Nevada Smith
Dettaglio di Nevada Smith
Attore : Martin Landau
Regista : Henry Hathaway
Editore : Paramount
Durata : 125 Minuti
Nevada Smith recensioni da clienti
Recensione : Nevada Smith Paramount Pictures presents "NEVADA SMITH" (1966) (128 min/Color) -- Starring Steve McQueen, Karl Malden, Brian Keith, Arthur Kennedy, Martin Landau & Suzanne Pleshette
Directed by Henry Hathaway
Set in the West of the 1890s, the film opens with the torture and murder of the parents of Max Sand (Steve McQueen) by a trio of gunslingers seemingly motivated by their hostility toward the mixed nature of the marriage (Max's mother is a Native American). Swearing revenge, the young cowhand enlists the help of itinerant gunsmith Jonas Cord Sr. (Brian Keith), who teaches him how to shoot while counseling against revenge.
Nonetheless, Sand doggedly scours one town after the other before finally running up against one of the murderers, Jesse Coe (Martin Landau). He finally kills Coe in a vicious knife fight, but is severely wounded himself and has to be nursed back to health by Neesa (Janet Margolin), a young Kiowa woman.
He next heads for Louisiana where another of the murderous trio, Bill Bowdre (Arthur Kennedy), is serving a prison sentence in a remote swamp. In order to get close to the man, Sand stages a robbery, and is soon among the prison inmates. Pilar (Suzanne Pleshette), a Cajun girl working in the rice fields near the convicts' camp, gives Max comfort and finds a craft to help him escape through the swamps. He takes Bowdre with him and murders him along the way, but the boat tips in the swamp and Pilar dies from a snake bite.
Still blinded by revenge, Max goes after Tom Fitch (Karl Malden), the last of the murderers. He infiltrates Fitch's gang, calling himself "Nevada Smith," but Fitch realizes that Max Sand is out there somewhere, trying to ambush him.
Fabulous music score by Alfred Newman and cinematography by Lucien Ballard.
Henry Hathaway's film is based on a character from Harold Robbins' "The Carpetbaggers", who, in turn, based it on cowboy actor Ken Maynard.
To this extent Nevada Smith (1966) serves as a prequel to The Carpetbaggers (1964). In the latter film, the role of Nevada Smith was played by Alan Ladd as an aging cowboy turned western film star.
Further complicating (though also linking the two films) is appearance of Jonas Cord Sr. (Brian Keith) in Nevada Smith (1966) - his son Jonas Cord takes front and center in "The Carpetbaggers" (1964) being played by George Peppard in a role described as "a rancidly-sketched portrait of Howard Hughes!"
BIOS:
1. Henry Hathaway [aka: Marquis Henri Leonard de Fiennes] [Director]
Date of Birth: 13 March 1898 - Sacramento, California
Date of Death: 11 February 1985 - Hollywood, California
2. Steve McQueen [aka: Terence Steven McQueen]
Date of Birth: 24 March 1930 - Beech Grove, Indiana, USA
Date of Death: 7 November 1980 - Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico (heart attack following surgery)
3. Karl Malden [aka: Mladen George Sekulovich]
Date of Birth: 22 March 1912 - Chicago, Illinois
Date of Death: 1 July 2009 - Brentwood, Los Angeles, California
4. Brian Keith [aka: Robert Keith Richey Jr.]
Date of Birth: 14 November 1921 - Bayonne, New Jersey
Date of Death: 24 June 1997 - Malibu, California
5. Arthur Kennedy [aka: John Arthur Kennedy]
Date of Birth: 17 February 1914 - Worcester, Massachusetts
Date of Death: 5 January 1990 - Branford, Connecticut
6. Suzanne Pleshette
Date of Birth: 31 January 1937 - New York City, New York
Date of Death: 19 January 2008 - Los Angeles, California
Mr. Jim's Ratings:
Quality of Picture & Sound: 5 Stars
Performance: 5 Stars
Story & Screenplay: 5 Stars
Overall: 5 Stars [Original Music, Cinematography & Film Editing]
Total Time: 128 min on DVD ~ Paramount Pictures ~ (April 22, 2003)
