SPOILER ALERT! Less a western & more of a morality play. A group of disparate types have their stagecoach robbed and they're left without horses. They soon find themselves being pursued by the same gang of thieves. Paul Newman is a white man raised by Apache & serves as the traveler's protector and he's not particularly convincing. The supporting cast is large and includes Richard Boone, Martin Balsam, Diane Cilento and Barbara Rush. Fredric March is a bull-headed professor who tangles a bit too much with Newman. Most of the acting is very good and Cilento is a standout as widow who's seen it all and has very little patience for the wild west's bigotry and heartlessness. Filmed in the Coronado National forest in Arizona by the great James Wong Howe. Frequent Ritt collaborators Irving Ravetch & Harriet Frank Jr. did the script based on a story by Elmore Leonard. Ritt & Newman made several great movies together (HUD, THE LONG HOT SUMMER), but this is not one of them. It's a bit too preachy for its own good and the miscasting of Newman is an obstacle it never really gets over.
Review of Hombre
