Hud (1963)

An aging rancher (Melvyn Douglas) runs a cattle ranch while dealing with his ne'er-do-well son (Paul Newman) and raising his orphaned grandson. When his herd is threatened, old grudges and family secrets are revealed.

Young Lonnie idolizes his reckless uncle and doesn’t understand gramps hostility towards him. It is mentioned in the IMDb blurb, so I suppose it’s not really a spoiler. In the second act it is revealed that Hud drove the car in the accident that killed his brother, Lonnie’s father. Ironically Brandon De Wilde (Lonnie) also died in a car accident at 30, leaving a young child. And so it goes.

Paul lost the Oscar for best actor but Grandpa Melvyn won best supporting actor and Patricia Neal won best actress. Douglas and Neal also appeared together eighteen years later in Ghost Story. That would prove to be Douglas’ last screen appearance, premiering four months after his death.

Yvette Vickers was here. She played a hussy in Attack of the 50 Foot Woman and played a hussy here. She plays a very good hussy. She appeared in only fifteen films and this is my fourth. I’ll likely see a fifth.

Every bit a western, it establishes early that it is set in the present day by panning to a truck. Hud is a slow burn character study. Based on the book Horsemen, pass by, details therein would have made it unfilmable in 1963. That said, Hud is a fascinating and unconventional story. AMRU 4.

Torn Curtain (1966)

Professor Armstrong (Paul Newman) is going on a secret mission, but unfortunately his fiancee (Julie Andrews) decides to tag along. He tries to ditch her, but she follows him into East Berlin. Golly, I wonder how this will all play out.

Getting through the rest of Hitchcock’s CV is going to be a slog. This is film 28 out of I believe 53 and one of his least interesting. Think North by Northwest if nothing about the plot was engaging and the stars had no chemistry. Which is very sad because I really like Newman and Andrews. Remember, this is just one year removed from her being irresistibly charming in The Sound of Music. They felt out of place in a Hitchcock film and didn’t have much to do.

Also, some of the techniques accepted in earlier films, like extensive use of rear screen projection, seemed conspicuously dated for 1966. Furthermore, the script is devoid of the humor so common in earlier films. Everything just fell flat.

Torn Curtain is like a well crafted slice of dry toast. No matter how perfectly it is toasted, it’s still toast. AMRU 2.

The Sting (1973)

Movies before the year of my birth is such an arbitrary date.

It's the 1930's Chicago, and Johnny Hooker (Robert Redford) is a young, hunky grifter. While doing a con with James Earl Jones' father, they make a big score. The owner of that score is a big time New York mobster he decides to pay them a visit. Exit senior Jones. Hooker wants pay-back. And not to be killed. He needs help.

Hooker enlists the help of Henry Gondorff (Paul Newman). He is wise and jaded. Together they concoct a sting. It has something to do with horse racing. What follows is two hours of the construction and operation of an elaborate scam, the details of which we learn as we go.

A movie like this, a very dense two hours nine, requires some endurance from younger viewers. My 15 year old gave up on it after a half, so I paused it and made him watch the rest later. He liked it a lot. What I liked was the amazing supporting cast. Robert Shaw (Jaws), Ray Walston (Martian and Fast Times), Charles Durning (just about everything), Eileen Brennan (Murder by Death) to name a few. Even Harold Gould, who was on Soap, when Jody was in the hospital having a sex change, (I just finished watching the entire series - a big moment in my life).

Great script, perfect story (that is, it makes complete sense from every character's perspective), top notch acting, and excellent sets and production. I can't say enough about it. Seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, plus three nods. AMRU 4.5.

Hooker: He's not as tough as he thinks.

Gondorff: Neither are we.

Lonnegan: Your boss is quite a card player, Mr. Kelly; how does he do it?

Hooker: He cheats.