HUD (1963)

Teenaged Lon Bannon (Brandon de Wilde) lives on a Texas cattle ranch with his upright grandfather Homer (Melvyn Douglas) and his ne'er-do-well uncle Hud (Paul Newman). He's caught in the middle of open hatred between Homer and his son Hud--hard-drinking, womanizing, cynical--and, at 17, is pulled between the two lifestyles. Hud is a thoroughly reprehensible character, but Newman leavens him with his patented killer grin and insouciant charm. All three put in fine performances, but the best by far is Patricia Neal as Alma, their kindly but world-weary, been-around-the-block housekeeper. She gets the best lines in an overall intelligent script. The B&W filming, by all-time-great cinematographer James Wong Howe, realistically evokes small-town Texas--you almost feel the dust in your nostrils. Excellent film.