Nevada Smith (1966)

Director:

Henry Hathaway

Writers:

Harold Robbins (novel)
John Michael Hayes (story)

Release Date:

10 junio 1966 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Frase comercial:

Some called him savage- and some called him saint... some felt his hate- and one found his love... and three had to die...

Plot:

A naive half-Indian, half-white man evolves into a hardened killer as he tracks down his parents' murderers.

Plot Keywords:

Sheriff | Dancehall Girl | Whipping | Flogging | Prospector

Awards:

1 nomination

Comentarios de los usuarios:

Has some flaws but is still a good film.

Cast

Steve McQueen	...	Nevada Smith / Max Sand / Fitch
Karl Malden	...	Tom Fitch
Brian Keith	...	Jonas Cord
Arthur Kennedy	...	Bill Bowdre
Suzanne Pleshette	...	Pilar
Raf Vallone	...	Father Zaccardi
Janet Margolin	...	Neesa
Pat Hingle	...	Big Foot (work camp trustee)
Howard Da Silva	...	Warden of work camp
Martin Landau	...	Jesse Coe
Paul Fix	...	Sheriff Bonnell
Gene Evans	...	Sam Sand
Josephine Hutchinson	...	Mrs. Elvira McCandles
John Doucette	...	Uncle Ben McCandles
Val Avery	...	Buck Mason (bartender)

También conocida como:

Nevada Smith (Spain) [es]

Duración:

128 min

País:

USA

Idioma:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sonido:

Mono

Clasificación:

UK:15 (1988) | UK:A (1966) (cut) | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1966) | Singapore:PG | West Germany:16 (nf) | Australia:M | Norway:16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California, USA

Company:

Solar Productions

Trivialidades:

The name "Nevada Smith" was the original inspiration for the name "Indiana Jones"; the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) character's name was originally "Indiana Smith". George Lucas named him "Indiana" after his dog, and "Smith" after this movie. But then it was changed to "Indiana Jones".

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The scene in the swamp where the inmates are hauling logs out of the water shows Max on a welded steel barge. Welded steel barges weren't constructed until the advent of electric arc welding in the 1930s, and didn't appear in general use until World War II. The barge should have been a wood-hulled barge instead of welded steel.

Quotes:

Jonas Cord: [Cord shoots a bottle out of the air] Now you get so you can do that with either hand, when you're half-drunk, or half-awake, or inside of a dark room, off the back of a running horse, you might stand a chance. A small chance.
Nevada Smith: Would you teach me?
Jonas Cord: I sell guns, I don't teach killing.
Nevada Smith: Then I'll learn myself.
Jonas Cord: You won't live that long.
Nevada Smith: Well thank you for the food and advice, Mr. Cord. I guess I'll be on my way.
Jonas Cord: Where to? How? What with? Even if I did teach you something, that's only half of it. When you're looking for them three men, you gotta live, don't you? You gotta eat. You need clothes, food, horses, saddles, guns, ammunition, money. How you gonna get that? Tracking beaver on Sundays? I'll tell you how you'll get it. You'll wind up stealing, and killing, and turn yourself into the same kind of animal you're trying to track down. Can't you see that?
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in Steve McQueen: The Essence of Cool (2005) (TV)

Has some flaws but is still a good film.

The problem with any Steve McQueen western is that none measure up to The Magnificent Seven, his best cowboy role and one of the best westerns of all time.

Nevada Smith is not a perfect screenplay but it is nonetheless entertaining. It is the tale of a young boy who seeks revenge on three men who viciously tortured and murdered his parents. It has a predictable plot and some directorial flaws, but overall it meets the criteria for a good film; it is entertaining.

At age 36, McQueen is a bit hard to believe as a 'kid'. The story obviously spans many years in Max Sand's life and if the writers had played this up more McQueen's age would not have mattered. Even showing Max and Alex Chord in a winter setting followed by spring, something to show an extensive passage of time would have helped make McQueen's age more fitting (if he'd lost weight prior to filming it would also have helped). More emphasis should have been placed on his progression from illiterate, green half-breed to savvy gun slinger. The passage of time while he learned to read, use firearms, kill his first victim and recover from wounds at the Indian village, should all have been used more extensively to make Max Sand age into the character portrayed by McQueen.

But regardless of McQueen's actual age, by the time Max kills the first of the three men he is tracking and then gets himself thrown into a Louisiana prison to find another one, his character's age and looks are believable.

A superb cast of supporting actors backs up McQueen. Brian Keith is the perfect father figure who takes Max in and teaches him to use firearms and tells him about life and how to find the men who killed his parents. Suzanne Pleshette cannot be made to look bad no matter how hard the make up department tries. Even dirty and sweaty in the swamp, her natural beauty and class shine. These traits and her unique voice and soft movements steal any scene she is in. She almost upstages McQueen. Martin Landau, Arthur Kennedy and Karl Malden are as bad as any movie villains I ever saw.

POSSIBLE SPOILER: In the end, Max does the right thing. He purges his hate and embraces the bigger meaning of life. He doesn't forgive the murderers; he just elevates himself above them. He doesn't kill Fitch, instead after wounding him severely he walks away from a life of violence. For some reason, I believe he returns to the Indian tribe of his birth and to Neesa, the Indian woman who truly loves him. In any case, ultimately the film works.