Hud

 

Picture: B     Sound: B-     Extras: D     Film: A

 

 

Martin Ritt would pull together one of his best films in 1963 with the classic Hud.  Joining together a great script, excellent cast, and none less than legendary cinematographer James Wong Howe to shoot the black & white landscapes, the sprawling adaptation of James McMurty’s book is an American classic.  The film is overlooked due to the fact that it appears simple, but the complex characters give it all the weight.  Hud is about the change in America from the pre-WWII era to the post-WWII time with technology making its advances through the Midwest.  It is analyzed through the lives on the Bannon Ranch. 

 

We are introduced to Homer Bannon, a rancher who is still set in the old ways.  His cattle ranch is successful and he is raising his grandson Lonnie, and Lonnie’s uncle Hud (Paul Newman).  We are introduced to this story without much prior knowledge to the situation, but there is much tension between the characters.  Lonnie’s father is dead and has no mother.  Homer’s wife is no longer around either, so the entire ranch is nothing but males, with exception of the beautiful housemaid Alma (Patricia Neal). 

 

Homer and Hud have conflict, which mostly comes from the fact that Hud is a loafer.  He comes and goes as he pleases.  He picks up women left and right and cares about very little except himself.  Hud has a strong influence on the younger boy Lonnie, who is about 16 or 17 years old.  Homer knows this influence is dangerous.  The overall conflict to the story arises when a cattle becomes infected with what appears to be foot and mouth disease, which is the worst thing for a rancher because he must kill all his cattle in order to stop an outbreak. 

 

Each character in the story represents a different part of a person’s life for which our story acts like a poem.  Hud represents freedom, Homer represents custom, Lonnie the future, and Alma is our female figure that represents obedience.  As the story progresses more fuel is added to the fire and the tension increases.  Howe’s camera work establishes the perfect mood from scene to scene.  Outdoor scenes show the openness of the west, while interiors have a closed in and naturally lit feel.  The contrast is perfect as shadows and pools of light can be seen from place to place. 

 

Paramount’s issue of Hud onto DVD looks very good.  The 2.35 X 1 scope transfer is the best to date.  Shot in Panavision the image looks very good with nice detail, deep blacks, and bright whites.  There are still some minor scratches at times along with some slight grain, but nothing too major.  This ranks up with one of the better black and white films issued by Paramount alongside John Frankenheimer’s Seconds (1966).  Hud has the advantage of being shot in scope, which looks really good with all of Howe’s camera moves and strategic setups in order to frame the characters based on the tension within the scene.  Notice the framing used while Hud and Homer are together versus the scenes involving Hud and Lonnie. Also notice the way in which the character of Hud is always lit or photographed in order to appear cool and calm regardless of what is happening.  Only a master cameraman like Howe could pull this off with such finesse.  One time someone asked me how you know if someone is a good cinematographer or not. I replied, “The best ones shoot a film so that you don’t even realize the camera is there, but rather we are watching life being acted out before our eyes.”  Hud is a classic example of this.    

 

The original mono soundtrack has been replaced by a newly mixed Dolby Digital 5.1 track.  The sound is quite thin, considering it was never meant to be heard like this.  The front channels are used more than the rears, which only become engaged from time to time with certain parts from the score.  The 5.1 mix is clean and voices come through in a naturalistic manner.  Results can vary when remixing from mono and most of the time the overall sound becomes way to thin.  Hud is borderline thin, but at least here there are no effects or other big sound design type things happening.  This is almost all dialogue with the occasional car of truck sound from time to time.

 

No extras!  That’s right…nothing!  Sadly nothing was added to this disc, but luckily the film is that good that it does not need anything bonus to make it worth its weight.  It would have been nice to have at least a trailer or some tidbits, but we are left with nothing for the time being.

 

 

-   Nate Goss