Nevada Smith is a 1966 American Western film starring Steve McQueen and made by Embassy Pictures and Solar Productions, in association with and released by Paramount Pictures. The movie was produced and directed by Henry Hathaway with Joseph E. Levine as executive producer, from a story and screenplay by John Michael Hayes based on a character from Harold Robbins' 1961 novel The Carpetbaggers. The music score was by Alfred Newman and the cinematography by Lucien Ballard. The film is a prequel to The Carpetbaggers, in which Alan Ladd had played a much older version of the character the previous year. In addition to McQueen in the titular role, the picture also features Karl Malden, Brian Keith, Arthur Kennedy, Suzanne Pleshette, Raf Vallone, Janet Margolin, Pat Hingle, Howard Da Silva, Martin Landau and Paul Fix. A trio of outlaws — Bill Bowdre (Arthur Kennedy) and Jesse Coe (Martin Landau), led by Tom Fitch (Karl Malden) — robs, tortures and brutally kills the white father and Indian mother of young Max Sand. Max (Steve McQueen) sets out to avenge their death.