Nevada Smith

Last updated

Nevada Smith
Nevada Smith DVD cover.jpg
DVD Cover
Directed by Henry Hathaway
Written by John Michael Hayes
(story & screenplay)
Based on The Carpetbaggers
1961 novel
by Harold Robbins
Produced byHenry Hathaway
Starring
Cinematography Lucien Ballard
Edited by Frank Bracht
Music by Alfred Newman
Production
company
Solar Productions
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date
  • June 29, 1966 (1966-06-29)
Running time
131 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$6.5 million (est. US/ Canada rentals) [1]

Nevada Smith is a 1966 American Western film directed by Henry Hathaway and starring Steve McQueen, Karl Malden, Brian Keith, Arthur Kennedy and Suzanne Pleshette. The film was made by Solar Productions in association with and released by Paramount Pictures.

Contents

The movie is a prequel to The Carpetbaggers , a highly successful film from two years earlier based on the 1961 Harold Robbins novel. In that film, Alan Ladd played an older version of Nevada Smith, the character McQueen plays in this film.

Nevada Smith depicts Smith's first meeting with another "Carpetbaggers" character, Jonas Cord Sr, and delves into Nevada Smith's background as summarized in a scene from the original film.

Plot

In the 1890s American West, outlaws Bill Bowdre, Jesse Coe and Tom Fitch seek to rob Max's father of the gold they believe he has. When it becomes evident that there is none, they torture and brutally kill the white father and Kiowa mother of young Max Sand. Max sets out to avenge their deaths.

While traveling in the desert, Max uncovers a rusty old gun. Coming upon Jonas Cord, a traveling gunsmith, Max tries to rob him. Cord, recognizing that Max's revolver is non-functional, convinces Max he has failed. Max tells Cord about his vengeful journey. Cord, empathetic, shelters him and teaches him to shoot. Max hunts the killers, who have since separated. He tracks down Jesse Coe to Abilene, Texas. With help from Neesa, a Kiowa dance hall girl, he identifies and confronts Coe in a saloon. A knife fight ensues in a nearby corral. Coe is killed, but Max is severely wounded. Neesa takes him to her tribe's camp and nurses him back to health. Soon after, they become lovers.

Once recovered, Max continues his pursuit. He learns that Bowdre is in a prison camp located deep within Louisiana's swamps. Max deliberately commits a bank robbery to be sent to the same prison as Bowdre. Max persuades Bowdre to escape with him, planning to kill him in the swamp. Pilar, a local Cajun girl working in the rice fields near the convicts' camp, agrees to help Max. Unaware of Max's plan to kill Bowdre, she obtains a boat and navigates the trio through the swamp. The boat capsizes early on, and Pilar is bitten by a poisonous snake. Max kills Bowdre, but Pilar eventually succumbs to the venom of the snakebite.

Max has escaped and is now hunting Fitch, the last murderer. Still blinded by revenge, Max infiltrates Fitch's gang, calling himself Nevada Smith. Fitch knows Max Sand has killed Coe and Bowdre and is coming for him. Although Fitch accepts Nevada into the gang, he is wary. As the gang rides out to commit a gold-transport robbery, Max is spotted by Cord, who calls out his name. Max ignores him and the gang rides on. Fitch now suspects one of his men is Max. As the gang greedily scoops up the stolen gold, Max watches from a hill. Fitch, realizing Smith is actually Sand, grabs his share and flees. Max pursues him and corners him at a creek. Fitch tries shooting Sand while pretending to surrender, but Sand, faster, shoots Fitch's hand.

Fitch gives up and wants Max to quickly kill him. Max shoots Fitch several more times, inflicting painful but non-fatal wounds. As Fitch lies in the creek, bleeding profusely, Max demands Fitch beg for his life. Fitch calls Max a coward for refusing to kill him. Max decides Fitch is not worth killing and rides away as Fitch continues shouting at Max to kill him.

Cast

Production

The movie was produced and directed by Henry Hathaway, with Joseph E. Levine as executive producer, from a story and screenplay by John Michael Hayes, based on a character from Harold Robbins' 1961 novel The Carpetbaggers . The music is by Alfred Newman and the cinematography, shot in Eastmancolor and Panavision, by Lucien Ballard.

Nevada Smith was shot in approximately 46 different locations in the Inyo National Forest, in parts of Southern California and Southwestern Nevada, and in the Owens Valley of Southern California in the Eastern Sierra Mountains.

Reception

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Nevada Smith holds a score of 50% based on 8 reviews, with an average rating of 6.1/10. [2] Variety wrote that the film is "stifled by uneven acting, often lethargic direction, and awkward sensation-shock values", and that "overlength serves to dull the often spectacular production values". [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>The Sand Pebbles</i> (film) 1966 American period war film directed by Robert Wise

The Sand Pebbles is a 1966 American epic war film directed by Robert Wise in Panavision. It tells the story of an independent, rebellious U.S. Navy machinist's mate, first class, aboard the fictional river gunboat USS San Pablo, on Yangtze Patrol in 1920s China.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lincoln County War</span> 1878–1881 conflict in the Old West of the US

The Lincoln County War was an Old West conflict between rival factions which began in 1878 in Lincoln County, New Mexico Territory, the predecessor of the state of New Mexico, and continued until 1881. The feud became famous because of the participation of William H. Bonney. Other notable participants included Sheriff William J. Brady, cattle rancher John Chisum, lawyer and businessmen Alexander McSween, James Dolan and Lawrence Murphy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wild Bill Hickok</span> American folk hero and lawman (1837–1876)

James Butler Hickok, better known as "Wild Bill" Hickok, was a folk hero of the American Old West known for his life on the frontier as a soldier, scout, lawman, cattle rustler, gunslinger, gambler, showman, and actor, and for his involvement in many famous gunfights. He earned a great deal of notoriety in his own time, much of it bolstered by the many outlandish and often fabricated tales he told about himself. Some contemporaneous reports of his exploits are known to be fictitious, but they remain the basis of much of his fame and reputation.

<i>The Carpetbaggers</i> 1961 bestselling novel by Harold Robbins

The Carpetbaggers is a 1961 bestselling novel by Harold Robbins, which was adapted into a 1964 film of the same title. The prequel Nevada Smith (1966) was also based on a character in the novel.

<i>The Marine</i> 2006 action film by John Bonito

The Marine is a 2006 American action film directed by John Bonito from a story written by Alan B. McElroy and Michelle Gallagher. It stars professional wrestler John Cena, in his acting debut and was executively produced by Vince McMahon through the film production division of WWE called WWE Films and distributed in the United States by 20th Century Fox. In the film, a recently discharged U.S. Marine goes after some diamond thieves after they kidnapped his wife.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlie Bowdre</span> American cowboy and outlaw (1848–1880)

Charles Bowdre was an American cowboy and outlaw. He was an associate of Billy the Kid and member of his gang.

<i>American Outlaws</i> (2001 film) 2001 film by Les Mayfield

American Outlaws is a 2001 American Western action film directed by Les Mayfield and starring Colin Farrell, Scott Caan, and Ali Larter.

<i>The Oklahoma Kid</i> 1939 film

The Oklahoma Kid is a 1939 Western film starring James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart. The film was directed for Warner Bros. by Lloyd Bacon. Cagney plays an adventurous gunslinger in a broad-brimmed cowboy hat while Bogart portrays his black-clad and viciously villainous nemesis. The film is often remembered for Cagney's character rubbing the thumb and forefinger of his hand together and exulting, "Feel that air!"

<i>Jesse James Meets Frankensteins Daughter</i> 1966 film directed by William Beaudine

Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter is a low-budget horror Western film released in 1966, in which a fictionalized version of the real-life western outlaw Jesse James encounters the fictional granddaughter of the famous Dr. Frankenstein. The film was originally released as part of a double feature along with Billy the Kid Versus Dracula in 1966. Both films were shot in eight days at Corriganville Movie Ranch and at Paramount Studios in mid-1965; both were the final feature films of director William Beaudine. The films were produced by television producer Carroll Case for Joseph E. Levine.

<i>Vampires: Los Muertos</i> 2002 American film

Vampires: Los Muertos is a 2002 American direct-to-video Western horror film written and directed by Tommy Lee Wallace and starring Jon Bon Jovi as a vampire hunter. A sequel to the 1998 film Vampires, it was produced by John Carpenter. Vampires: Los Muertos introduces new characters, and the only reference to the previous film is the mention of Father Adam Guiteau from the original film, who has since died, as well as the legendary Béziers Cross, which was unsuccessfully used in the first film to perform a ritual that enables vampires to survive daylight.

Andrew L. "Buckshot" Roberts was an American buffalo hunter, frontiersman and cowboy known for his last stand against the Lincoln County Regulators during the Gunfight of Blazer's Mills near Lincoln, New Mexico.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doc Scurlock</span> American Old West figure (1849–1929)

Josiah Gordon "Doc" Scurlock was an American Old West figure, cowboy, and gunfighter. A founding member of the Regulators during the Lincoln County War in New Mexico, Scurlock rode alongside such men as Billy the Kid.

Cattle Queen of Montana is a 1954 American Western film shot in Technicolor directed by Allan Dwan and starring Barbara Stanwyck and Ronald Reagan. The supporting cast includes Gene Evans, Lance Fuller, Jack Elam, Chubby Johnson, and Morris Ankrum.

The Lincoln County Regulators, or just the Regulators, were an American Old West deputized posse that fought in the Lincoln County War in New Mexico, during the late 19th century. They are well known for including Billy the Kid as a member.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Coe (Lincoln County War)</span> American Old West figure (1851–1931)

Benjamin Franklin “Frank” Coe was an Old West cowboy, gunman, and member of the Lincoln County Regulators.

The Battle of Lincoln, New Mexico, was a five-day-long firefight between the Murphy-Dolan Faction and the Regulators that took place between July 15–19, 1878, in Lincoln, New Mexico. It was the largest armed battle of the Lincoln County War in the New Mexico Territory. The firefight was interrupted and suppressed by United States Cavalry led by Lt. Col. Nathan Dudley from Fort Stanton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ab Saunders</span> American cowboy and gunfighter (1851–1883)

Ab Saunders was an American cowboy, and at times gunman, best known for his association with Billy the Kid, Charlie Bowdre, Frank McNab, Doc Scurlock, and Saunders's cousins Frank and George Coe, when he was a member of the Lincoln County Regulators, a deputized posse, during the 1878 Lincoln County War in the New Mexico Territory

<i>The Carpetbaggers</i> (film) 1964 film

The Carpetbaggers is a 1964 American drama film directed by Edward Dmytryk, based on the best-selling 1961 novel The Carpetbaggers by Harold Robbins and starring George Peppard as Jonas Cord, a character based loosely on Howard Hughes, and Alan Ladd in his last role as Nevada Smith, a former Western gunslinger turned actor. The supporting cast features Carroll Baker as a character extremely loosely based on Jean Harlow as well as Martha Hyer, Bob Cummings, Elizabeth Ashley, Lew Ayres, Ralph Taeger, Leif Erickson, Archie Moore and Tom Tully.

<i>Mega Piranha</i> 2010 American horror film

Mega Piranha is a 2010 science fiction action film produced by The Asylum. It was directed by Eric Forsberg and stars Tiffany, Paul Logan and Barry Williams. In the tradition of The Asylum's catalog, this film is a mockbuster of Piranha 3D. It was filmed in Belize, Central America.

Nevada Smith is a 1975 American Western television film starring Cliff Potts, Adam West and Lorne Greene, based on the 1966 feature film Nevada Smith.

References

  1. "Big Rental Pictures of 1966". Variety . January 4, 1967. p. 8.
  2. "Nevada Smith". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  3. Variety Staff (January 1966). "Nevada Smith". Variety . Retrieved July 3, 2023.