Hud is a 1963 American contemporary Western film directed and produced by Martin Ritt, and starring Paul Newman, Melvyn Douglas, Brandon deWilde, and Patricia Neal. It was produced by Ritt and Newman's recently founded company, Salem Productions, and was their first film for Paramount Pictures. Its screenplay was by Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank Jr. and was based on Larry McMurtry's 1961 novel, Horseman, Pass By. The film's title character, Hud Bannon, was a minor character in the original screenplay, but was reworked as the lead role. With its main character an antihero, Hud was later described as a revisionist Western.
Hud was shot on location on the Texas Panhandle, including Claude, Texas. The story centers on the ongoing conflict between Homer Bannon (Douglas), an elderly, principled cattle rancher and Hud (Newman), his arrogant and unscrupulous son, during an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease which puts the family's ranch at risk. Lonnie (deWilde), Homer's grandson and Hud's nephew, is caught in the center of the conflict and forced to choose which character to follow.
Hud premiered at the Venice International Film Festival, and was a critical and commercial success at its general release. It was nominated for seven Academy Awards, winning three; Patricia Neal won Best Actress, Melvyn Douglas won Best Supporting Actor, and James Wong Howe the Academy Award for Best Black and White Cinematography. Howe's use of contrast to create space and his selection of black-and-white was acclaimed by critics. In later reviews, the film received additional praise. In 2018, the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.
Plot Hud is the ambitious, self-centered son of deeply principled Texas rancher Homer Bannon. Lonnie, teenaged orphan son of Hud's elder brother Norman, looks up to both men, but is most impressed by Hud. Both young men are attracted to the Bannons' earthy housekeeper, Alma. Although she finds Hud physically attractive, Alma keeps her distance because she has been mistreated in the past by self-centered men.
After one of their cows suddenly dies, Homer sends Lonnie to town to bring Hud to the ranch for his opinion. Lonnie finds Hud, only to have his wastrel uncle shift the blame onto him for his tryst with a married woman. Back at the ranch, Hud drives over Alma's flowers. He shoots several buzzards to scare the flock away from the dead cow, against his father's protestations that they keep the land clean and killing them is illegal. True to form, Hud claims immunity to laws that inconvenience him. Hud is annoyed by his father's decision to summon the state veterinarian, pushing for unloading the cattle to unsuspecting neighbors before the news spreads; otherwise, government agents will kill the entire herd and destroy everything they have worked for. He blames his father for not realizing that the Mexican herd he recently purchased was sick before he bought them. Homer is revolted by Hud's suggestions. After a quick inspection the veterinarian immediately quarantines the ranch for a possible outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease. Aware that a positive test may cost him everything, Homer nevertheless complies.
One night Hud takes Lonnie out drinking, with the pair proving a successful tag-team in a barroom brawl. Back at the ranch Hud regales how he and Lonnie's father did the same thing as kids, revealing in a rare unguarded moment his role in the death of his brother while driving recklessly and his father's antipathy toward him. When they enter the house, Homer confronts Hud, accusing him of trying to corrupt Lonnie. They argue, with Hud accusing Homer of hypocrisy and resentment of him for causing Norman's death. Homer replies that his disappointment in Hud began long before that, over his caring for no one and nothing but himself. Hurt and angry, Hud retorts that his Mama loved him, but she died. When Lonnie tells Homer that he was too hard on Hud and other people behave like him, Homer replies that one day Lonnie will have to decide for himself what is right and wrong.
After learning from Lonnie that Hud is trying to have him declared incompetent and seize the ranch, Homer confronts a drunken Hud. Homer asserts he will lose. He admits that he made mistakes raising Hud, and was too hard on him. When Hud accuses him of having a "shape up or ship out" policy, Homer wonders aloud how a man like Hud can be his son and storms off to his room. Hud, drunk and angry, goes to Alma's room and attempts to rape her before Lonnie comes to her aid.
When the Bannons' herd tests positive for foot-and-mouth, the veterinarian orders it to be destroyed and buried on the ranch under state supervision to keep the disease from spreading. Hud suggests selling some leases to drill for untapped oil on their land to keep the ranch profitable, but Homer refuses, stating he only has pride in what he earns through hard work with his own hands.
After the cattle have been killed, the state veterinarian and his assistant drive up to the ranch and notice that two Longhorns are still alive, a single pair of a dying breed Homer keeps for sentimental reasons. The assistant gets his rifle, with the intention of killing them. Homer stops him and tells him he will take care of it himself. The assistant curtly expresses doubts Homer will be able to go through with it. Hud soundly defends his father's word, snapping, "He just said he would."
Having had her fill of drama, Alma decides to leave the ranch. After Lonnie drops her off at the bus stop, Hud sees her waiting. He apologizes for his drunken behavior, but not for his attraction to her, saying he would remember her as "the one who got away". Driving back to the ranch Lonnie finds his grandfather lying on the side of the road, having fallen from his horse while surveying the ranch. Hud drives up, but despite their efforts Homer dies.
Lonnie is disgusted by Hud's treatment of Homer and Alma and pulls stakes after his grandfather's funeral, uncertain if he will ever return. After Lonnie tells his uncle to put his half of their inheritance in the bank, Hud replies that Lonnie now sees him as Homer did. As Lonnie walks away, Hud, now alone, retreats into the family house.
Cast
Paul Newman as Hud Bannon Melvyn Douglas as Homer Bannon Brandon deWilde as Lonnie Bannon Patricia Neal as Alma Brown Whit Bissell as Mr. Burris Crahan Denton as Jesse John Ashley as Hermy Val Avery as Jose George Petrie as Joe Scanlon Curt Conway as Truman Peters Sheldon Allman as Mr. Thompson Pitt Herbert as Mr. Larker Carl Low as Mr. Kirby Robert Hinkle as Radio Announcer Frank Don Kennedy as Charlie Tucker Sharyn Hillyer as Myra Yvette Vickers as Lily Peters
Production Development After working together on other projects, director Martin Ritt and Paul Newman co-founded Salem Productions and the company made a three-film deal with Paramount Studios. For its first film, Salem hired husband-and-wife scriptwriters Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank Jr., who had worked with Ritt and Newman on The Long, Hot Summer. Ravetch found Larry McMurtry's novel, Horseman, Pass By, in an airport shop during a Dallas stopover and presented the project to Ritt and Newman after reading a description of Hud Bannon. The partners met Ravetch and Frank at their home, approved the project, and the writers adapted the script.
Although McMurtry's novel focuses on Lonnie Bannon, Ravetch and Frank expanded Hud's character to the lead role. Ritt wanted Hud to be an antihero who did not regret his actions at the end of the film. He was changed from Homer's stepson to his son, and the character of Homer's wife was eliminated. Newman and Ritt initially named the project Wild Desire, followed by The Winners, Hud Bannon Against the World, Hud Bannon and finally Hud. Ravetch and Frank accompanied Ritt and Newman through preproduction, casting, and publicity design.
Ritt asked that the housekeeper character (originally Halmea, a black woman) be renamed Alma and played by a white actress, because he thought a relationship between Hud and a black woman would not work. According to Ravetch and Frank, "Neither American Western film nor American society was quite ready for that back then." Although Halmea is assaulted by Hud in the novel, Ravetch and Frank added Lonnie's intervention to "highlight" his significance and keep Hud "human" and not "totally and simplistically evil." To accentuate the scene's violence, Hud's roughness was complemented by the use of shadows, while a camera was attached on Newman's back to create a "man's view angle" while he chased Neal. Film critic Pauline Kael described Neal's performance as "perhaps the first female equivalent of the white-negro."
Cinematographer James Wong Howe shot Hud in black-and-white to "elevate its dramatic propensities." Filmed in Panavision, Howe used high contrast with unbalanced light and dark tones. He highlighted the white ground and clear skies, making the shadows black. Dark tones were "overpowered" by light ones, creating a sense of "infinite space." For faces and structures, Howe used light reflected from the ground. The contrast between the environment and objects silhouetted against the background provides a sense of depth. Ritt's biographer, Carlton Jackson, wrote that in Hud "the scenery becomes a part of the thematic development itself." According to Texas Monthly, "Howe's austere rendition of Texas landscapes [...] remains one of the film's most distinctive pleasures."
Bob Hinkle later recalled: "Ritt would tell him what he wanted: 'I'd like to do this....' And then Howe would say, 'Let me put this kind of lens on it, and we'll shoot it from right here...Then I can hold this windmill in the background.' Something like that to give it an extra something, instead of a tree or a bush."
Casting Paul Newman worked for 10 days on a Texas ranch, sleeping in a bunkhouse. For his Texas accent, he was coached by Bob Hinkle, who coached James Dean for his role as Jett Rink in Giant. Although Paramount was doubtful about casting Melvyn Douglas due to his heart condition, Martin Ritt insisted that he was the right actor for the role. Brandon deWilde was a former child actor best known at the time for his award-winning role in Shane. Ritt decided to cast Patricia Neal (whom he had met at the Actors Studio) when he was impressed by her performance in The Untouchables episode "The Maggie Storm Story". The actress signed for $30,000; although she had third billing and 22 minutes of screen time. The film and her Academy Award-winning performance in it had a major impact on her career.
Filming Hud was shot over a four-week period in and around the Texas Panhandle, using the town of Claude as a setting. Location filming began on May 21, 1962, and was finished by the second week of June. Outdoor scenes were filmed at the Goodnight Ranch. To avoid surpassing the shooting schedule due to weather conditions, the cast had to cancel two scenes originally planned for the location that featured people from Claude and Amarillo. The rest of the scenes were shot at the Paramount sound stages in Hollywood beginning in the first week of July. The film was completed on August 1, 1962. The pig-scramble scene, written by dialect coach Bob Hinkle, replaced a softball game in Ravetch and Frank's script; Hinkle played the announcer in the scene. For the filming of the cattle-slaughter scene, the Humane Society was present to monitor the animals' treatment. The herd was sprayed with a substance to make it appear ill, and bungee cords were tied to the cattle's legs. Camera angles were arranged by Ritt and Howe to avoid showing the death of the cattle. When a man was shown shooting, the camera would switch to the cattle; the crew shook the cords, creating an effect of the herd being shot. During location shooting, Newman and deWilde often changed hotel rooms due to female fans following them.