MovieChat Forums > Hombre (1967) Discussion > Where do you rate this in Newman's body ...

Where do you rate this in Newman's body of work?

posted 16 years ago by egh
21 replies | jump to latest

Newman's passing sparked a thread on a non-movie forum to which I belong, with "what was your favorite role?" being the central theme. Not to be confused with what was his BEST performance.

After disqualifying Butch (that's a pro among amateurs), I had to go w/ the John Russell character in Hombre.

As a tribute on the night of his death, the wife and I broke out The Verdict (she had never seen it) and ate a bowl of Newman's Own Old Style Microwave Popcorn. That, unfortunately, left us with horrible conundrum of how to reconcile "old style" and "microwave" in the same sentence!

[–] LTUM 12 years ago

by far HOMBRE is my favorite newman film. hands down. in fact it's in my top five of all time. and he did a great job bringing it to life.

but i agree that one must separate the acting form the role. i have to be honest and say i think it is the character which brings the appeal of this film, moreso than the acting. there are probably other films where performance is better, but i still go with hombre every time because the total film is so expertly done, and hits home so HARD. this film really nails you in the gut.

(and it's an overused phrase but i say the HOMBRE is one which is ahead of its time. the film's issues and complexity of psychology is more like a 90s film, IMO)

one more thing:

i give most of the credit for HOMBRE's brilliance to elmore leonard, more than to ritt or newman. not a slam against either of them, but the genius of the film is in its writing.

"rage to exist..." http://tinyurl.com/c9ush3z

[–] LTUM 12 years ago

ratings:

of the ones i have seen, those which stand out are

1---HOMBRE

2---HUD

3---HARRY AND SON

4---ABSENCE OF MALICE

5---HARPER

6---COOL HAND LUKE

7---NOBODY'S FOOL

(this list is NOT in any order, because if it were i would put nobody's fool way at the top)

"rage to exist..." http://tinyurl.com/c9ush3z

[–] TrippyTrellis 12 years ago

1. From the Terrace.
2. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
3. The Young Philadelphians.
4. Hud (his best performance).
5. The Long, Hot Summer.

26 or 27. Hombre.

[–] jrl0726 10 years ago

This might be his best work. This film is one of the over-looked great westerns. Having a cast which includes all-time great March and superb character actors Boone and Balsam makes for captivating entertainment. Newman really allowed for his unique character to evolve within his performance. Ritt is one of the all-time directors & is usually right on as well.

[–] jim_85258 9 years ago

1. Cool Hand Luke
2. Hustler
3. Hud
4. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
5. The Verdict
6. Sting
7. Hombre

[–] degray9 (1126) 3 years ago

1. The Hustler
2. The Sting
3. Hud
4. Cool Hand Luke
5. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
6. The Verdict
7. Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid
8. Towering Inferno
9. Slap Shot
10. Hombre