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Hombre
John Russell, disdained by his "respectable" fellow stagecoach passengers because he was raised by Indians, becomes their only hope for survival when they are set upon by outlaws.
Release : | 1967 |
Rating : | 7.4 |
Studio : | 20th Century Fox, Hombre Productions, |
Crew : | Art Direction, Art Direction, |
Cast : | Paul Newman Fredric March Richard Boone Diane Cilento Cameron Mitchell |
Genre : | Western |
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Reviews
Such a frustrating disappointment
everything you have heard about this movie is true.
Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.
The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;
Despite the ever present hotbed topic of racism, the film was a major disappointment to me as it is rather slow moving and the characters such as Richard Boone, Paul Newman and Fredric March are never allowed to develop fully.The one excellent performance here is by Diane Cilento as one of the passengers on the ill-fated stagecoach.Racism is not an underlying film here; rather, it is the definite theme. Kidnapped by Indians as a child and raised as their own, Paul Newman was eventually taken back by a man who gave him his name and upon the latter's death willed him his property.Seeing how the Indians have been mistreated has left an indelible mark on the Newman character and he faces bigotry on the coach for when his Indian past is discovered, the passengers no longer want to ride with him.The coach is summarily held up and the passengers must depend on Newman for their very survival.In a change of pace, Fredric March, one of the passengers, is an Indian agent traveling with his wife Barbara Rush and both show their nasty bigotry. Through the irony of the situation, Rush will also depend upon Newman in the end to survive.As always, Newman comes to grips with the situation and human decency propels him to save the Rush character, but at what cost?
"Hombre" is a motion picture combining the talents of two veterans of the famed Actors Studio in New York: director Martin Ritt and actor Paul Newman. The final movie in their multiple film collaborations, "Hombre" tells a good story with a nuanced message about the treatment of Native Americans.Newman plays the character named John Russell, whose background is that of a native of the Cherokee nation. Raised in the Cherokee culture as a boy, Russell now is starting out to make his way in the world of the men who destroyed his native culture.The action of the film is a lengthy story of survival where Russell is part of an entourage in a stagecoach that is robbed. The large stash of money was originally stolen by a doctor employed by the government to oversee the Cherokee reservation. Now, some desperadoes, led by Richard Boone in a star turn as the villain, attempt to rob the doctor. The money really belongs to the Russell's tribe, yet he is now in forced to choose whether or not to assist the bystanders in the stagecoach in a long march across the desert.SPOILER ALERT: The drama has some enormous plot holes, including the unexplained moment when the stagecoach is robbed, yet the thieves do not remember to take the money! Then, in the climax, Newman's character plans to kill the robbers, yet he too does not take the money bag that is to be offered for the exchange of the doctor's wife.Beyond the muddled narrative, the scenery of the Southwest is gorgeous, and Newman turns in an exemplary performance, especially in his understated reading of some excellent lines of dialogue.
The first part of the film, from the very beginning until the trip starts, is simply perfect. My favorite scenes are the one in which the main character is in the bar with two Apache fellows and the one in which intimidating Grimes gets his ticket for the stagecoach. If the movie had kept in the same path this would be one of the best Westerns ever made. It did not, though it is still a good Western. Both Paul Newman and Richard Boone did a very good job. Filmmaking is also remarkable, a very careful work. The screenplay explores competently the different moods, interests and backgrounds of each character. Although not in the same average level of the first part of the film, the trip also has amazing moments, both in the interaction between passengers and in the final conflict.
Paul Newman reunites with "Hud" director Martin Ritt for this stark western. Newman plays John 'Hombre' Russell, a white man raised by Apaches who is shunned by the community as a result. When he inherits a boarding house in town, he decides to trade it for a herd, and must take a stagecoach to complete the deal. With him on the journey are Favor(Frederic March) and his wife Audra(played by Barbara Rush) a snobbish couple, along with ruthless gunfighter Grimes(played by Richard Boone) The trip is rudely interrupted by bandits, who force the passengers to flee into the mountains for safety, but with the bandits in pursuit, leaving Russell the only man to protect them... Interesting tale of prejudice and irony is quite cynical, with a familiar plot, yet works very well because of fine acting and direction.