Nevada Smith Reviews

• Don't forget the way back

  
  By AK61LQI92GTCH on 2004-07-10
  If you're ever curious why people made such a fuss about Steve McQueen check out NEVADA SMITH, Henry Hathaway's sprawling tale of vengeance and obsession.
  McQueen plays young half-Indian/half-white Max Sand, whose parents are murdered by a trio of bandits (Martin Landau, Arthur Kennedy, Karl Malden.) McQueen was 36 years old in 1966, the year NEVADA SMITH was made, and was probably a decade past the time when he could effortlessly portray a naïve young hero. There's a brief, disturbingly violent scene at the beginning of the movie where the three villains are torturing Smith's parents, and the woman portraying McQueen's Kiowa mother doesn't look much older than 35. Still, McQueen brings a wide-eyed innocence to his performance that tremendously helps us suspend disbelief. Besides, I believe I counted exactly zero close-ups in this action western. If you want to check out the crow's feet around McQueen's eyes you'll have to look hard and fast to see them.
  McQueen gets a chance to play against some Hollywood professionals at the top of their games. Brian Keith is growlingly good as traveling gunsmith Jonas Cord, who plays Polonius to McQueen's Laertes, and plies the young stranger with instruction and advice. Max Sand won't be argued out of his mission to avenge the death of his parents, and the pragmatic Cord reluctantly agrees to be his mentor. It's through Cord and, later, a priest Sand comes across, that the movie is allowed to question its central theme - vengeance. Cord argues the practical ("You'll turn into one of the rats you're hunting,") the priest the spiritual. It's a tribute to the brilliance of McQueen's performance that by the time we reach the last scene we can see how both arguments have contributed to his maturation. Karl Malden plays the evil, racist Tom Fitch with sadist gusto. Malden overacts a bit in one of those rare roles that benefits when an actor takes it over the top. Watching the suspicious Fitch interrogate the no-longer-naïve Max Sand is one of the highlights of the movie.
  The underrated Hathaway shot most of NEVADA SMITH on location, and the realistic look is used to great advantage. He doesn't go for the landmark shots a la John Ford in Monument Valley, choosing instead to play scenes in anonymous swamps and deserts. The realism shoots through all the way to stunts and props and costumes. Instead of elaborately choreographed fist fights with exaggerated sound effects every time a blow is struck, the characters in NEVADA SMITH scratch and claw, bite and kick when they fight. The clothes they wear are torn and dirty and they stay dirty.
  NEVADA SMITH has enough going for it to appeal to those who aren't typically fans of westerns. If you are a fan this is a must-see.
  
  

• Excellent western, McQueen is superb.

  
  By on 1999-06-22
  Steve McQueen plays Max Sand ( Nevada Smith ) who sets about finding his parents three killers played by karl Malden , Martin Landau, and Arthur Kenndy. But finding them and killing them is a bit harder then he thought. While on his trail he meet's Brian Keith who teaches him to be an expert marksman.Nevada Smith is a tense violent western which follows Nevada every step on his revenge crazed journey. McQueen is excellent , in this classic western.
  
  

• Terrific Psychological Western

  
  By A2B73CL3QSYWLB on 2006-01-22
  Forget completely that the title character's name is incidently derived from Harold Robbins' trashy "The Carpetbaggers". This film is more of a piece with John Ford's "The Searchers" or the psychological westerns of Anthony Harvey. The film poses the question as to the cost vengeance does to a man's soul. Steve McQueen, whose character ages from green teenager to hardened criminal, subtlely suggests the toll of blood vengeance to one's person. McQueen may have been a tad too old for the role but his expertise as an actor makes you suspend disbelief. The film has a vast and impressive supporting cast. I was most taken by the two women in the film, the late Janet Margolin ("David and Lisa") as an Indian dancehall girl and Suzanne Pleshette as a paddy girl who facilitates McQueen's escape from a Louisiana work farm. Look and listen quick for Strother Martin who plays "Strother". Also noteworthy is that the film was lensed by longtime Sam Peckinpah collaborator Lucien Ballard.
  
  

• Another McQueen Classic

  
  By A2Q13PHEXGR48Q on 2003-02-05
  Nevada Smith is up there with The Great Escape and The Magnificent Seven as Steve McQueen's best roles. In this western, McQueen plays Max Sands, a young man bent on revenge of the three men who brutally killed his parents. The three villains are played to perfection by Karl Malden, Martin Landau, and Arthur Kennedy. Really this movie is three or four separate stories brought together by Max's revenge. Beautiful scenery throughout ranging from the mountains of the Northwest to the swamps of Louisiana with a good musical score to back up the story. Brian Keith is exceptional in his role as McQueen's mentor. This is classic McQueen. The anger he feels for these three men is obvious as he chases them around the country, even working alongside them so that he can be around in case he gets a chance to exact his revenge. The DVD does not offer any extras besides the widescreen presentation, but the movie looks better than it ever did before. A truly great western with both great characters and an excellent storyline.
  
  

• McQueen In A Cowboy Hat

  
  By AQ0BJOP7U7Z0K on 2005-07-29
  This was a film that never made it on to my radar although I am a fan of westerns and Steve McQueen. Last month, I watched a special on TMC about McQueen and they had a clip from "Nevada Smith", it looked interesting, so I ordered one from Amazon.The verdict? It is a terrific little film. Henry Hathaway, a skilled director with a long list of impressive credits, did a terrific job telling this Harold Robbins story and McQueen is great. Loads of wonderful character actors and georgeous scenery, artfully recorded adds up to a fun experience. I am glad I have it in on my shelf.
  
  
• Mcqueen's Best Western Film
  By A2TAV6XYP1UB4P on 2000-11-01
  Steve Mcqueen is excellent in this well done western revenge thriller Nevada Smith, a young half breed man seeks revenge agaisnt a lethal gang who murdered his parents. Along the way Smith learns proper gun handeling technicqes and as he draws closer to his prey he relazies that revenge isn't all what it seems. Very well played story about revenge and the conseqeunces that goes along with it and the lonliness that transpires from being consumed from the hate. A Western that also looks at the rights of indians not often seen in Westerns. Steve Mcqueen pulled off a very belivable, and powerful performence.
  
  
• A Personal Favorite...And It's a Pre-quel!
  By AWHS1TFR7S1NL on 2002-05-12
  This was one of the very first westerns I ever saw as a kid, so it has a certain amount of nostalgia for me.

  The story is excellent & McQueen portrays his morally ambiguous character, out for revenge against the men who murdered his parents, with sensitivity. We see that he slowly becomes like the killers he's after, living only for vengeance, walking away from one potential love interest & losing the respect of another while she dies from a snake-bite. (This one was played by Suzanne Pleshette.) We sympathize with him, but he's no hero. He participates in robberies & associates with killers in his quest, so in that sense, as another reviewer stated, this is the beginning of the "modern western."

  Other reviewers, however, have also missed out on another intersting aspect of this film. It's a pre-quel. Most viewers don't realize this. "The Carpetbaggers", written as a novel by Harrold Robbins & released almost two years before "Nevada Smith" was a huge hit back in the '60's. That film starred George Peppard as a millionaire tycoon & Alan Ladd as his close friend & mentor. Peppard's character, "Jonas Cord Jr.", is really a fictionalized Howard Hughes. His father (and namesake) had gone insane & Cord The 2nd lives in fear of turning out like his father. So much so, that he becomes so ambitious in his quest for wealth, becoming both an aviation industrialist & a film-producer (just like his real-life counterpart, Howard Hughes), that he turns away from any & all real, meaningful relationships. His best friend, Alan Ladd's character, saves "Cord" from himself, by making him face what he's become. This character, portrayed by Alan Ladd, is a cowboy/western film-star during the early days of Hollywood & is a top billing star in "Cord's" (Peppard's) movie-studio. He knows how a single-minded obsession can destroy ones' humanity because he himself had gone through it as a young man, growing up in the Wild West.....

  You guessed it. Alan Ladd's character is "Nevada Smith", the very same character portrayed by Steve McQueen in the movie of the same name. If you watch "The Carpetbaggers" & "Nevada Smith", then you can really enjoy the characters more, seeing their backgrounds & how they came to be. In "Nevada Smith" it is Jonas Cord (Sr.) (portrayed by Brian Keith) who teaches McQueen's character how to fight. This relationship gives us the reason why the Alan Ladd character ("Nevada Smith" as an old man) is so devoted to Peppard's Jonas Cord Jr. It also shows how relationships & behaviors repeat themselves.

  Both movies are classics. Both movies are also somewhat dated ("The Carpetbaggers" could be re-done today & improved upon, as a mini-series on tv while "Nevada Smith", though excellent, does contain some historical innaccuracies which today's westerns would never allow), but the writing, the characters, the direction, & the acting in both films are still good enough to hold up to today's audiences.
  
  

• Great Steve McQueen movie!!!
  By on 2002-06-23
  This is a great movie, and I just want to know why it has not been released yet on DVD????? Widescreen, remastered, the whole works!!! Real widescreen, none of this 1:85 stuff.....at least 2:35 and the full version. Please let the movie producers know about these movies that should be getting released on DVD. There are so many really dumb movies that have been released. This is a CLASSIC!!! Please pass on my message!
  
  
• Go get em Max...just don't forget the way home
  By A3V1AHX8P4R839 on 2005-07-21
  This movie is a great study on revenge. Steve McQueen plays Max Sand who chases the killers of his father and mother. Along the way he meets Brian Keith, in what is possibly one of his best roles, as the gun dealer Jonas Cord. Jonas takes Max under his wing and plays mentor to help him find the killers. This is after trying to get Max to realize the challenges that he must face in order to find, survive and shoot the killers. The dialogue and friendship between Jonas and Max is the best part of the movie.
  
  I enjoyed the ending very much but wished they would have gone a little bit further in showing what becomes of Max. This is another movie that not many know about but should.
  
  
  
  
• Why McQueen Was A Star
  By AYKIGQ5L8MGL5 on 2006-06-26
  Nevada Smith was made at the heights of McQueen's short, but terrific career. This film, along with Love With The Proper Stranger, The Thomas Crown Affair, The Cincinnati Kid and Bullitt, proves just why McQueen was a star.
  
  Although the film is your average revenge-story, McQueen's performance along with Karl Malden, Martin Landau, Brian Keith and Susanne Pleshette, make it worth watching. McQueen stars as a young man (the script mentions that he's a boy and half-Indian, but so what?)who witnesess his parents' murder at the hands of Karl Malden's blood-thirsty gang. From there he goes on a year's long quest to hunt down each and every one of the killers, until his parents' death is avenged. He even goes so far as to land himself in a Louisianan chain gang to get one of them. What makes this movie stand out from other films in this genre, is McQueen's maturation during this process. He goes from young boy, to seasoned, cool killer by the time he reaches Karl Malden. McQueen, known for extensively underplaying a scene, gives away all kinds of subtlelties that most people missed (indeed this is why some in Hollywood didn't consider him a good actor), but that upon closer inspection one would see that he's "in character" every step of the way. The scene when he's in the swamp with one of his parents' killers and Susann Pleshette is chilling, because you see all of his rage at finally finding this man and exacting his revenge. What is more poignant is when he, at long last, has Karl Malden, and instead of killing him, leaves him there to die. You see in McQueen's eyes all of the pain, and sorrow, at his parents' loss, but you also see the pity that he has for this weak, pathetic man who is nothing without a gun on his belt. McQueen simply looks at the man, shrugs and walks away. In the hands of another actor this scene would've been overplayed to the point of melodrama, but McQueen said everything that needed to be said in a few simple gestures. That's what makes a star.
  
  
• A moral underpinning of forgiveness, retribution, and love
  By A5WMBIOGE8Q6N on 2003-07-23
  A young half-breed, witness the after math of the death of his father and Comache mother. The Killer association of three soldiers was probably formed in the Mexican-American war. They arrival on scene was to collect of their 1/2 of the gold. The three soldier villains are play by Karl Malden, Martin Landau, and Arthur Kennedy. The father has a gold mine but hasn't struck gold. The father claims he does have any gold and the consequence is the brutal, gromesome murder to his head and his wifes aweful initial skinning which is surprisingly graphic. A statement is being made about the atrocities and treatment of the native American indians. Brian Keith is exceptional in his role as McQueen's mentor. His mentor tells him to go home because he doesn't have the resources necessary to fight such as food, money, and skill; telling him learning to shoot is only half the battle for he must learn to think like them, steal like them, sleep in brothels, eat garage from the trash, and kill. Sadly, Keith doesn't want Max Sand to become like the men he seeks to kill; but Max is determined and Keith decides to train Max to shoot; and with the last bit of advice being never back down from a challenge and choose when and where to fight. Good advice. Max uses the advice to kill the third killer.
  Max can not read. Max gets a book on reading and learns to read and while reading a local newspaper learns the name of the second killer caught for bank robbery.
  Max kills the first man in a knife fight after following clues such as a gray horse, a facial scar recollection. Max discovers the whereabouts of the first through a comache call girl after he gives her fives dollars for information. Max manages to kill the knife fighter but is badly cut up himself. Max is stitched up and the sheriff does want Max in town and forced to leave. Max recovers back to health in the girls tribe. The chief tells Max, the girl was a disgrace to their tribe but her return has some redemptive qualities and he should recover in the tribe and possibly between him and the girl, help each other to heal. She tells max it was her hatred that caused her to become a prostitute. She falls in love with Max.
  Max recovers and leaves in search of the second man. He uses the mans name to lure him out telling people he is his brother and has a message to deliver. Some of the his men realize Max is not Flint and try to force the truth by dragging him by rope behind a horse. A priest intervenes and nurse him back to health. At departure the priest tells about his own family, immigrates meet death while crossing the wilderness and were scalped with him being the only member of his family to survived. The priest tells Max to forgive and trust in the Bible and God. Max tells the priest that God must have forgot him and departs.
  Discovering the second man is in prison for bank robbery, Max stages a bank robbery and is thrown into prison somewhere in the everglads where the rule is hard labor and not to make the warden angry. Max discovers the second killer, who apparently attempted to escape, but was caught and whipped. Max forms an false friendship with the second killer and plots an escape using a local girl named Piera who will provide a canoe and help navigate out of the swampy prison. Prior to escape she is bitten by a Water Mocassin weaking her. Just prior to her death she sees Max kill the second killer and wants nothing to do with him. She sees him as the same type of man as the second killer and does want to see his face before she dies.
  Max escapes and discovers the third killers name prior to killing the second man, joins up with him by using his name, and is part of a gold robbery. Max has an opportunity to kill the third man but decides not to kill them just shoot him up good, once in the hand and two shoots, one to the left knee and one to right knee.
  Some of the most beautiful desert scenery it brought to the big film. My only criticism of the movie is that Max is constantly being referred to as "youngster" or "half breed". Steve McQueen does not look young nor half indian. The director uses moccassins to bridge the cultural gap and naitivity to make him seem young.
  
  
• A Fifty Star Movie
  By A1Q6NPDQ4OEKBX on 2005-06-04
  I can not say enough good things about this movie. It was INTELLIGENT in the writing and the story was superb.
  Yes it is hard to believe Steve McQueen as a kid as he looks older than his Kiowa mother, but when one ignores that one of the best movies of all times is played out before your eyes.
  Karl Malden is fantastic. Steve McQueen is fantastic. Brian Keith is fantastic. Martin Landau is fantastic...even the bit part actors are fantastic.
  You do not run into many movies like this that make sense, are pro Christian and have a character at the end who actually grows and becomes a better person.
  5 stars, but it deserves 50.
  
  
• Great Movie! Great Message!
  By AMQ03ZP343YMG on 2005-07-17
  This film is a wonderful story that takes the viewer on an emotional and spiritual journey as its protagonist (Nevada Smith) goes on a calculated hunt to find and exact revenge on his parents' three brutal murderers. He's warned early on by a friend (Brian Keith) that he'll eventually become like the people he's after. A heartbreaking scene, in the backwaters of Louisiana, underscores that the prediction is coming true. There, as he hears a stunning rebuke from an indignant Suzanne Pleshette (who gives a great performance here), the realization begins to dawn upon our hero that he is not as righteous as he (or we) suppose.
  
  After he is two-thirds through with his "mission," Nevada Smith (i.e. Max Sands) is given a Bible to read by a priest whose family has been massacred by Indians as a child. The knowing priest warns Max that those who seek revenge ultimately become so consumed with anger and hate that they destroy themselves most of all. Steve McQueen, with his sometimes quizzical, sometimes resistant looks, is the perfect actor to play the part of the aggrieved young man who slowly processes what he is doing and what it is doing to him. Nevada Smith echoes the story of Ben Hur in that the example of Christ praying on the cross ("Father forgive them, they know not what they do") is the final ingredient needed to soften the vengeful spirit of one whose family has been destroyed by the evil hand of man. By the film's climax an "awakened" Max (like Ben Hur) finally "ceases from anger and forsakes wrath." (Psalm 37:8) The ending scene, with it's swelling score (perhaps the best in movie history!) majestically underlines the true strength and heroism Nevada Smith has found in leaving vengeance to God and makes this film end on a high note that few movies have ever reached.
  
  
• He Goes Through Hell and High Water...
  By AB2AQMK9PCWWX on 2000-04-05
  ...to get revenge, one by one. To avenge the gruesome death of his parents over some missing gold..and in the end, he discovers it wasn't worth becoming as brutal as the bad guys. It may not be evvybody's shot of gin, but for me, movies don't come too much better than this...
  
  
• Gripping Movie!
  By AUGABW5AS2OXM on 2003-04-12
  Steve McQueen, plays the role of Nevada Smith.He actually
  witnesses the murder of his parents,a white father and an indian mother. He tracks the three culprits all of the way across the
  American West. He picks off the guilty party one by one. He
  displays markmanship.as well as skillful knifefighting in taking
  vengance for the murder of his parents.The final murderer of the three Karl Malden stays in a state of fear of Nevada Smith.This will be one of the better action films that you will watch.This film has action galore. I enjoyed the film because I had been a
  life long fan of Steve McQueen. Watch this film.you will enjoy it.
  
  
• A Unilateral Cowboy
  By A2ZE73RFY0GD3K on 2003-10-27
  Three terrorists torture and murder a young man's parents. The young man then behaves like a cowboy, unilaterally determining to kill the terrorists and erase them from the world as a threat to anyone else (in addition to punishing them for their evil deed). The cowboy does not seek to form any sort of coalition. He does not consult the United Nations. He does not ask, "Why did they hate my parents?" He does not appear to know anything about the concepts of tolerance, diversity, inclusion and compassion. There was never any mention of passing resolutions or sending inspectors. He merely rids the world of the terrorists (except for the last one, who just wasn't worth it). By the end of the story, these are certainly three terrorists who will never again terrorize anyone. Now, what sort of message does this send, regarding the best way to deal with terrorist/killers?
  
  
• ULTRA QUALITY MOVIE TIME
  By A3Q10MA3DMM0UF on 2000-03-03
  it is a must see.one of the best,most overlooked westerns of all times.the cast alone, speaks for itself.
  
  
• Why isn't this on DVD?????????
  By AMF447NBAU30J on 2001-03-02
  I would like to see this offered in the DVD format! This is an excellent western and one of McQueen's best pieces of work, in my opinion.Please let me know if it is to be offered in DVD soon.
  
  
• Another Steve McQueen Great!
  By A2MOREZ3AFKKOK on 2001-08-26
  I love the way this Western is multi-layered. It takes place in several different locations, each almost it's own story, but coming together as one. Steve McQueen is his usual cool, with the tough exterior. He plays a half-breed who seeks revenge on the murderers of his parents (played by several great character actors), look for great supporting roles by Karl Malden and Brian Keith. A GREAT weekend western!
  
  
• DVD Please
  By A1IUGWO36YDLN on 2001-06-01
  This is one hell of a film. This film is among the greatest westerns ever made. You have to be young at heart and of sound mind to understand these films. No macho B/S. McQueen excels as usual. Story is a "classic"!. Magnificent Seven, Big Country, Rio Bravo, One Eyed Jacks and Nevada Smith, I reckon anyway. There are others but i reckon these are the "classics". :)
  
  
• We miss you, Stevie
  By A1VLS3E0AN98Z6 on 2004-05-18
  What more can I ask for on a lazy Saturday afternoon? I caught this film on TCM and wasn't disappointed. This was my first Steve McQueen western and as with all of his performances I've seen, everything about his acting is authentic and natural. I've never seen an actor so comfortable in his own body. Beside McQueen and excellent supporting performances, especially the always realiable Karl Malden, I enjoyed the beautiful photography and locations, which was filmed in one of my favorites spots on earth, the Inyo National Park, on the California-Nevada border.
  
  
• A very good western and great entertainment
  By A2J5CQFCB11VKJ on 2006-05-12
  I love this movie for it's "revenge" story line, the good action, terrific acting, and beautiful scenery. I've actually been to a few of the exact locations where the movie was filmed, along the Eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada range in CA., which gives me some nostalgic memories whenever I watch the movie.
  I especially like the part where Brian Keith befriends Max Sand (McQueen) and shows him how to shoot. The dialog between the two is classic: McQueen>> "I'm half white". Keith>> "And you're all helpless". What is kind of strange is that McQueen is probably at least 35 years old in this movie. Yet, he's referred to as "just a kid". Karl Malden plays a terrific heavy. And he gets what he deserves. I imagine he had a tough time crawling out of Hot Creek after Max shot him in the knee caps. OUCH!
  The only part of this movie I didn't care for was when Max Sand was sent to the bayou prison. This whole section of the movie was just a little too long and a little too slow for me. But, in spite of my thoughts on the bayou section, this is a terrific movie. The scenery is beautiful, the characters are interesting, the action is lively, and the story will keep your interest. Nevada Smith takes you on an adventure full of action and suspense. I've watched it probably 6 or 8 times over the years, and it's still fun to watch.
  
  
  
  
• Solid revenge Western
  By A220FJEQNGMSRN on 2007-05-06
  Despite being curiously banned from British TV screens for many years in the wake of the entirely unconnected Hungerford massacre, Nevada Smith is a solid and petty lavishly mounted revenge western culled from the backstory of Alan Ladd's ageing cowboy star in The Carpetbaggers. With Steve McQueen heading an impressive cast (Karl Malden, Arthur Kennedy, Martin Landau, Brian Keith, Suzanne Pleshette, Janet Margolin, etc) you could almost see it as a last-gasp attempt to be the classic American Western as its narrative sends its hero from Texas to California via a chain gang in the Louisiana bayous. It could have been tighter and you have to question how merciful his final act is after putting that many holes in someone, but its an entertaining ride and the eternally under-appreciated Henry Hathaway makes it look particularly great in Scope. No extras, but at least the 2.35:1 widescreen transfer is good.
  
  
• A Good Actor Remembered
  By A9I40WFF40R4 on 2004-04-07
  This movie is based on a character from Harold Robbins' THE CARPETBAGGERS, but not to worry if you don't remember Nevada Smith as no one should be criticized for not remembering anything about that book. As I remember it was not the great American novel. I kept trying to figure out why the movie was so named since McQueen who is Nevada Smith doesn't take that name until near the end of the movie.

  Steve McQueen, who is cast as the son of a white man and American Indian, is by far the best thing about this movie. I know: Steve has light eyes and brown hair but none of the other characters in the movie know he is half Indian so it shouldn't bother us, I suppose.

  The plot is simple. Mcqueen sets out to kill the three men who have brutally murdered his parents. In practically every frame of this movie, he does a fine job of acting. Even though McQueen was 36 when this movie was released in 1966, he looks all of 20. If you require that a character grow and change in order to make a movie good, then McQueen does that.

  The movie is somewhat dated, and some of the buildings look too much like movie sets. The photography of the American West, however, is very beautiful.

  It's good to remember just how good an actor Steve McQueen was. This movie is certainly worth watching.
  
  

• iron eyes cody is nevada smith
  By A3F61OUE8CW0VR on 2004-04-20
  most people consider the nevada smith character is based on the life of ken maynard but after researching maynards life i have come to the conclusion that iron eyes cody was the outlaw who was saved by the preist and devoted his life to indian causes. he adopted indian children and remained pretty much above the excesses of the hollywood scene. there are also two different versions of his life story and you have to ask yourself why. maynard and cody must have met as young men on the rodeo and wild west show circuits and maynard was in a movie called smoking guns which is has the nevada smith plot. when maynard died iron eyes was one of the few movie industry personalities in attendence. therre must have been some sort of bond between the two. the ultimate tip off is seeing iron eyes in the movie nevada smith. this is of course my speculation but ther are more mysterious contradictions in iron eyes codys life than ken maynards.
  
  
• Choose to live over vengeance.
  By A36H16ZJXUIMZG on 2006-04-29
  A favorite Steve McQueen vehicle, the sprawling western that stretches a bit too far. To me, this was just a hip take on the western melodramas of the 50's. In the early scenes, McQueen could have helped cedibility a great bit by letting another actor play himself as an adolescent. I believe this was an early Harold Robbins novel and toned down into the lengthy story. As McQueen's character moves across the land in hunt of those responsible for killing his family, there are wonderful life-changing moments. Brian Keith's gun lore and rapport with McQueen is worth the whole viewing. Another mini-scene within this adventure is with the under-utilized, Suzanne Pleshette, in the swamplands of Louisiana. Love nearly conquered, slowing the story until McQueen catches up with Karl Malden and his thugs. Malden is strong in his scenes, but there is too much horseplay at the end that makes the revenge a bit silly and wrong-headed, since any red-blooded man would have run off with Pleshette anyway. Right when you want McQueen to kill the thugs, there's some nonsense with a Mission priest that slows the finish even more. Cut-up and shown on TV, it was a tighter, more fluid story. Like Malden's "Left-handed Gun," the film is uneven and crawls in spots. We forgive this movie when the sum of the mini-scenes do not add up to a successful whole, for the fact that an editor did not do what was best. I don't even remember what revenge McQueen's character had at the end. 30 years later I watch the movie to see Pleshette, Keith and McQueen do what casts of 10 or so on TV sitcoms can never approach.Kudos for casting, thumbs down for pacing.
  
  
• A respectable entry in the annals of the best Westerns!
  By AGZVS6M8XJGN6 on 2006-11-08
  Henry Hathaway was a versatile director whose Westerns have been as variable in quality as his other films...
  
  Hathaway's best Westerns have all come in the fifties, beginning with the very credible 'Rawhide,' with Tyrone Power, and continuing with 'Garden of Evil,' the highly enjoyable burlesque 'North to Alaska,' most of 'How the West Was Won,' 'The Sons of Katie Elder,' 'Five Card Stud,' and 'True Grit.'
  
  Hathaway's strong points are atmosphere, character and authentic locations... The little known 'From Hell to Texas' is quoted by those who have seen it as Hathaway's best Western on these three counts, a film directed with profound feeling for the deliberate pace and loneliness of the real West...
  
  'Nevada Smith' is actually a strong and revealing study of the regeneration of one man... The film makes an excellent double bill with Marlon Brando's sole effort as director, 'One-Eyed Jacks.'
  
  'Nevada Smith' is an exciting premise, taught and tight... It is not a motion picture to dismiss or forget... It is one of the first films to apply the contemporary standards of sex and violence to an Old West setting... The film is based on a story by John Michael Hayes, two-time Academy Award nominated screenwriter for 'Rear Window,' and 'Peyton Place.'
  
  The film lingers in the mind because of its visual beauty and the intensity of some of its scenes, particularly between McQueen and Malden, two knowing actors playing together with the skill of champion chess players...
  
  Hathaway sets up his atmosphere of dramatic tension right at the start... With a horse, a rifle, and 8 dollars, McQueen is a half-white teen-aged whose only desire is to hunt down his parents vicious killers... All helpless, he vows to dispatch the three 'bravados' one by one... He even gets himself thrown into prison just to gun one of them down...
  
  With the help of a gun merchant (Brian Keith), McQueen learns how to shoot a gun and sets out the chase where the money is... He rides off alone, blinded by a compulsion that obscures his other motive for living: 'I don't see nothing, except my father laying on a covered-floor all burnt and cut with the top of his head blown to pieces, and my mother split up in the middle and every square inch of her skin ripped off.'
  
  Steve McQueen recreates the type of role he had played in 'Wanted: Dead or Alive.' He is effective in his hesitant, self-conscious way, eager to be a firm gunfighter and almost as inept... He has little more sense of character than Ladd in Edward Dmytryk's 'The Carpetbaggers' but has a tension which made the film interesting to watch...
  
  Brian Keith is excellent as the father figure who adopts McQueen... He is sincere in warning the young avenger that in order to catch and kill these men, he will have to comb out every saloon, gambling hall, hog farm and whorehouse, and become just as despicable as they are... Keith comes out a star with his quiet, sure, graceful underplaying... As he instructs McQueen, it was clear that he knows not only his guns but human nature..
  
  Suzanne Pleshette, standing knee deep in water, is the pretty girl, able to escape from the terrors of her environment into the poetry of her reveries... Both a sinner and a saint, Pilar adds humanity to Max world...
  
  With a knife in his hand, and a scar on his neck, Martin Landau is the psychotic womanizer, a morose, evil character, caught in Abelene dealing cards in a saloon...
  
  Arthur Kennedy - friendly, smiling, charming and smooth-talking on the surface, weak and corrupt underneath - is the frightened villain swamped by a storm of revenge...
  
  Karl Malden is the cynical badman who depreciates his gold before his executioner...
  
  Raf Vallone is the good priest who wants his young avenging hunter to take a deep look into his heart...
  
  Pat Hingle is the prisoner in custody with gun and whip, who takes great pleasure and delight in breaking his companions by beating them up...
  
  Howard da Silva is the ruthless warden who assures his prisoners that the swamp is their wall... Miles and miles of it, filled of dirty water, quicksand, razorbacks, poison snakes, mosquitoes and malaria...
  
  Janet Margolin is the dance hall girl uncertain of the identity of one of the dangerous murderers...
  
  Joanna Cook Moore is the grateful saloon girl who offers herself to Max...
  
  Rick Roman is Cipriano, the bandit who warns seriously his companion not to harm Father Zaccardi...
  
  Ted de Corsia is the bartender who wants the two contenders to calm down in order to find out the truth..
  
  The expertise before the cameras and behind it, plus McQueen's dynamic presence, makes 'Nevada Smith' a respectable entry in the annals of the best Westerns...
  
  
  
  
• A Classic McQueen western
  By A2K9IVPCTJUQHN on 2000-04-02
  This movie is one of Steve McQueens finest.Though one might take umbrage at McQueen playing a half white half Indian - he looks pretty white - McQueen gives an excellent performance. You see him evolve from a young hotheaded kid into a bitter and hardened killer. He becomes like the men he's hunting down in other words. this movie was made at the beginning of the "new" Hollywood Western. It's grittier then much of the dreck that was churned out during the fifties and it makes an effort to portray some technical accuracy as well. But it is still a transistional piece so the towns are clean, the clothes are tailored and the saloons are elaborate. But for the time it was made the movie stands head and shoulders above most westerns. In just a few short years Eastwood's Spaghetti Westerns and Sam Peckinpah would chance the face of the western forever so this movie has to be placed in the earlier category and in that case it's excellent.
  
  
• Nevada Smith
  By A3H0OVG1L2KV0H on 2001-05-01
  Steve McQueen's western-with-a-difference asks whether revenge is really the answer. In its time, the movie was considered uncommonly violent. It also begins to develop sympathetic Indian characters and women who are good, wise, and brave. The movie seems simple and unpolished by today's standards. But today's sophisticated viewers will probably still enjoy the ambiguities of the story and the hero's character, and the anti-violence theme.
  
  
• Magnificent Smith
  By A1GHUN5HXMHZ89 on 2002-10-18
  Steve McQueen was in two great westerns. Everyone knows Magnificent Seven, but this is one not everyone is familiar with. Along with his great characterization of a half breed that seeks revenge we see excellent performances put in by Karl Malden, Suzanne Pleshette and many others. Those that have seen it know its great value as you can tell from their reviews. If you like westerns this is one not to miss. He will track his parents killers to the ends of the Earth if need be. He even purposely goes to one of the worst prisons to get one. His skills as a gunfighter and knife fighter put the fear of God into his quarry as they find out he is tracking them.

  therooksnook
  
  

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