Nevada Smith (1966)

I figured we'd get around to the Nevada Smith part of the story at some point, however it took almost the entire picture to get there. Not necessarily a bad thing once we get the idea that Steve McQueen's character is not above lying to pursue his revenge against the three men who killed his father and mother to open the picture."Nevada Smith" is at times a plodding, by the numbers Western with McQueen's performance, by his own admission, taking a step back artistically speaking. He's essentially miscast here as an eighteen year old when in fact he was thirty five at the time. It's a bit bizarre, but McQueen makes it work, sort of, with the boundless energy and restless nature he brought to most of his films.As the story progresses, a number of question marks popped up for this viewer. When he faces down Jesse Coe (Martin Landau), how is it that no one in the saloon crowd bothered to follow the men outside to see what was going on ? When Max (McQueen) got himself locked in the bank vault I shook my head in disbelief wondering how could anyone be that stupid. Once again, a younger actor in the role might have been more believable, with McQueen the scene held a giant disconnect for me.Be that as it may, the picture proved amazingly popular grossing twelve million dollars in the U.S. alone, and fared even better overseas, helping cement Steve McQueen's status as a modern day American hero. The film was particularly well received in Japan, as hero Max Sand avenged his parents' murder in the tradition of all the great samurai films. And who better to do that than one of the stars of 1960's "The Magnificent Seven", the film that launched McQueen's movie career following a successful TV run on the Western series "Wanted: Dead or Alive".

I could not believe all the big name stars, and stars that were not necessarily really big but are very recognizable, that were in this movie. It is incredible. Steve McQueen, Karl Malden, Brian Keith (one of my all time favorite actors), Arthur Kennedy, Suzanne Pleshette, Pat Hingle, Martin Landau, John Doucette, Gene Evans, Paul Fix, and a number of uncredited stars that I recognized as well. Just the fact that there are so many stars makes it worth watching.I really like the older movies. Those from the beginning of film through the 60s. They used to make movies that had good story lines and had actors that really knew how to act. I was very blessed to have a mom that exposed me to music and movies from every era and most every genre.The one thing about the story that had me a bit confused was everyone calling Steve McQueen a kid. It isn't that he is old, but he certainly isn't a kid and not all that young. He was 36 at the time of this movie and, frankly, I didn't think he really looked much like a kid. To me, he looked like he was in his 30s (which he was). And a bit later in the movie he runs into the wife of one of the men he is pursuing and she makes a comment about how young he looks and yet she is actually 4 years younger than Steve McQueen. The second thing that had me a bit puzzled was when he ran into 3 guys and the one said, "He is a half breed. He is part Indian." (Not necessarily the exact words, but that was basically what was said.) This was confusing since Steve McQueen does not look like anything other than very white.The story isn't a unique one. However, it was well written and all of the actors played their parts very well. The movie was able to keep my interest throughout. I never felt that it lagged. The story progression was good. Steve McQueen's parents (father white, mother American Indian) were killed by 3 vicious men and he sets out to find these men and get revenge for his parents. On his journey to find these people, he runs into a great number of others that help teach him various life lessons. He learns to read and write, how to shoot and other various lessons that will aid him in locating and killing the 3 men. It also explores how events in your life can change the path you were on making you and changing you into a different person. In this case, it is examining how revenge can take over your life and twist you into someone you never meant to be. He meets a priest who tries to convince him that there is another way to live.I will let you see the film for yourself to see if he ends up killing the men who killed his parents or if he finds a different way to live. I recommend this movie, both for the good story line, the great acting and just to be able to see all of the stars.

By 1966,the American western had become the relic of the post world war two era and was being replaced and outdone by the Spaghetti western, with Sergio Leone releasing the third instalment of his famous "dollar's trilogy", THE GOOD,THE BAD AND THE UGLY, in this same year. This meant that the American western had to be reinvented, it had to change, it had to become more violent, more adult and deliver to audiences of the day what they really wanted to see. NEVADA SMITH succeeds completely in achieving each of the aforementioned factors, after 3 sadistic outlaws, Jessie Coe(MARTIN LANDAU),Bill Bowdre(ARTHUR KENNEDY)and Tom Fitch(KARL MALDEN)casually mutilate and murder his parents in brutal, gut wrenching fashion,Max Sand(STEVE MCQUEEN)swears violent revenge. He begins wandering the west looking for the killers and meets a gunsmith named Jonas Cord(BRIAN KEITH)who teaches him how to shoot,Max then dedicates the next few years of his life to hunting down and killing the 3 criminals...NEVADA SMITH is an amazing western, despite being a revenge western, it's a little different to the others as it has a twist, with the final scene being a major factor and setting it apart from the other films. The film is superbly directed by Henry Hathaway, who gave us gems like THE SONS OF KATIE ELDER(1965),TRUE GRIT(1969) and HOW THE WEST WAS WON(1962),Hathaway was an expert in terms of the western and NEVADA SMITH reflects this marvellously, he builds up tension terrifically and the film is paced fantastically.There never really is a dull moment and I was gripped in electrifying suspense for the entire duration of the film,especially leading up to the climax. He also did extremely well in putting across Max relentlessness in hunting the killers, showing the extreme lengths he is willing to go to achieve his goal. I was particular impressed with the prison camp sequence and also the scene in which Max escapes through the swamps with Bill Bowdre just so he can kill him and causes the death of an innocent young woman in the process, it gave the storyline a greater emotional depth and a raw, chilling edge. The scenes with Max executing the outlaws were incredibly shot but the thrilling climax was the best part of the movie, the exciting heist scene is followed by an absolutely spectacular all guns blazing shootout with great stunts, a fantastic horse chase and a taut, mind blowing showdown between Max and Tom Fetch. The final scene is what makes the film and is brilliantly scripted and acted and shot with stinging intensity, it also gave a violent revenge film a rather nice moral and an interesting end compared to other revenge movies which end on a bitter and dark note. This final sequence took me completely by surprise and really blew me away, I also believed it was a very satisfying ending, but it's far too great to spoil.I really liked the character of Max and was really interested by how the character changes as the film goes on, with his causing the death of an innocent woman and a chance meeting with a monk causing him to change his view on revenge and ultimately impacts the outcome of his bloodthirsty quest. Legendary Steve McQueen is awesome and cool in the role, Karl Malden is on magnificent, bloodcurdling form as the evil Tom Fetch and plays the role with roaring,energetic flamboyancy. He is outstanding,especially in the final scene, his final lines will echo in your head once the film is over and they're so excellently delivered that you can feel his raw desperation and despair. I felt Malden's performance overshadowed McQueen's but Steve definitely owned the film, Brian Keith, Arthur Kennedy and Martin Landau also gave stunning performances.The cinematography was a massive compliment to the film with breath-taking panoramic vistas of the beautiful mountains and deserts and gorgeous shots of the lush, green swamps. The lovely scenery gave a colourful look to an otherwise dark and violent film, Alfred Newnan's score was another highlight, it sounded epic in the opening credits but the music played during the heist scene was taut, exciting and simply fantastic.NEVADA SMITH is a magnificent and awesome western, up there among the very best of the genre. It definitely brought something fresh to the western table,it has everything,an interesting and gripping story with an intriguing and unique twist, taut and suspenseful script, brilliant pacing, exceptional camera-work and a chilling, explosive climax that will blow your mind and leave a lasting impression. A must see for any red blooded western fan.10/10.

Good scenery, great cinematography and good music score do not a movie make. Good plot, but executed in a strange way. STEVE MCQUEEN is MUCH, MUCH, MUCH to old for the role. He also kind of "sleep walks" thru this. Maybe he didn't have much faith in the script. SUZANNE PLESCHETTE is wasted in a nothing role. In fact she's totally miss cast. The three villains score my vote for good performances. An uncredited JOANNA MOORE has a nice bit in a hotel room with MCQUEEN. Picture could have used more of her. SPOILER ALERT: Now for the worse part. How did MCQUEEN get out of the swamp and get out of his prison chains and end up in California with no one noticing??? A real plot hole here unless there was a giant cut in the final edit. If so, that was DUMB. Picture was OK until that point, and what follows is pretty bad. Again maybe to jagged editing. Nothing makes much sense. Too bad as NEVADA SMITH has the makings of a good film.