Nevada Smith is a 1966 American Western film directed by Henry Hathaway and starring Steve McQueen. The film was made by Embassy Pictures and Solar Productions, in association with and released by Paramount Pictures. The movie was a prequel to the Harold Robbins novel The Carpetbaggers, which had been made into a highly successful film two years earlier, with Alan Ladd playing McQueen's part as an older man. Nevada Smith depicts Smith's first meeting with another "Carpetbaggers" character, Jonas Cord Sr., but the two films' stories are otherwise unrelated.
The supporting cast of Nevada Smith includes Karl Malden, Brian Keith, Martin Landau, Arthur Kennedy, Suzanne Pleshette, Janet Margolin, Pat Hingle and Paul Fix.
Video Nevada Smith
Plot
In the West of the 1890s, a trio of outlaws, Bill Bowdre (Arthur Kennedy), Jesse Coe (Martin Landau) and Tom Fitch (Karl Malden), robs, tortures and brutally kills the white father and Indian mother of young Max Sand (Steve McQueen). The outlaws have stolen the father's grey horse with a double SS brand. Max sets out to avenge their deaths and uses this clue to trail the men.
During his travels in the desert, Max uncovers an old and rusty gun. When he comes upon Jonas Cord, Sr. (Brian Keith), a traveling gunsmith, he tries to rob him. Cord, recognizing that Max's revolver is not loaded and is useless, convinces Max that his plan has failed. Max tells Cord of his vengeful journey. Cord takes pity on him, takes him in, feeds him and teaches him how to shoot. Max hunts the killers, who have separated. He tracks down Jesse Coe to Abilene, Texas. With the help of dancehall girl Neesa (Janet Margolin), a woman from the same tribe as his mother, he confronts him in a salon. Coe escapes and a knife fight ensues in a nearby corral. Coe is killed but Max is severely wounded. Neesa takes him to her tribe's camp, where she nurses him back to health. They become lovers.
Once he recovers, Max leaves Neesa to continue his pursuit. He reads that Bowdre is in a prison camp in Louisiana for a failed bank robbery. He commits a bank robbery, deliberately gets caught, and is sent to the same prison where Bowdre is serving time. Bowdre does not recognize Max whose plan is to convince Bowdre to join him in an escape attempt and kill him in the swamp. Pilar (Suzanne Pleshette), a local Cajun girl working in the rice fields near the convicts' camp, gives Max comfort. She knows nothing about Max's plan to kill Bowdre but knows her way around the swamp. She finds a boat and joins the escape. The boat capsizes early on and Pilar is bitten by a snake. Max kills Bowdre and Pilar dies of the snakebite.
Fitch, the last of the murderers, keeps a tobacco pouch with beaded deerskin made from the Indian dress of Max's mother. Still blinded by revenge, Max pursues Fitch and manages to infiltrate Fitch's gang, calling himself "Nevada Smith". Fitch is aware that Max Sand has killed Coe and Bowdre and is out there somewhere, waiting to ambush him. Though he accepts "Nevada" into the gang, Fitch is wary of him. When the gang sets out to commit a robbery, Max is spotted by Cord, who calls him by name. Max ignores him and the gang rides on. Fitch suspects that one of his men is Max. He vows to kill any man who makes a mistake. As the rest of the gang greedily scoops up the money from the robbery, Max observes them from a hill. Fitch realizes that "Smith" is Sand, grabs his share of the loot and flees. Max pursues him and corners Fitch at a creek. The men exchange fire and Fitch surrenders but Max continues to fire non-fatal shots into Fitch. The outlaw begs to be finished off, but Max decides that Fitch is not worth killing and rides away.
Maps Nevada Smith
Cast
- Steve McQueen as Max Sand (a.k.a. Nevada Smith)
- Karl Malden as Tom Fitch
- Brian Keith as Jonas Cord
- Martin Landau as Jesse Coe
- Arthur Kennedy as Bill Bowdre
- Suzanne Pleshette as Pilar
- Raf Vallone as Father Zaccardi
- Janet Margolin as Neesa
- Pat Hingle as Big Foot (work camp trustee)
- Howard Da Silva as Warden of work camp
- Paul Fix as Sheriff Bonnell
- Iron Eyes Cody as Taka-Ta (uncredited)
- Joanna Moore as Angie Coe (uncredited)
- Josephine Hutchinson as Mrs. Elvira McCanles
- Loni Anderson as Brunette Saloon Girl (uncredited)
Production
The movie was produced and directed by Henry Hathaway with Joseph E. Levine as executive producer, from a story and screenplay by John Michael Hayes, based on a character from Harold Robbins' 1961 novel The Carpetbaggers who was portrayed in a film version of the novel by Alan Ladd. The music score was by Alfred Newman and the cinematography, shot in Eastmancolor and Panavision by Lucien Ballard.
Nevada Smith was shot by Lucien Ballard on approximately 46 different locations in the Inyo National Forest (in parts of southern California and south-western Nevada) and the Owens Valley (of southern California) in the Eastern Sierra mountains.
Remake
Jamie Linden is writing a remake.
See also
- List of American films of 1966
References
External links
- Nevada Smith on IMDb
- Nevada Smith at Rotten Tomatoes
- Nevada Smith at AllMovie
- Nevada Smith at the TCM Movie Database
- Nevada Smith at the American Film Institute Catalog
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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