Hud Trivia Quiz

Answer: A pink Cadillac

Hud's pink Cadillac is clearly well-known in town, as everyone Lonnie asks about Hud's whereabouts mentions it. As the movie is in black and white, we have to take their word for its color. When Lonnie locates the car, it is in front of a house where he finds a woman's shoe on the path leading to the door - and the husband of the woman who owns the shoe returns as Hud (played by Paul Newman) and Lonnie (Brandon de Wilde) are leaving. Hud's me-first attitude to life is established in this scene, as he informs the angry husband that it was Lonnie who had spent the time with his wife, and that he will be punishing the boy for it. They then wheel off in Hud's car, heading home.

The battered pickup is the family's other vehicle, and the 1927 Chevy is a car that Hud reminisces about in a later scene. He tells Lon that Hud and Norman (Lonnie's father) had spent the summer after Lon was born and his mother died driving from bar to bar around the countryside in an old car that was falling to pieces. For some reason, this is a fond memory.

Answer: The ranch hands found a dead heifer.

A mysteriously dead animal is cause for concern - it could be from a contagious disease. The antagonistic relationship between Hud and his father, Homer (played by Melvyn Douglas), is clearly established as they arrive at the site where the hands have been guarding the body of the dead animal, protecting it from buzzards so that the entire carcass can be inspected. Hud's response to the nuisance they create is to shoot them; Homer remonstrates him for this, saying that not only do buzzards serve a useful function by keeping the countryside clean, but that it is also against the law to shoot them. Hud says that laws need to be interpreted to suit the situation, and Homer replies that he doesn't like having it broken on his property.

Answer: Foot and mouth disease

The vet wants all the cattle rounded up for checking and testing, and warns that it might be necessary to kill them all to avoid an outbreak of this deadly disease. Hud calls it a schoolbook disease, and doesn't want his father to knuckle under to the government.

Instead, he wants his father to sell the herd and ship them out of state before the news gets out. His father says it would be unethical to risk an epidemic, and says, "You're an unprincipled man, Hud." Hud responds, "You've got enough for both of us."

Answer: She won $20.

The evening starts with Homer and Lon watching a movie that includes an opening short in which a cartoon chicken encourages the audience to sing along to "Clementine", which Homer does with gusto. They proceed to the diner, where they are joined by Hud, who enters with Mrs Truman Peters (as he insists on calling her in conversation with his father). Homer's refusal to talk to Hud is first thought to be snubbing him, but then they realise he has collapsed from physical and mental exhaustion. Homer refuses Hud's assistance in getting to his room, and Hud sees Alma come out of the poker game and head to her room.

There follows a lengthy scene in which he makes his attraction clear, and she makes it clear that she is not interested, as he is too much like her ex-husband. After asking Alma how much she won, Hud comments that she is good at poker, a good housekeeper, good cook, good laundress, and asks what else she is good at. Carefully ignoring the innuendo, she replies, "Taking care of myself."

Answer: Hud accidentally killed his older brother in a car accident.

Hud's alcoholism may well be the result of the guilt he feels over being responsible for his brother's death, and the fact the he himself escaped uninjured. However, he discovers that it was not in fact the reason why his father has no time for him; indeed, Homer says that he was sick of Hud long before Norm's death, because he judged Hud to be totally selfish in his approach to life. "You don't care about people, Hud. You don't give a damn about 'em." Hud is shaken to realise that his father's rejection is even deeper than he had realised.

Answer: Have his father declared incompetent

Hud decides to take control of the property, since he and his father will never agree on how it should be run. He has worked hard and long (and well), and wants to be rewarded by getting what he has worked for. Saying he has a right to it, and has to look out for himself, he still admits to Lonnie that it is a raw deal for his father. To Homer, he says that anyone who could endanger their livelihood by buying sick Mexican bulls (which he has decided is the source of the disease that has placed their cattle in jeopardy) cannot be trusted to handle any aspects of the business.

Answer: Hud is enthusiastic, Homer rejects the idea out of hand

Homer is appalled at the thought of losing his herd, not just because of the financial nightmare, but also because he loves the animals, and the lifestyle of riding among them every day. He wants his property to be involved in something real and productive (in his mind), not ugly and destructive. Hud, on the other hand, sees that there could be real money in oil, and might even want to make that a permanent change to the property's business, not just a bridging strategy.

Answer: Shoot them

After we see bulldozers digging a deep pit, the cattle are sent into it, and shot by men lining the top of the pit. Lonnie is quite shaken, and notes that it didn't take long, even though it was horrible. Homer replies, "It don't take long to kill things.

Not like it does to grow." Back at the house, the two old longhorns that he and Lonnie had talked about earlier are in the yard. When the government agents try to go in and shoot them, Homer bars the way, saying he will do it himself. We hear four shots for the two animals, and Hud makes the somewhat ambiguous statement, "Them old bulls are hard to kill."

Answer: Homer lying beside the road

After one of his fights with his father, Hud had attempted to rape Alma, but was stopped by Lonnie. When Alma decided to leave town, she asked Lonnie to take her to the bus station. There she encounters Hud, who apologises for the assault, but regrets that she will be 'the one that got away'. She now admits that she felt attracted to him, but has no intention of getting involved with him - she fell for a charmer once, and won't make the same mistake again.

As Hud drives home, he catches up to Lonnie, and playfully hassles the lad. When Lonnie stops short, there is a collision, which leaves them unable to drive off and fetch help for Homer, who has been badly injured in a fall from his horse. Homer dies in their arms, after saying he feels like giving up. Lonnie blames Hud for making Homer despair and give up on life.

Answer: Leave town to make his own way as a farm hand

Hud and Lonnie are joint owners of the farm after Homer's death, but Lonnie has no heart for it. He has realised that his earlier admiration for Hud was misplaced, that Hud is not the kind of man he wants to be, and he needs to get away to find himself without Hud's influence.

After telling Hud to put his share (if any) of the farm's income into the bank, he leaves. Hud goes back into the empty house and shuts the door. The final shot of the film is the handle for the window shade swinging gently.