(Martin Ritt, US 1963, 112 min., DCP)
In one of his signature anti-hero roles, Paul Newman is the title character, a womanizing, self-absorbed son of a Texas cattle rancher (Melvyn Douglas) who destroys his family’s business just as coolly as he seduces the devoted family maid (Patricia Neal, in an Oscar-winning performance). Ritt’s unsentimental direction, James Wong Howe’s marvelous cinematography, and a peerless cast make undeniably compelling material out of Larry McMurtry’s bleak novel Horseman, Pass By.