In this powerhouse drama, Paul Newman gives his finest-ever screen performance as the heedless, sexually aggressive rancher's son whose strained relationship with his idealistic father (Melvyn Douglas) comes to a head when disease infects their cattle. Echoing his role in Shane, Brandon de Wilde, as Newman's nephew, looks on with a mixture of horror and envy as his uncle trashes towns and relationships. Martin Ritt's film was nominated for seven Oscars, winning three - best supporting actor for Douglas, best actress for Patricia Neal (as the housekeeper) and best black and white cinematography for James Wong Howe. Despite his charismatic portrayal, Newman lost out to Sidney Poitier in Lilies of the Field.

Hud Bannon is a ruthless young man who tarnishes everything and everyone he touches. Hud represents the perfect embodiment of alienated youth, out for kicks with no regard for the consequences. There is bitter conflict between the callous Hud and his stern and highly principled father, Homer. Hud's nephew Lon admires Hud's cheating ways, though he soon becomes too aware of Hud's reckless amorality to bear him anymore. In the world of the takers and the taken, Hud is a winner. He's a cheat, but, he explains, "I always say the law was meant to be interpreted in a lenient manner."