Indeed, Paul Newman Is 'Hud'

It doesn't often happen that a movie advertisement has much relation to the film it promotes. But in the ads for Hud, buried under mountains of drivel (The Man With The Barbed Wire Soull etc.) is the simple statement, "Paul Newman is Hud." The adwriter no doubt had reasons of his own for saying "is" rather than "as" or "in". Still, even if by accident, he said something true. Paul Newman's performance is so superb, so complete, that he doesn't merely play the role of Hud Bannon, he is Hud.

Newman's acting is one of two things that make Hud better than just a good modern adult western. The other is the screenplay, adapted by Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank Jr. from a novel by Larry McMurtry. Besides being an absorbing study in the conflict between two strong personalities, it is that rarity among Hollywood scripts, a critique of society.

Just how devastating a critique the film is can be seen in the reactions of, say, high school students to the character of Hud. He is a dynamic, attractive human being. But judged by his actions, he is an unmitigated bastard, motivated solely out of self interest: he sleeps with other men's wives, he drives his Cadillac over flower beds, he tries to have his father declared incompetent so that he can get control of the old man's property. Yet high school students have adopted him as a hero; they admire his bravado, his coolness, and they either ignore his amorality or admire that, too.

In the film, Hud's father, a man of stern, old-fashioned morals, says bitterly, "Little by little the look of the country changes because of the men we admire." And increasingly, the men we admire are like Hud.

Hud would have been a much less effective film if it had stuck to moral absolutes, to the simple opposition between good and bad. Because it doesn't, it is good drama and a subtly disturbing social commentary. The film is set on a ranch in contemporary Texas, and it centers around the battle between Hud and his father Homer (Melvyn Douglas) for the allegiance of Hud's cousin (Brandon de Wilde). Homer's honesty is tied up with his idea of the dignity of work. His cynical son values money and physical pleasure. The temptation to turn Hud into a pious little morality play must have been strong; fortunately it was resisted. In the end, Lon is won over to Homer's values but Hud gets the ranch and the money. The film's makers had the courage to conclude the movie on a note which leaves the question of "who won" in doubt.

Hud could not have explored its unanswered moral questions with the subtlety it does without a performer like Paul Newman in the title role. It's easy to condemn sin: but it's not so easy to condemn the concrete, complex individual sinner. Newman makes Hud a man of charm and magnetism, a man difficult to dislike. Hud trades shamelessly on his personal attractiveness, but his shamelessness is a characteristic of his society as well as himself. Newman is letter-perfect, from his insolent walk to the mock-tough way he propositions the Bannon family maid. Even when Hud is silent, Newman seems to be thinking in character.

The other actors in Hud provide good support for Newman. Melvyn Douglas' Homer is a bit too Isaiah-like; he oversimplifies his role, but without serious damage to the film's impact. Brandon de Wilde, as Lon, performs with the right mixture of naivete and poignant adolescent embarrasment. Patricia Neal, as Alma, the maid, is outstanding; she is convincing and matter-of-fact.