HUD is one of the best movies I have ever seen! Based on Larry McMurtry's early novel HORSEMAN, PASS BY, it works wonderfully as a modern morality play showing the seductiveness of hedonism (as represented by the attractive and persuasive Hud (Paul Newman) vs. the human decency and duty represented by Homer Bannion (Melvyn Douglas) as they battle for the soul of the grandson, Lon (Brandon De Wilde). There is an important lesson about the destruction of society by the cheapening of our standards of admiration. I absolutely love Patricia Neal in this film! Her earthy housekeeper, Alma, steals every scene she's in! I am so happy that she won the Academy Award for this role. I can't think of anyone, male or female, who gave a better performance that year. I love her line resisting Hud's advances, "No, thanks! I've done my time with one cold-blooded bastard. I'm not looking for another."
