Ian (Flash Review)McQueen plays a young chap whose parents were brutally murdered by a gang of thieving cowboys. Riddled with anger, he plans to exact revenge even though he has no experience with a pistol and fighting. Along his vengeful journey he meets some influential characters. Some provide assistance, some the opposite and some a moral compass for him. How far will he take his revenge? A pretty good western with great scenery, good character development, solid story yet the editing felt a bit choppy and jumpy around the timeframe. If you like McQueen or westerns, check it out.

FilmFlaneur A box office smash for it's time Nevada Smith is a long, episodic film directed by Henry Hathaway starring the charismatic Steve McQueen. Interestingly McQueen's character actually only uses the Nevada Smith moniker once (as a temporary alias in the movie), the rest of the time using his 'real' name of Max Sand. Sand is a half breed whose parents are killed by outlaws - the outstanding trio of Martin Landau, Karl Malden and Arthur Kennedy a group of class heavies that's worth the price of admission alone - and then who resolutely sets out to track the murderers down one by one, after taking on board some life instruction from gun trader Brian Keith. The moments with Keith reminded me of the great Spaghetti Day of Anger made a year later - another film in which an experienced older gunfighter teaches an innocent the way to get through travails: with gun skills and a bit of frontier philosophy. It's a fairly traditional plot, albeit given resonance by a quality cast and production value.Nevada Smith benefits greatly from Hathaway's leisurely outdoor directorial style, familiar from such personal favourites as The Sons of Katie Elder and North to Alaska as well as some excellent mise en scene cinematography by the great Lucien Ballard. Some critics such as Phil Hardy have sniffed a little at the film, and it's contemporary popularity, but I found it engrossing throughout, although admittedly it might have benefited from a little trimming. The mid-section, in which McQueen finds himself doing hard labour, then escaping, from a swamp-surrounded, brutalising prison camp reminded me of the (I think) weaker Papillion.The real weakness to the film appears in the last section, when Sand/Smith is rescued from Malden's gang by a priest to be then reminded, by way of belated balance to Keith's earlier lessons, of the virtues of forgiveness and Christian forbearance. To a modern viewer this moral lesson seems a little laboured, and does little to make the final scene of the film psychologically convincing, ultimately leaving the principal character redeemed without purpose. Such considerations are striking given moments elsewhere, when the viewer can see the influence of the cynicism and violence of the genre which flowered elsewhere during the mid-sixties.However if you haven't caught this yet I do recommend it, especially in the fine widescreen DVD edition now available. It's short on extras but the image and condition of the print is fine.

robert-259-28954 I think this wonderful film often gets passed over on lists of "the best" Westerns. It succeeds on every level that I judge great films on—great story, great script, and the best actors for the roles. It's not very often that I classify Westerns in the "epic" genre, but this one certainly qualifies, like watching an entire novel... from the very beginning, to the bitter end. The only other I can think of with this kind of scope would be Sergio Leone's "Once Upon A Time In The West," a sweeping motion picture and modern day classic. This cast for Nevada Smith was so necessarily large, that they must have used every, single Western character actor alive in Hollywood, to good effect. Most memorable was a superb Brian Keith as the world weary gunsmith, an equally villainous Martin Landau, and fabulously unlikeable Pat Hingle, one of the most underrated actors of all time, in my opinion. Add to this powerful mix the evil Karl Malden and you have what can only be described as a "stellar" cast. Although Malden was often cast in the second fiddle, forgotten man parts, many forget his absolutely chilling portrayals as bad guys, particularly in his star turn as the sadistic sheriff in, "One Eyed Jacks," with Marlon Brando. He seems seems to channel a degree of pure evil like few others, and comes through with another chilling portrayal at the end of this film. Special mention should also go to the FANTASTIC music composer for this film, the great Alfred Newman, who's sweeping score made this motion picture one of the masterpieces of Western films it truly is. Grab a big bag of popcorn, and enjoy.

misfitsouth I was still in high school and living in Independence, CA (pop 1000) while this movie was filming in the eastern sierra, mostly 15 miles south in Lone Pine. One weekend afternoon word spread that Steve McQueen was down on Main St. (Hwy 395) on his motorcycle. Most of the school kids showed up within minutes and I remember Steve picking out some of the hottest girls from the bunch and giving them a quick ride up and down Main. He also shook hands with us guys who couldn't qualify for a bike ride. Great guy and a fond memory. After that we managed to witness several days of filming various scenes in the Owens Valley. Even had a spent blank cartridge shell from one of the prop guns used in the movie for years. Of course after that experience, Nevada Smith is one of my all time top picks.