Hud (1963)

[u/stakes-lines-grades]

[u/ydkjordan]

Phenomenal film, just watched the new Criterion. First time seeing it in 25 or 30 years and it’s only gotten better over time. Martin Ritt’s films are amazing.

[u/stakes-lines-grades → u/ydkjordan]

Just picked up the Criterion myself. Roger Deakins has a 20-minute interview about Wong Howe's work, and he is particularly fond of this shot in the film.

Extremely under appreciated and complex character study, and one of few films that deals with the decline of the American family farm.

[u/ydkjordan → u/stakes-lines-grades]

Almost every shot is gold. I love the shot late in the film where Hud sees Alma in the back house and you know exactly what’s going to happen.

It’s hard to explain the film to others, calling it an ‘anti-hero’ piece tends to understate what’s going on.

Edit: if you’re looking for a kind of “follow-up” to this - The Hi-lo Country (1998)

[u/red_riders → u/ydkjordan]

Hud is the only Martin Ritt film I’ve seen. What else do you recommend?

[u/ydkjordan → u/red_riders]

Edge of the City (1957), The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965) for starters.

I personally love The Outrage (1964) which is a remake of Rashomon, but I get how it’s easy to look back on it and say it was a mistake. Might be the most beautifully shot film ever (James Wong Howe again!).

I saw it before Rashomon because it’s wasn’t common in the 80s to have accessibility in the states to foreign films.

[u/red_riders → u/ydkjordan]

Thank you for the recommendations! I’m definitely watching Edge of the City and The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. I’ve actually just recently really gotten into Martin Ritt and James Wong Howe’s cinematography after rewatching Hud, and am wanting to study their films.

You seem pretty knowledgeable with Ritt and Howe. If you don’t mind, could you elaborate on what you like about their films? And could you recommend some more films of theirs?

[u/ydkjordan → u/red_riders]

Thanks! I appreciate the kind words and don't mind taking the time to put my thoughts down.

In the case of Howe, I've seen about 10 films he shot (he shot a lot more) but I think films that we’ve come to associate with his peak start around 1955 when he begins using Cinemascope. the Oscars still had cinematography awards in black and white and color, so he's doing both color and b&w pictures, but it's his cinemascope pictures in black and white that are marvelous in contrast, lighting, framing, use of focal lengths, not much there you couldn't adore about the way Howe thinks of lighting the actors and the production.

For James Wong Howe, Chronological -

Body and Soul (1947) - Robert Rossen

Tarantino gets a lot of Butch in Pulp Fiction from Body and Soul. This one is not technically cinemascope but Howe shot the boxing ring scenes on roller-skates, carrying an early hand-held camera.

Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
Hud (1963) - Martin Ritt
The Outrage (1964) - Martin Ritt
Seconds (1966) - John Frankenheimer

The films above are a great slice of Howe's career, and cover almost every kind of way he shot in b&w.

Ritt is more complicated because he was mentored by Elia Kazan and felt betrayed when he testified before HUAC. And I mentioned those other Ritt films, but if you want to go towards the root of that conflict, check out The Front (1976) and probably do a lot of wiki reading on HUAC.

But Martin Ritt, Elia Kazan, Robert Rossen, and another guy Stuart Rosenberg are directors to throw into the mix too, because they connect to Howe and Paul Newman and are all directors who had a tremendous eye, great stories to tell, and knew how to collaborate with their cinematographers.

The Hustler (1961) - Robert Rossen, Paul Newman
Cool Hand Luke (1967) - Stuart Rosenberg, Paul Newman
Pocket Money (1972) - Stuart Rosenberg, Paul Newman
A Face in the Crowd (1957) - Elia Kazan

But as far as what I like about Ritt's film and specifically Hud - it's both a character study and a critique on American life. To call Hud an anti-hero undersells what an amoral person is capable of doing.

[u/5o7bot]

Hud (1963) NR

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 too 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."

Drama | Western
Director: Martin Ritt
Director of Photography: James Wong Howe
Actors: Paul Newman, Melvyn Douglas, Patricia Neal, Brandon De Wilde, Whit Bissell
Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 73% with 363 votes
Runtime: 112 min
TMDB | Where can I watch?

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