Hombre

Released by: Twilight Time
Released on: May 2015.
Director: Martin Ritt
Cast: Paul Newman, Fredric March, Richard Boone, Cameron Mitchell, Diane Cilento
Year: 1967
Purchase From Screen Archives

The Movie:

Based on the novel of the same name by Elmore Leonard, Hombre begins with an interesting scene in which John Russell (Paul Newman), a white man raised by Apache Indians, chases after some wild horses. The foreshadowing and symbolism isn't lost on us and from here we get to know John a bit better when he sits down at a local watering hole. Here he sees two white men harass a pair of Apache men. After they spill their drinks, Russell reacts… violently. Though he was born to wait parents he was raised by an Apache tribe, making him a bit of a contradiction in these days of the Wild West.

Soon enough, Russell gets word that a relative has passed away and left him a boarding house as an inheritance. He heads over there to check it out and meets Jessie (Diane Cilento), the woman who has been running the place for years. He tells her that since he owes her nothing he's going to sell it and use the money to buy more horses. She's not happy about it but has no choice but to accept it. When her alternative, trying to convince the town sheriff (Cameron Mitchell) to marry her, doesn't work she decides to hop on a stagecoach, run by Russell's friend Henry Mendez (Martin Balsam), and get out of town.

Of course, she won't be alone on this trip. Along for the ride are Billy Lee (Peter Lazer) and Doris Blake (Margaret Blye) - a young wedded couple trying to sort out their issues, an older wealthy couple named Alex (Frederic March) and Audra Favor (Barbara Rush), a local troublemaker named Cicero Grimes (Richard Boone) and, by no small act of fate, Russell himself. The stagecoach heads out of town towards its destination and of course soon after runs into trouble, and of course, there's only one man who can save them, a man whose very cultural identity is a lightning rod for controversy for almost everyone involved…

Hombre is a great movie for a lot of reasons. The story, once it hits its stride, is plenty tense and even in those slower moments that populate the first half hour or so, the character development is interesting enough that it easily holds our attention. On top of that, it's really nicely photographed with cinematographer James Wong Howe knocking it out of the park not only in the John Ford inspired sweeping landscape shots but in the more intimate, dramatic moments where the camera pulls in a bit tighter. The use of color is impressive throughout the movie, particularly in those aforementioned outdoor scenes and the score, courtesy of composer David Rose, is effective and rather involving in its own way.

Where the movie really shines, however, is with the cast. Cameron Mitchell is fun here as the fairly crotchety sheriff and the scene he shares with an incredibly underrated Diane Cilento where they discuss the concept of marriage is definitely one of the film's more interesting moments. Both do fine work here, Cilento delivering top notch work. Peter Lazer and pretty Margaret Blye are believable as the newlyweds experiencing some problems while Frederic Marsh and Barbara Rush both deliver good work as the rich couple. Richard Boone makes for a fantastic heavy here and Martin Balsam an unusually cast but perfectly effective Mexican friend to Newman's lead. But yeah, Newman's lead. That's where it's at. Newman uses that fantastic screen presence of him to create a character that is both sympathetic and intimidating. We get why he feels the way he does even without a ton of information about his background and his facial expressions and body language speaks volumes even in the scenes where he doesn't have a lot of dialogue.

It all works exceptionally well. This is western that tries something different and succeeds, so not only does it impress from a technical and artistic level but it winds up a wildly entertaining watch a well.

Video/Audio/Extras:

Hombre debuts on Blu-ray framed at 2.35.1 widescreen in AVC encoded 1080p high definition and it looks excellent. Colors really pop here but never to the point where they look oversaturated at all. The scope photography really benefits from the HD transfer, showing great detail and really pulling you into those wide angel shots when they're used. The movie does spend a lot of time dealing in medium and close up shots though, and it's here that we really notice the increase in detail and texture. The image is consistently crisp and clean, showing virtually no print damage and just some nice, natural looking film grain. Color reproduction, contrast, skin tones and black levels all look great here too. This is a very impressive transfer from start to finish.

The English language DTS-HD Mono track is free of any issues. The score has decent depth to it, the dialogue sounds nice and natural and there are no audible signs of any hiss or distortion. Range is about what you'd expect from an older single channel mix but this is clean, clear and well balanced. Optional English subtitles are provided.

Extras start off with an audio commentary from film historians Lee Pfeiffer and Paul Scrabo. This is an interesting talk with a fair bit of focus on Newman's character and performance but also plenty of discussion as to what makes this western different than a lot of other American westerns made around the same time. They also discuss the other performances, the locations, the editing and directing style and the source material. Definitely worth a listen.

Aside from that we get an isolated score option, a trailer (“Hombre means man… and Paul Newman is Hombre!”), menus and chapter stops. Julie Kirgo contributes an essay that appears in the form of a liner note insert booklet that effectively makes the case for the film's status as a revisionist western.

The Final Word:

Hombre holds up well, it's a smart and well-directed western made all the more interesting by some complex, multi-layered characters. The film offers a nice balance between the action you'd expect and some strong dramatic moments accentuated by a strong cast and Newman's excellent lead turn. The Blu-ray looks and sounds quite nice and offers up a few decent extras as well. If you're a western fan, this is one you won't want to miss.

Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!