Hud

Although he takes top billing here, it isn't actually Paul Newman's eponymous role that stands out for me here. That would jointly be Patricia Neal's long suffering 'Alma" and Brandon De Wilde's naive and innocent "Lon". The latter lad is the nephew of "Hud" and all live with his grandfather "Homer" (Melvyn Douglas) on his cattle ranch. "Homer" is a decent cove, "Alma" is their housekeeper and "Hud" - well he just boozes and womanises his way through life with an engaging aptitude that seems to have turned him and his father against each other. "Lon", meantime, adores his uncle and wants to emulate him - a fact that "Hud" is aware of and, to a certain extent, exploits to make himself feel better. That's maybe the root of his problems. He doesn't feel. Not for himself, nor for his lovers, nor for his family - his life is all rather empty and at that Newman delivers well - without imbuing his character with even the merest hint of melancholy or regret. The threat of disease hits the herd, though, and that potential disaster starts to focus all attentions on this dysfunctional familial relationship and events start to focus "Hud" on his priorities. Is it all too late, though? De Wilde seems to me to be the eyes of the story. From his perspective we see the behaviour around him vacillate from kindly, loving and friendly to violent and thoughtless. It's his very butter-wouldn't-melt character that serves to highlight the strengths and weaknesses amongst the others and by the denouement, well I almost felt sorry to Newman's strikingly sad and lonely persona. I thought it might be hard to take a dislike to any character the usually charming Newman might play, but this performance made that easy - a testament to his versatility. Neal features quite sparingly, but her character comes across and strong and determined, a little vulnerable but in the end, cognisant of the flaws in a man whom, ultimately, she just couldn't trust. As we learn a little more of the back story, maybe we feel a little sympathy for the wayward cowboy. Maybe not.