Nevada Smith

Dir: Henry Hathaway

1966

****

Henry Hathaway's sprawling western covers one man's decade long pursuit of vengeance and the effect it has on his character.  It's a prequel to Harold Robbins's 1961 novel The Carpetbaggers which had been made into a film in 1964 staring Alan Ladd as Nevada Smith. The two films are unconnected however, with Steve McQueen taking the title role. I'm a big fan of Henry Hathaway films, even with some pretty big films under his belt I feel he is still underrated and often forgotten. True Grit and Kiss of Death are probably the two biggest films the director will be best remembered for but in my opinion, Nevada Smith is a much better western than John Wayne's True Grit ever was. The performances in True Grit are great but Nevada Smith's story and Steve McQueen's journey from innocent victim to fully fledged killer is absolute dynamite. The script is incredible and a little grittier than you'd expect, even from the grittiest of westerns. There is a line very early on delivered by Brian Keith after Smith states that he's going after the men who killed his parents, questioning how he's thinks he'll go about his pact of revenge; "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?" To which smith answers, "I don't see nothing, except my father laying on a blood-covered floor, all burnt and cut, with the top of his head blown to pieces! And my mother, split up the middle, and every square inch of her skin ripped off".  While you never see any of this, it's still not for the faint hearted. It's only around two hours long, I say only because it feels much longer but I don't mean that in a negative way. The story stretches over time and even though McQueen doesn't age that much physically it does come across that way and Lucien Ballard's beautiful cinematography certainly makes this a western of the epic variety. Steve McQueen is effortlessly cool, not cool in a Vin Tanner sort of way but in that he somehow transforms his character with very subtle changes, never once falling at the hurdle. It's a blue sky, crystal clear water technicolor western with a killer script and deliciously dark undertones. A great leading performance, great direction and a supposing cast of actors you know you can rely on.