Hombre (1967)

Paul Newman is John Russell, raised by the Apache and later adopted by a white man. These days, he prefers living as an Indian and breaking horses for sale to the stage line.

But that stage line is closing, and Russell gets word that the man who adopted him has died, leaving him a boarding house in the town of Sweet Mary.

Stage line operator Henry Mendez offers Russell some advice: Cut his hair. Go to town. Be a white man for a while. Be on the winning side for a change.

Instead, Russell decides to sell the boarding house for a herd of horses. Then he winds up on a Bisby-bound wagon driven by Mendez.

Also aboard are a quarreling young couple, Doris and Billy Lee Blake; rich businessman, Dr. Alex Favor (Frederic March) and his much younger wife (Barbara Rush); Jessie (Diane Cilento), the former operator of the boarding house; and a hard-case named Grimes (Richard Boone).

Turns out Favor is fleeing with a small fortune gained by cheating the Apache on their beef contracts. And Mrs. Favor, Grimes and his partners have conspired to spring a trap on the travelers to steal that small fortune.

Well, two of the holdup men end up dead thanks to Russell, who also winds up with the money. The surviving bandits have Audra Favor as a bargaining chip. But they also have horses and water, while the stage passengers are stranded on foot in a dry, harsh country.

Those passengers will need Russell’s help to survive. And Russell’s feeling none too kindly toward white men or women at the moment.

Paul Newman as John Russell, convinced to try the ‘white’ life after the death of the man who raised him in Hombre (1967)

Richard Boone as Grimes, trying to work out a compromise with John Russell in Hombre (1967)

Review:

Another of those gritty 1960s Westerns that’s different enough to be highly entertaining.

Newman turns in a solid performance as a white man who sees the world through the eyes of an Apache. His fellow travelers don’t always understand his way of thinking, but they instinctively know he’s the man to follow.

Richard Boone also does an excellent job as the bandit leader Grimes and Cameron Mitchell has a small role as a sheriff who’s been sleeping with Jessie, but won’t marry her because he can’t offer much of a future.

Among the actresses, Diane Cilento stands out as a woman who’s been loved, wed, bedded and let down by men, but who has gained lots of spunk and worldly wisdom along the way.

Oscar nominated for her role in “Tom Jones” (1963), she was married to actor Sean Connery of James Bond fame when this film was made.

Diane Cilento as Jessie, a survivor with grit to spare in Hombre (1967)

Martin Balsam as Henry Mendez, a stage station manager who finds himself out of business in Hombre (1967)

Directed by:
Martin Ritt

Cast:
Paul Newman … John Russell
Frederic March … Dr. Alex Favor
Richard Boone … Grimes
Diane Cilento … Jessie
Cameron Mitchell … Frank Braden
Barbara Rush … Audra Favor
Peter Lazer … Billy Lee Blake
Margaret Blye … Doris Blake
Martin Balsam … Henry Mendez
Skip Ward … Steve Early
Frank Silvera … Mexican bandit
David Canary … Lamar Dean
Val Avery … Delgado
Larry Ward … Soldier

Runtime: 111 min.

Barbara Rush as Audra Favor and Frederic March as Dr. Alex Favor, in for a surprise in Hombre (1967)

Cameron Mitchell as Frank Braden, a longtime lawman facing what he considers a bleak future in Hombre (1967)

Memorable lines:

Henry Mendez: “Which name today? Which do you want?”
John Russell: “Anything but bastard will do.”

Henry Mendez, informing John Russell of his inheritance: “You can be white or Indian or Mexican. Now it pays you to be a white man for a while … Put yourself on the winning side for a change.”

Billy Lee Blake to Doris: “You don’t want any kids. You don’t want to keep house. And now you don’t even want to sleep with me. I’d do better to get myself a yellow dog to keep me company.”

Jessie, on funeral monuments: “What do you figure yours is gonna read?”
John Russell: “Shot dead, probably.”
Jessie: “Don’t people like you, Mr. Russell?”
Russell: “It only takes one who doesn’t.”

Margaret Blye as Doris Blake, a young wife about to run into trouble with Grimes in Hombre (1967)

Peter Lazer as Billy Lee Blake, newly married to Doris and not sure it was a good idea in Hombre (1967)

Jessie to Doris Blake, after Grimes holds her down and kisses her: “You shook your tail in that man’s face to get his attention. And you got it.”

Audra Favor, about falling in love with her husband: “When I was 18 and a student of his and heard him read Robert Browning … but now I’m 35 and I hear him cough of phlegm.”
Doris Blake: “They all make those noises — bathroom noises and bedroom noises.”
Audra: “I suppose we’ve all felt the same chill.”
Jessie: “Not me. I like men. They put a little gray in my hair, but I keep going back for more, so they must have something.”

Jessie, at the holdup scene: “Feeling ornery, Frank?”
Frank Braden: “Let’s not start askin’ questions.”
Jessie: “Just one: What are you doing here?”
Frank: “Going bad, honey.”

Mexican bandit: “You give us the money. Or we shoot the woman.”
John Russell: “Shoot her then.”

Jessie: “I don’t know what your gripe is against the world. Maybe you’ve got a real one …”
John Russell, interrupting; “Lady, up there in those mountains, there’s a whole people who’ve lost everything. They don’t have a place left to spread their blankets. They’ve been insulted, diseased, made drunk and foolish. Now you call the men who did that Christians, and you trust them. I know them as white men, and I don’t.”

John Russell (Paul Newman), Jesse (Diane Cilento) and Doris Blake (Margaret Blye), traveling companions in Hombre (1967)

Frank SIlvera as a Mexican bandit who joins forces with Grimes in Hombre (1967)

David Canary as Lamar Dean, a member of Grimes’ gang in Hombre (1967)

Richard Boone as Grimes, about to force a wagon full of passengers to take a detour in Hombre (1967)

Henry Mendez (Martin Balsam), Jesse (Diane Cilento) and Billy Lee Blake (Peter Lazer) watching John Russell in action in Hombre (1967)

Paul Newman as John Russell, an outsider the wagon passengers turn to for protection in Hombre (1967)