Nevada Smith

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.

A naive half-Indian, half-white teenager (Steve McQueen) evolves into a hardened killer as he tracks down his parents' murderers.

In the world of "revenge films", you have many that fall into the category of exploitation. This one rises above that and is much more nuanced, with some memorable characters. It also attempts to make comments on race and gender, though how successful it is on that is up to the viewer to decide.

How much does our protagonist rise above the revenge inside him? Well, in some ways he is pretty set in his ways. When presented with the Bible (which, amazingly, he had never heard of), all he takes from it is the "eye for an eye" bit. Maybe he never got to the New Testament.

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.

A young man seeks revenge for the brutal murder of his parents. It's generally well made, but can't overcome a big casting flaw. The title character is supposed to be a teen-aged half-breed. Unfortunately, he's played by 36-year-old blonde-haired, blue-eyed McQueen. It's hard to buy when he is repeatedly referred to as a kid and a half-breed. McQueen tries to act young, but acting like a man half his age makes him appear mentally retarded. The film goes on too long, with an extended prison sequence (stangely reminiscent of "Papillon," which McQueen would star in seven years later) that seems out of place in a Western. The impressive cast is chock full of familiar faces.

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.