Hud (The Criterion Collection) Blu-ray

A family’s downfall becomes a stark elegy for the ideals of the American frontier in this quietly subversive reimagining of western myths. In the fourth of his six collaborations with the progressive director Martin Ritt, Paul Newman created his darkest role yet as Hud Bannon, a charismatic but ruthlessly unprincipled rancher. Hud’s ambition to seize control of an ailing cattle business from his tradition-bound father (Melvyn Douglas) drives the family—including his worshipful nephew (Brandon de Wilde) and worldly-wise housekeeper (Patricia Neal)—toward collapse. Winner of Academy Awards for Best Actress (Neal), Supporting Actor (Douglas), and Cinematography—courtesy of James Wong Howe, whose austere black-and-white lensing lends psychological dimension to the desolate western vistas—Hud daringly rewrites the image of the heroic cowboy for a disillusioned generation.

• Audio excerpts from a 1974 American Film Institute seminar with director Martin Ritt
• New interview with actor Sally Field, conducted by author Isaac Butler, on Ritt and Hud
• New interview with cinematographer Roger Deakins on director of photography James Wong Howe
• Episode of Inside the Actors Studio, hosted by James Lipton, featuring actor Paul Newman
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: An essay by author and film scholar Gabriel Miller and a 1963 American Cinematographer interview with Howe