Nevada Smith

Though there isn't much here that you haven't seen before in a western revenge drama, it's pretty well done. You can understand why the protagonist turns away at any chance of a normal life and instead concentrates on nothing but revenge. And it is undeniably satisfying to see him enact his revenge any chance he gets.

It's good for what it is, though there are some problems, that if tweaked, could have made the movie even better. For one thing, casting McQueen as a half-Indian? And casting this mid-30s actor as a character that's supposed to be young enough to be called "Kid"!?!? Plus, the escape from the swamp doesn't seem finished; in fact, with the short sequence where one of McQueen's pursuers commenting on the bullets he has left makes me believe that several minutes were edited out before the movie was released.

This sidebar story from Harold Robbins THE CARPETBAGGERS was given class treatment by Paramount as a vehicle for McQueen, who lends some authenticity to a rather routine character motivated by a quest to avenge the brutal slaying of his parents at the beginning of the picture. Henry Hathaway lends visual elegance to what's basically a drawn-out, seedy revenge tale. Alfred Newman provides the rousing music. Moderately engaging.

This was a western with a good cast and another intense, interesting revenge story. It's fairly long at 130 minutes but Steve McQueen is usually charismatic enough to carry a film, and he does so here, too.

As the title character, "Nevada Smith," McQueen is joined by a number of well- known actors of the 1960s: Suzanne Pleshette, Karl Malden, Brian Keith, Arthur Kennedy, Raf Vallone, Martin Landau Janet Margolin and Pat Hingle.

McQueen plays a man who is totally dominated by thoughts of revenge. It motivates his every move. I don't recommend that attitude, but it makes for a good movie.

It was nice to see this in 2:35:1 widescreen. Even though I owned a new tape, that nice western photography made the DVD purchase worthwhile.

NEVADA SMITH is a long-winded revenge tale encompassing chapters in a man's quest for revenge. The first chapter is the most interesting--with BRIAN KEITH showing "the kid" (STEVE McQUEEN) something about handling a gun as a gunslinger should who's looking to avenge the killers of his parents.

As the killers--MARTIN LANDAU, ARTHUR KENNEDY and KARL MALDEN--give tough, gritty performances and each is slated to be avenged for the killing of Nevada Smith's parents.

But the last half of the film sags under the tacked on spiritual saga with RAF VALLONE preaching the Bible to "the kid", who promises to "keep it in mind" before he goes off to find the third man, KARL MALDEN.

It's all directed in typical Henry Hathaway fashion--ruggedly staged action against gorgeous scenic backgrounds. It's a role that suits STEVE McQUEEN as perfectly as any of his best parts. He's especially good in the early segment as the uneducated kid who comes under the tutoring of BRIAN KEITH as Jonas Cord.

The swamp scenes, where McQueen gets himself sent to prison so he can locate Arthur Kennedy, almost seem like segments from another movie he made with Dustin Hoffman--PAPILLON. HOWARD DaSILVA and PAT HINGLE play the brutal warden and his helpmate in brutal fashion. SUZANNE PLESHETTE is rather unlikely as a doomed native girl in an underwritten role.

Summing up: A revenge tale that could have been trimmed by at least 30 minutes to make a tighter western.

What I think is the biggest problem with Nevada Smith is casting a 40 year old blond with blue eyes to play a 16 year old half Native American. It is distracting throughout the whole story. Sometimes it is even ludicrous because a couple of times people seem to recognize on sight that he is Native American. Couldn't they have at least dyed his hair black and give him some contact lenses for Pete's sake? And what was supposed to be a sweet "coming of age" scene with the young Native American girl just looked WRONG. Steve McQueen was a good actor and all, but throughout the whole movie I was using my imagination replacing him with a young Bronson or someone a little more appropriate to the character he was playing.