In Praise of Great Films -- Hud (1963)

This is the first in what may be an occasional series wherein Mark DuMond writes about film.

When first thinking about writing a piece on the 1963 film “Hud” this author was tempted to point out that this is a great story which is driven by story and dialogue, and that it achieves its goals without violence, gunfire or sexuality. The first point is true: “Hud” features a superb screenplay that lays bare the characters and their motivations. However, this movie does indeed have violence, human on human. It also has a massive amount of gunfire, though none of it is aimed at people. And sexuality simmers throughout, culminating in a scene of startling brutality.

The title character of this film is played by Paul Newman in what many consider to be the finest performance of his acting career. Many are put off by the fact that the character Hud Bannon is a heartless, soulless bastard with no redeeming qualities. All true, but this is not a movie that’s meant to lift the spirit or bring out the best in the people who inhabit its world. Indeed, “Hud” is a downer in many ways. However, as a character study and a story of family in all its weakness and tragedy, this is a film that stays with you long after you’ve watched it.

How selfish and egocentric is Hud Bannon? That question is answered in the very first scene of the movie. His nephew Lonnie (played by Brandon DeWilde) is wandering the streets of a small Texas town looking for his uncle Hud on a sunny weekend morning. He passes by a tavern owner sweeping up some broken glass, who matter-of-factly notes that “Hud was here last night.” Lonnie finds Hud coming out of the home of a local hottie, and just then the woman’s husband comes home unexpectedly. Hud leads the suspicious husband to believe that it was his nephew who had been trysting with the lady, and then hustles Lonnie off before the husband can beat him senseless. Right then, we’ve learned a lot about this character. He’s the kind of guy who would throw his own innocent nephew under the bus to save his own skin.

And it only gets worse from there. Though Hud is the central character in the film, there are three other characters who are very important to the story. Hud’s father, Homer, is played by the great Melvyn Douglas in an Oscar-winning performance. He’s a humble, honest rancher who can’t quite figure out how a louse like Hud could’ve come from his loins. The aforementioned nephew Lonnie is a kid who looks up to Hud like he’s a strutting hero, although by the end of the story his adoration is replaced by realism. The fourth key character in “Hud” isn’t technically part of the family, but as the loyal housekeeper Alma, she’s as much a part of the household as any of the three generations of men who live there. Patricia Neal won an Oscar for her portrayal of Alma, and deservedly so.

It’s to the movie’s credit that the Hud character doesn’t soften up, nor does he find some long lost morality or a proverbial “heart of gold.” He’s a bastard through and through from the first frame to the last. Plenty of things happen to the other residents of the ranch, but to go into detail would be to reveal too much.

Praise for the individual artists who toiled to bring this film to reality can be freely passed around. “Hud” was nominated for seven Academy Awards and won three (for James Wong Howe’s stunning black-and-white cinematography along with the previously mentioned acting honors for Douglas and Neal). However, despite all the nominations and awards, the film wasn’t nominated for Best Picture. That’s not right.

The script by Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank Jr. was based on a novel by a young writer named Larry McMurtry, who would go on to win an Oscar – 43 years later – for co-writing the screenplay for “Brokeback Mountain.” If you add up all the Academy Award nominations earned during their careers by all the people who worked on “Hud” you get an astounding number: 161. One wonders if there’s another film whose collaborators earned a combined 161 Oscar nominations?

One other trivial note: The actor who plays Mr. Burriss, the government man who has to relay some horrible news to the ranchers is one Whit Bissell. He’s one of those character actors most people would recognize, but few would know the name. What’s amazing is his body of work. According to the Internet Movie Database, he had 286 acting credits during his career. That’s about two dozen credits more than those for the three big stars of “Hud” (Newman, Douglas and Neal) … combined! That’s as good a definition of a “working actor” as you’ll find. For a complete list of Bissell’s acting credits, click here.

“Hud” is a better example of quality filmmaking than any expensive Hollywood blockbuster ever made. It’s definitely worth seeking out.

Parental Advisory: Although this film would be rated PG by today’s standards, this is not a movie for children. Adult themes abound, negative lifestyle choices are presented unvarnished, and there is a particularly harsh scene (sans nudity) of sexual assault. There is not much in the way of profanity. After all, it was 1963, and the groundbreaking “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” was still several years away. There is also a scene of mass slaughter of animals, which would be quite upsetting to very young children.

The IMDB entry on “Hud” can be found here.