Hombre
1967  NR  WESTERN  1h 41min
CAST— Paul Newman, Fredric March, Richard Boone, Diane Cilento, Cameron Mitchell, Barbara Rush, Martin Balsam
MUSIC— David Rose  DIRECTOR— Martin Ritt  BASED ON— Hombre (novel), by Elmore Leonard

     Entertaining vehicle for a brooding Paul Newman, his baby blues always on the horizon, a clever comeback always ready for you. He plays an Apache-raised white man, embarking upon a stagecoach with various strangers. He is shunned by, of all people, an Indian agent and his wife and told to ride with the driver. When the stage is robbed by highwaymen the passengers soon come to rely upon Newman as a leader and guide through the dry terrain. The story aside (which doesn’t really get going until about an hour into the film, anyway), the film’s impact is generated by a literate screenplay fleshed out by believable characters in believable situations. A standout.
OUR RATING— ***