This movie is a must-see for those interested in the Great Southwest (Texas in particular) during the mid-twentieth-century. It was such a special time in America: the old was making way for the new at breakneck speed and it was like being in a whirlwind to those who were living it. The story told in Hud clearly illustrates that particular time in history.
This is without a doubt my favorite movie of all time (tied with another Paul Newman flick, Paris Blues) and Paul Newman is my all-time favorite actor. No Doubt About It. End Of Story. So There. But, seriously... this film is simply hypnotic, with its sad, mundane reality so out in the open for everyone to see. These people think this is the way life is, and I guess for them, that’s true. I had some somewhat distant relatives (who lived in small Oklahoma towns) who were sort of like these folks, and maybe that’s why it touches me the way it does: a strange chill mixed with a warm, cozy feeling about something that does, indeed, seem oddly familiar.
As for the lead character of “Hud,” played to perfection by Newman, all anyone can say is: what a cad! But, what a charming, handsome, and completely swaggeringly seductive cad. I’d like to know who could resist him... oh, wait a minute: in real life I’d get as far away from this monster as possible, no fooling. But, God, what movie magic this whole mess makes. This is definitely a film where they got it completely right, including the ending. What a triumph! Paul Newman is “Hud!” ~Jean
A classic character study of Hud Bannon, a ruthless young rancher without a heart, who abuses and eventually alienates everyone in his “big fish in a little pond” Texas Panhandle world.
Location Site: Claude, Texas
Most of Hud was filmed in and around the tiny town of Claude. The sleepy Texas Panhandle town was the perfect backdrop in which to tell the common, yet tragic, story of the Bannon family. This movie, which was beautfully filmed in black and white, perfectly captured the banality of the humdrum, dead-end feeling of a small Texas town and the personal dramas of its inhabitants in the early 1960s. More...
See the entire feature about Hud in Movie Locations of the Great Southwest on Taos Unlimited
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