Hud (1963) - Top points for Ritt's sensational Texas-set drama

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Classy credits, critical praise, a stylish, gritty comics-styled graphic and star Paul Newman's physique and name adorn this poster for Martin Ritt's Hud

Hud is a womanizing drunkard, who lives on his father's Texas ranch along with his nephew, father and a housekeeper, while a possible cattle disease is investigated, and Hud's enmity with his old man escalates.

 

Hud is written by co-writer/co-producer Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank Jr. (Home from the Hill (1960), both), adapting the novel Horseman, Pass By (1961) by Larry McMurtry (Leaving Cheyenne (1963)), and directed by New-Yorker master filmmaker, co-producer/director Martin Ritt (Edge of the City (1957)), whose 9th feature it was.

Of the poison-laden, conflict-filled high-profile American grown-up dramas of its time (such as Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) and others), Hud is the best. Still today it is an electric experience; intense, sexy, brave, stirring and strong. The dialog doesn't just ignite sparks, - it starts wildfires in several directions, and it is a study in suggestion and double meanings. 

Elmer Bernstein (Puppies for Sale (1998, short)) is responsible for the subtle score, and James Wong Howe's (Tess of the Storm Country (1960)) phenomenal cinematography is an evocative, super-sharp B/W ride to treasure. 

The cast is uniformly outstanding: Paul Newman (Exodus (1960)) is eternally on edge as the 'devil-may-care' amoral title character. Incredibly enough he gets the counterweight necessary from Melvyn Douglas' (The Americanization of Emily (1964)) performance as his straight-edged father. The complex and realistic drama extends to Patricia Neal's (Glitter (1984, TV-series)) housekeeper, SPOILER who herself flirts in the period leading up to the culmination, an attempted rape. She and the personality exploring, beautiful nephew (Brandon De Wilde (In Harm's Way (1965))) are also excellent. 

Hud is directed without a false tone in it by Ritt. Ultimately it is a 'Death-of-the-West' type of generational crisis tragedy that points forward to Peter Bogdanovich's The Last Picture Show (1971), (also a McMurtry adaptation.) The eminent ending of the film, both untraditional and brilliant, made me think that Hud might after these events develop into a man not dissimilar to the bitter magnate egotist we see in Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood (2007). 

Related post:

Martin Ritt: Edge of the City (1957) - Poitier gleams in Ritt's idealistic debut

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Reportedly 1.6 mil. $

Box office: Reportedly 10 mil. $ (North America only)

= Uncertain but likely a mega-hit (projected return of 9.37 times its cost)

[Hud was released 24 May (North America) and runs 112 minutes. Shooting took place from July - September 1962 in Texas and California. The-numbers.com allege, without giving any source, that the film cost 2.5 mil. $ to produce, whereas 1.6 mil. $ is listed elsewhere, (and seems more likely in my opinion.) They also list the 10 mil. $ domestic gross. With a projected world gross of 15 mil. $, the film ranks as a mega-hit. It was nominated for 7 Oscars, winning 3; Best Actress (Neal), Supporting Actor (Douglas) and Cinematography - Black-and-White. It lost Best Actor to Sidney Poitier for Lilies of the Field, Art Decoration-Set Decoration - Black-and-White to America America, Director to Tony Richardson for Tom Jones, and Adapted Screenplay to John Osborne for Tom Jones. It also won 1/3 BAFTA nominations, was nominated for 5 Golden Globes and won 3 National Board of Review awards, among other honors. Ritt returned with The Outrage (1964). Newman returned in A New Kind of Love (1963). Hud is fresh at 84 % with a 7.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Hud?

Our Daily Bread/Unser Täglich Brot (2005, documentary) - Meditative portrait of modern food production

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Two scenes of modern, commercial food production make up this poster for Nikolaus Geyrhalter's Our Daily Bread

An observant investigation of modern farming and food production on the industrial scale: Rape seed fields, fish farms, poultry, pork and beef production, dairy, insemination, slaughter.

 

Our Daily Bread is written by co-writer/co-producer/editor Wolfgang Widerhofer (Elsewhere (2001, documentary)) and co-writer/co-producer/director/cinematographer Nikolaus Geyrhalter (Eisenerz (1992)).

For a while the film frustrates the fact-connected beholder, who will naturally want to know where this or that footage was shot, and maybe other facts as well. But Our Daily Bread is without any kind of narration or informative texts or even music to accompany the images, which are well-made and interesting in themselves. They invite meditation over our relationship to the things we eat and how they come about.

One can only speculate that the film is meant to inspire outrage, but the film still leaves it open for the viewer to decide for himself what to think about these miracles of capitalism (in my eyes) and the hard-working people in their labors, which Geyrhalter luckily doesn't neglect to portray also. The film in other words steers clear of appreciation of the business of mass food production, barred by the conventions of  'good taste', but a lot is left up to the eyes that see here in Our Daily Bread.

 

 

Watch a 5-minute clip from the film here

 

Cost: Unknown

Box office: 72k $

= Box office disaster (projected return of 0.07 times its cost)

[Our Daily Bread premiered 28 November (Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival) and runs 92 minutes. While the food companies depicted are deliberately not named, a list of them is available on the film's Wikipedia page that includes companies in a long list of European countries. The film had a small release in New York as its only North-American release with the gross unreported. Its 3 biggest reported markets were Belgium with 35k $ (48.6 % of the total gross), Spain with 11k $ (15.3 %) and Taiwan with 9k $ (12.5 %). If made on a small 1 mil. $ budget, the film would rank as a box office disaster. It was nominated for a European Film award, among other honors. Geyrhalter returned with 7915 Km (2008, documentary). Our Daily Bread is fresh at 94 % with a 7.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Our Daily Bread?

God's Own Country (2017) - Lee's sensual sheep country romance debut

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The two stars relax close together on the grass in practical clothes on this hype-boosting poster for Francis Lee's God's Own Country

In the North-English countryside young Johnny lazily runs his father's sheep farm (including a few cows), while he drinks and fornicates aimlessly. Now the farm hires Romanian migrant worker Gheorghe, and life changes for Johnny.

 

God's Own Country is written and directed by debuting Francis Lee (The Farmer's Wife (2012, short)).

Very brazen and sensually focused on the bodies of the two men falling for each other and the nature that surrounds them, (although God's Own Country avoids explicit shots), the film warms up to an increasingly sweet romance, which is appealing and moving. The leads, Josh O'Connor (The Program (2015)) and Alec Secareanu (Thirty (2013, short)), have charisma and chemistry, and Johnny's parents are also well-acted (by Gemma Jones (You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger (2010)) and Ian Hart (The Bridge (2014, TV-series))).

God's Own Country has a tenderness for the country and the labor involved in the farmwork and handling the animals, which also distinguishes this personal and authentic offering.

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 1 mil. £, approximately 1.41 mil. $

Box office: 2.5 mil. $

= Big flop (returned 1.77 times its cost)

[God's Own Country premiered 23 January (Sundance Film Festival) and runs 105 minutes. The script is partly based on Lee's own life, as he left the family farm to go to drama school. Shooting took place in West Yorkshire, England. It opened #57 to a 1k $ first weekend in 4 theaters in North America, where it grossed 335k $ (13.4 % of the total gross). The film's biggest market was the UK where it grossed 1.1 mil. $ (44 %); North America was the 2nd biggest, and the Netherlands was 3rd biggest with 297k $ (11.9 %). It was not released in homophobic countries such as China, Russia, Malaysia, Arab countries and in Eastern Europe, apart from in Romania. The film won an award at the Berlin International Film Festival, 4/11 British Independent Film awards, an award at Sundance, and was nominated for a BAFTA, among other honors. Lee returned with Ammonite (2020). O'Connor returned in Boys on Film 18: Heroes (2018, segment) and theatrically in Only You (2018); Secareanu in 4 TV and short credits prior to his theatrical return in Amulet (2020). God's Own Country is certified fresh at 98 % with an 8.00/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of God's Own Country?