Hombre

Hombre (1967) is a Paul Newman western you can watch online on iFILM, directed by Martin Ritt and based on Elmore Leonard's novel of the same name. John Russell is a white man who grew up among the Apache of Arizona — a background that makes him an outcast wherever he goes.

His fellow stagecoach passengers make that clear before the wheels even start turning. They push him out to ride on top with the driver rather than sit beside them inside. Then outlaws hit the coach, strip everyone of their money and supplies, and leave them stranded in the desert. Suddenly the man they refused to share a bench with is the only one who knows how to read the terrain, how far water is, and what the gunmen will and won't do next. His knowledge, which they found easy to dismiss in comfort, is the only thing standing between them and a slow death.

Leonard's story gave Ritt room to do something rare in the genre: build a western around social contempt rather than gunfighter glory. Newman says less than almost anyone else on screen and carries every scene. Stream Hombre online on iFILM.