Erotic Movies: “Hud” (1963), Directed by Martin Ritt, Starring Paul Newman and Patricia Neal

Paul Newman was at his prime, both physically, in terms of his handsome looks, and technically, in terms of his considerable acting chops.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he was cast in a series of erotic drams that relied, among other things, on his handsome looks (those blue eye, smooth and chiseled body on display when he is often filmed shirtless.

Take, for instance, the alcoholic former high school athlete in the 1958 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, opposite Elizabeth Taylor; the pool hall shark in the 1961 The Hustler, against Piper Laurie; the aging gigolo in the 1962 Sweet Bird of Youth, co-starring with Geraldine Page as the acting diva and the young Shirley Knight as his real love interest.

All of these roles brought him Best Actor Oscar nominations well-earned, though it would take decades until he got the award, and not for a particularly strong role, in Scorsese’s 1986 The Color of Money, a so-so sequel to far superb The Hustler.

The actor’s raw sexuality was never on more explicit display than in Hud, Martin Ritt’s 1963 drama about a self-centered, arrogant Texas cattleman, insensitive to the needs of others, including his father (Melvin Douglas) and younger brother (Brandon De Wilde).