It's one of the iciest, driest, razor-edged westerns. Raw, and hard, and no apologies. Elmore Leonard source material (although as I understand it, something of a rehash(?) of his earlier outing which became
"The Tall T"
with Randolph Scott).
Ultimately all such stories (including 'Stagecoach' harken back to the French short story by Guy deMaupaussant. Title
'The Ball of Fat'
or something, (if memory serves).
What I think is extraordinary about "Hombre" is the racial angle. You can almost feel the disgust in Newman as he trashes white men in line after line. He's scathing.
What else. Villains. Villains galore. "Hombre" has one of cinema's legendary nasties, the always-menacing Richard Boone. Distant kin to woodsman Daniel Boone as I'm sure you already know. Big, brawny, pot-bellied; slouching; grizzled, whiskey-guzzling, foul-mouthed, Cicero Grimes. A villain like no other. Aided and abetted by the wonderful character-actor, Frank Silvera. What more can one ask for.
Not to mention the classic thespian Frederick March in one of his most surprising roles on the opposite side of the law. Rare to see March play anything but a good, clean-living American joe. He almost steals the movie.
"Hombre" is a pic which is rarely far from my thoughts when I'm in a western mood.
Thanks for raising it as a topic.
Paul P. Powell, Pool Player

“Call a SPADE, a SPADE; and a TRANNY, a TRANNY, or an IT!!!”.
"THAT'S SOME BAD
SHIT
,
HARRY
!".

“Call a SPADE, a SPADE; and a TRANNY, a TRANNY, or an IT!!!”.
"THAT'S SOME BAD
SHIT
,
HARRY
!".

This message has been deleted.

I remember Newman being very stoic in this.
Newman is extremely iconoclastic and misanthropic in this film—he displayed a level of hardness in his acting that one might never have anticipated based on his younger roles. And overall,
Hombre
constitutes one of the most underrated and significant American Westerns of the 1960s.

One of my favorite Ritt/Newman films. I remember Newman being very stoic in this. I have to watch it again sometime.