Hud (1963)

WHERE'S THE BEEF?
The "beef' lies between Douglas' principles and his son's apparent lack thereof. But, the real stampede begins when the "old man" purchases some infected head, with disastrous results. DeWilde is effective,(10 years after yelling ("goodbye,Shane") as Douglas' grandson, torn between Hud's ideas and those of Douglas. But, Neal really stands out as housemaid, referee, nurse, and flirt. Only too late does she discover that her repressed sexuality is no match for Hud at his drunken worst.In the end, Hud slams the door on the world, seemingly not realizing that it's he who's driven the world away from him. A terrific movie that may draw you back on multiple occasions.

Hod-head
Just can't go along with all the rave reviewers of this story, most of whom spell out its unpleasant details at great length. Everything about it may be as good and marvellous as they say, but in the end it's an intensely depressing, misery-making, simply feel-bad kind of film. Acting, writing, shooting are all excellent: but the characters and the theme are either deeply unhappy or repellent. There was an aura of corrosive cynicism and disillusion about many movies of this era, starting perhaps with Look Back in Anger, and the British school of kitchen sink, moving West with a variety of American productions, including this one, of course. The obverse of this trend was the birth of Rock and Roll, which took place at about the same time. Perhaps both trends had the rejection of parental values in common, but, frankly, I prefer the Elvis sneer to Hud Bannon's when it comes to offending the wrinkly and righteous. There is positively nothing appealing to me about Hud's personality: he's nothing but a good-looking, sulky, selfish, ill-mannered jerk. Every episode presented, the opening scene, the pointless brawls, the greased pig contest, the ugly rape attempt, the cattle slaughter, the old man's death-rattle, just leave a nasty taste in the mouth.

Hod-head
Just can't go along with all the rave reviewers of this story, most of whom spell out its unpleasant details at great length. Everything about it may be as good and marvellous as they say, but in the end it's an intensely depressing, misery-making, simply feel-bad kind of film. Acting, writing, shooting are all excellent: but the characters and the theme are either deeply unhappy or repellent. There was an aura of corrosive cynicism and disillusion about many movies of this era, starting perhaps with Look Back in Anger, and the British school of kitchen sink, moving West with a variety of American productions, including this one, of course. The obverse of this trend was the birth of Rock and Roll, which took place at about the same time. Perhaps both trends had the rejection of parental values in common, but, frankly, I prefer the Elvis sneer to Hud Bannon's when it comes to offending the wrinkly and righteous. There is positively nothing appealing to me about Hud's personality: he's nothing but a good-looking, sulky, selfish, ill-mannered jerk. Every episode presented, the opening scene, the pointless brawls, the greased pig contest, the ugly rape attempt, the cattle slaughter, the old man's death-rattle, just leave a nasty taste in the mouth.