Nevada Smith (1966)

It is a performances centric movie

Disapointment

Absolutely brilliant

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

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.

I could not believe all the big name stars, and stars that were not necessarily really big but are very recognizable, that were in this movie. It is incredible. Steve McQueen, Karl Malden, Brian Keith (one of my all time favorite actors), Arthur Kennedy, Suzanne Pleshette, Pat Hingle, Martin Landau, John Doucette, Gene Evans, Paul Fix, and a number of uncredited stars that I recognized as well. Just the fact that there are so many stars makes it worth watching.I really like the older movies. Those from the beginning of film through the 60s. They used to make movies that had good story lines and had actors that really knew how to act. I was very blessed to have a mom that exposed me to music and movies from every era and most every genre.The one thing about the story that had me a bit confused was everyone calling Steve McQueen a kid. It isn't that he is old, but he certainly isn't a kid and not all that young. He was 36 at the time of this movie and, frankly, I didn't think he really looked much like a kid. To me, he looked like he was in his 30s (which he was). And a bit later in the movie he runs into the wife of one of the men he is pursuing and she makes a comment about how young he looks and yet she is actually 4 years younger than Steve McQueen. The second thing that had me a bit puzzled was when he ran into 3 guys and the one said, "He is a half breed. He is part Indian." (Not necessarily the exact words, but that was basically what was said.) This was confusing since Steve McQueen does not look like anything other than very white.The story isn't a unique one. However, it was well written and all of the actors played their parts very well. The movie was able to keep my interest throughout. I never felt that it lagged. The story progression was good. Steve McQueen's parents (father white, mother American Indian) were killed by 3 vicious men and he sets out to find these men and get revenge for his parents. On his journey to find these people, he runs into a great number of others that help teach him various life lessons. He learns to read and write, how to shoot and other various lessons that will aid him in locating and killing the 3 men. It also explores how events in your life can change the path you were on making you and changing you into a different person. In this case, it is examining how revenge can take over your life and twist you into someone you never meant to be. He meets a priest who tries to convince him that there is another way to live.I will let you see the film for yourself to see if he ends up killing the men who killed his parents or if he finds a different way to live. I recommend this movie, both for the good story line, the great acting and just to be able to see all of the stars.

I can't agree with those who say that "Hey, Steve McQueen, being 36 and blonde, is perhaps miscast as a young 16 year-old half-breed but it's still a great movie". You may as well argue that John Wayne at the age of 70 could have made this part. Or maybe Sidney Poitier. Well he couldn't. The young boy who loses his parents and has to grow up fast, eventually becoming a killing machine is the key element of the story. If you remove this, there just isn't much left except for the standard revenge scenario. Steve McQueen is so far from his character that he just can't pull it off. And he doesn't even try. In fact he looks mostly embarrassed throughout the movie. And I shared his feelings.

"Max Sand" (Steve McQueen) is getting water from a creek 3 miles from his home when 3 drifters ride up and ask him if he knows a man named "Sam Sand" (Gene Evans). He tells them that Sam is his father and they ask him where he lives. Not suspecting anything out of the ordinary he tells them. They head out in that direction but then all of a sudden chase his horse away and then gallop towards his home. By the time Max finally gathers his horse and gets back to his home his father and Kiowa mother have been tortured and killed. Even though he's young and inexperienced he swears revenge and rides off after them. Anyway, while not necessarily a blockbuster film, it does have some interesting scenes and a host of good actors and actresses. And although I didn't especially care for the ending, I did enjoy the performances of Brian Keith (as "Jonas Cord"), Karl Malden ("Tom Fitch") and Suzanne Pleshette ("Pilar"). In short, this is a decent western and I recommend it for those who enjoy this genre.