Editing Hud (1963 film) (section)

===Development===
After working together on other projects, director Martin Ritt and Paul Newman co-founded Salem Productions and the company made a three-film deal with [[Paramount Studios]].{{sfn|Jackson, Carlton|p=69|1994}} For its first film, Salem hired husband-and-wife scriptwriters [[Irving Ravetch]] and [[Harriet Frank Jr.]], who had worked with Ritt and Newman on ''[[The Long, Hot Summer]]''. Ravetch found [[Larry McMurtry]]'s novel, ''[[Horseman, Pass By]]'', in an airport shop during a Dallas stopover and presented the project to Ritt and Newman after reading a description of Hud Bannon. The partners met Ravetch and Frank at their home, approved the project,{{sfn|American Legends staff|2008}} and the writers adapted the script.{{sfn|Quirk, Lawrence|p=121|2009}}

Although McMurtry's novel focuses on Lonnie Bannon, Ravetch and Frank expanded Hud's character to the lead role.{{sfn|Shearer, Stephen|p=220|2006}} Ritt wanted Hud to be an [[antihero]] who did not regret his actions at the end of the film.{{sfn|Quirk, Lawrence|p=121|2009}} He was changed from Homer's stepson to his son, and the character of Homer's wife was eliminated.{{sfn|Baer, William|2003}} Newman and Ritt initially named the project ''Wild Desire'', followed by ''The Winners'', ''Hud Bannon Against the World'', ''Hud Bannon'' and finally ''Hud''.{{sfn|Levy, Shawn|p=73|2010}} Ravetch and Frank accompanied Ritt and Newman through preproduction, casting, and publicity design.{{sfn|Baer, William|2003}}

[[File:Hud and Alma.jpg|thumb|250px|alt=Man in sleeveless undershirt presses a woman against a wall in a dark room|Hud tries to rape Alma]]

Ritt asked that the housekeeper character (originally Halmea, a black woman) be renamed Alma and played by a white actress, because he thought a relationship between Hud and a black woman would not work.{{sfn|Miller, Gabriel|p=53|2000}} According to Ravetch and Frank, "Neither American [[Western (genre)|Western]] film nor American society was quite ready for that back then." Although Halmea is assaulted by Hud in the novel, Ravetch and Frank added Lonnie's intervention to "highlight" his significance and keep Hud "human" and not "totally and simplistically evil."{{sfn|Baer, William|2003}} To accentuate the scene's violence, Hud's roughness was complemented by the use of shadows,{{sfn|Shearer, Stephen|p=221|2006}} while a camera was attached on Newman's back to create a "man's view angle" while he chased Neal.{{sfn|Sinise, Jerry|p=21|1962}} Film critic [[Pauline Kael]] described Neal's performance as "perhaps the first female equivalent of the white-negro."{{sfn|Shearer, Stephen|p=221|2006}}

Cinematographer [[James Wong Howe]] shot ''Hud'' in black-and-white to "elevate its dramatic propensities."{{sfn|Jackson, Carlton|p=71-72|1994}} Filmed in [[Panavision]],{{sfn|Finler, Joel|2003|p=186}} Howe used high contrast with unbalanced light and dark tones. He highlighted the white ground and clear skies, making the shadows black. Dark tones were "overpowered" by light ones, creating a sense of "infinite space." For faces and structures, Howe used light reflected from the ground. The contrast between the environment and objects silhouetted against the background provides a sense of depth.{{sfn|Rainsberger, Todd|1981|p=231}} Ritt's biographer, Carlton Jackson, wrote that in ''Hud'' "the scenery becomes a part of the thematic development itself."{{sfn|Jackson, Carlton|p=71-72|1994}} According to ''[[Texas Monthly]]'', "Howe's austere rendition of Texas landscapes&nbsp;[...] remains one of the film's most distinctive pleasures."{{sfn|Graham, Don|p=98|1991}}

Bob Hinkle later recalled: "Ritt would tell him what he wanted: 'I'd like to do this....' And then Howe would say, 'Let me put this kind of lens on it, and we'll shoot it from right here...Then I can hold this windmill in the background.' Something like that to give it an extra something, instead of a tree or a bush."<ref>{{Cite web |title=American Legends Interviews..... Bob Hinkle: Making of Hud |url=https://www.americanlegends.com/Interviews/bob_hinkle_making_of_hud.html |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=www.americanlegends.com}}</ref>