly as it should (again, it seems too herkey jerky to make all of these heady themes successful, especially the father figure revolving door), but Hud isn't as deep as it appears: The crackling dialogue, all too often, tips its hat towards a more sinister end: It is programmed to be all about enjoying Newman as the despicable, drunk and charming title character.
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"Paul Newman was excellent here, as Hud, an unprincipled, cynical, self-centred, womanising anti-hero. His relationships with his father, nephew and father's housekeeper are all explored. Will the leopard change his spots? Hud's attitude at the end is part of what makes this such a great film."
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A very memorable, well-acted and sharply composed character study of a pretty bad guy (few protagonists are this unlikeable), the coming-of-age tale of his nephew and a family tragedy all in one, documented by Howe in glorious black-and-white images. Structurally, 'Hud' reminded me of a great stage play, and I mean that in the best possible way.