Hud (1963)

In Martin Ritt's emotionally-powerful, revisionist western drama - a fascinating portrayal of irresponsible, wayward, rude, non-hero Texas cowboy Hud Bannon (Paul Newman):

• Hud - known for driving a big pink Cadillac convertible, and his constant womanizing of housekeeper Alma Brown (Oscar-winning Patricia Neal) with lines such as: ("The only question I ever ask any woman is: 'What time is your husband comin' home?' What's keeping ya? You're over the age of consent, ain't ya?"), and ("Ya still got that itch?..Well, let me know when it gets to botherin' ya.")
• Hud's advice to idolizing teenaged nephew Lon (Brandon de Wilde): "You don't look out for yourself, the only helping hand you'll ever get is when they lower the box"
• the scene of the discovery of the Bannon herd possibly stricken with hoof-and-mouth disease - and Hud's disregard for the law by shooting at a flock of assembled buzzards nearby, while principled patriarch Homer Bannon (Melvyn Douglas) objected: ("I wish you wouldn't do that, Hud. They keep the country clean. Besides, there's a law against killin' buzzards," but Hud didn't care: ("Man, I always say the law was meant to be interpreted in a lenient manner. And that's what I try to do. Sometimes I lean to one side of it, sometimes I lean to the other"); Homer added: "I don't like to break the law in my place, Hud"; Hud concluded: "Well, she ain't gonna sit up and tell us herself"; later, the Bannon herd had to be slaughtered
• the scene of Homer's condemnation of his drunken son Hud: ("You don't give a damn. That's all. That's the whole of it. You still don't get it, do ya? You don't care about people, Hud. You don't give a damn about 'em....Oh, ya got all that charm goin' for ya, and it makes the youngsters wanna be like ya. That's the shame of it 'cause you don't value nothin'. You don't respect nothin'. You keep no check on your appetites at all. You live just for yourself and that makes ya not fit to live with"), and Hud's drunken (and angry) admission to end the conversation: "My mama loved me, but she died"

Homer's Condemnation of Hud's Drunkenness

• Homer Bannon's comment about the changing country to his grandson Lon, and the corruptive influence of Hud: "Little by little the look of the country changes because of the men we admire....You're just gonna have to make up your own mind one day about what's right and what's wrong" - he was referring to the choice of either admiring Hud or someone better
• the shocking and terrifying attempted rape scene of Alma by Hud
• the bus station goodbye scene between Alma and Hud, after the rape attempt, and Alma's disgust-attraction at Hud while he tried to assuage her feelings: ("Well, it looks like we're losin' a good cook. Maybe we should've boosted your salary a little. You ain't lettin' that little ruckus we had run ya off, are ya?...It seems I'm the first guy that ever stuck his foot in your door?...I'm the first one ever got rough, huh? Well, I'm sorry. That ain't my style. I don't usually get rough with my women. Generally don't have to"); although she complimented his appearance, she was ready to leave: ("You're rough on everybody...You want to know something funny, it would've happened eventually without the rough house. You look pretty good without your shirt on, you know. Sight of that through the kitchen window made me put down my dishtowel more than once"); as she boarded the bus, he shouted out: ("I'll remember ya, honey. You're the one that got away")
• the scene of Homer's death after he fell from a horse, after which Hud asserted to Lon: "It was the best thing. He was wore out and he knew it....Tryin' to get up, hurtin' himself. He couldn't have made it. Lonnie, any way in this world, he couldn't have made it another hour....You don't know the whole story. Yeah, him and me fought many and many a round together. But I guess you could say that I helped him about as much as he ever helped me"; Lon questioned Hud's sincerity and complicity: "How did you help him, Hud? By tryin' to sell him out? By takin' the heart out of him? By makin' him give up and quit? Is that how you helped him?"

Final Scene

• the final scene of Lon walking off from the ranch and speaking to Hud in his car, and deciding not to follow his ways: ("I'm goin' somewhere else and work for awhile if I can happen onto a job...I won't be back this way"), and Hud's rebuttal in the film's last lines of dialogue: ("Well, I guess you've come to be of your granddaddy's opinion that I ain't fit to live with. That's too bad. Yeah, we might've whooped it up some, you and me. That's the way you used to want it ...You know somethin' Fantan? This world is so full of crap, a man's gonna get into it sooner or later whether he's careful or not")