Newman is of my favourite actors, so I’ve started hunting down as much of his film work that I can. Started last night with the spectacular Hud, loved it so much and can’t quite believe I hadn’t seen it before - his character is so unlikeable and it’s testament to his charisma and talent that Paul makes him compelling. I give it a big fat 9/10.
Next up, Harper.
I LOVE YOU EVEN MORE NOW...I DECIDED THAT NEWMAN WAS THE TOP ACTOR OF ALL TIME WHEN I WAS ABOUT 12...I SPENT YEARS AT VIDEO STORES RENTING/WATCHING/BUYING EVERY NEWMAN FILM AVAILABLE...I JUST SCANNED HIS RESUME...I DO NOT THINK I MISSED A SINGLE ONE...A COUPLE WERE NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND AND TOOK ME WELL INTO ADULTHOOD.
STEVE MCQUEEN IS SECOND AND HENRY FONDA THIRD IN MY BOOK BY THE WAY.
HUD IS AMAZING AND HEARTBREAKING...HARPER IS ALSO QUITE EXCELLENT AND HAS A SEQUEL WITH NEWMAN REPRISING THE ROLE ABOUT A DECADE LATER IN THE DROWNING POOL. NOEMOJI
Yep. Cats, weed and Paul Newman is the common ground that makes us mates for life.
Drowning Pool is on the list, I had no idea it was a sequel to Harper though. You’re way ahead of me on his filmography. I don’t mind too much really, discovering gems like Hud for the first time is a nice buzz.
And then Hombre. He liked to be in movies that began with “H.”
He was also a professional-level racing driver, which few people know. He competed under the name P.L.Newman. With Carl Haas, he created the famous Newman/Haas Indycar Team. He and Bob Redford made an Indycar movie together, Winning.
On a very poignant note, his widow, Joanne Woodward, does not remember that she was married to him, as she is having cognitive issues. All she remembers is that he was “someone handsome.” Boy, was he ever.
I think it was on The Tonight Show that Joanne described Paul as being “the most infuriating man! He will. Not. Fight. Sometimes you just want to have a good fight and clear the air, and he just sits there with that smile on his face and refuses to fight!!”
Paul Newman’s face should be next to the entry, Movie Star, in the Encyclopedia.
Yeah, I’d heard that about Joanne, it’s heartbreaking that she’s been robbed of the memory of a love story as epic as theirs.
I agree he is the epitome of the perfect movie star. Held that commanding gravitas right to the very end.
Ratings so far
Hud - 9/10
Harper - 6/10
The Hustler - 8/10
The Sting is my favorite Newman film, I've lost count how many times I've watched that film, my favorite scene with him is when he pretends he's drunk and keeps messing Lonnegan's name on purpose.
I also liked The Hustler... yeah, solid 8/10.
Haven't seen Hud (yet).
WE AREN'T FAR OFF...
HUD - 9/10
HARPER - 8/10
THE HUSTLER - 10/10
NOEMOJI
Yeah exactly.
sharePaul Newman looked great, and could act, but in certain ways, his major and long-lasting stardom was a function of a great piece of luck.
He came along as a viable, bankable young male movie star in the sixties...which was just about the time that an entire generation of Golden Age, Old Hollywood male stars began to die (Clark Gable, Gary Cooper, Spencer Tracy), retire (James Cagney, Cary Grant) or simply start looking too old(James Stewart,Henry Fonda.)
Newman "filled a casting gap" and for awhile there in the fifties and early sixties, simply had no bankable competition. James Dean died young(Newman got his role in Somebody Up There Likes Me, and became a star in 1956.) Brando stayed major but soon got a reputation for being unruly, kinda nuts, and not in very good movies.
Steve McQueen -- who had been way down the cast list as a supporting "gang member" in Somebody Up There Likes Me, eventually started catching up with Newman via The Great Escape, The Cincinnati Kid(a poker spin on Newman's pool movie The Hustler) and eventually, the Big One: Bullitt. But Newman kept his title concurrently WITH McQueen. Studios tried to cast one or the other.
When Newman was "in demand," he inaugurated what many stars do today -- alternating serious movies like The Hustler and Hud with "entertainments," and sometimes not good ones (A New Kind of Love as a favor to wife Joanne Woodward, a Hitchcock knockoff called The Prize, and a REAL Hitchcock movie called Torn Curtain which was OK, but not a great one.)
He made mistake movies like Lady L and the sitcommish "The Secret Life of Harry Frigg," but he also did Cool Hand Luke around the same time.
Harper and Hombre are great "hybrids": entertainments with serious adult themes.
CONT
As the 60's headed into the 70's, Newman was about to be challenged by a new generation of young male leads. They were ALL handsome(even Dustin Hoffman at the right angle) but added some "70's hipness" (Nicholson, Beatty, Redford, Eastwood.) Still, Newman overcame some slumps and prevailed.
And, by pairing with another star, Newman ended up in Number One or Number Two top blockbusters three times: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid(introducing Redford; NEWMAN got him that role and made him a star), The Sting(with Redford now a bit higher on the list than Newman, and both knew it), and The Towering Inferno(now matching up Newman and McQueen as equal superstars...but a bit past their peak.)
The money from these movies allowed Newman to do indie-ish movies with Robert Altman and to direct wife Joanne Woodward in downbeat movies, and eventually Newman was making enough to go into the salad dressing business on the side.
Newman was slumping in the late 70s and 1980("When Time Ran Out" was one of the last, and worst, disaster movies), but in 1980 -- Steve McQueen died young at 50. Newman took a role intended for McQueen -- "Fort Apache the Bronx" -- and began an "80's revival" as a respected older star in a series of interesting films: Absence of Malice, The Verdict(he SHOULD have won the Oscar), The Color of Money(he DID win the Oscar, for reprising his "Hustler" character.) The 80's kept him bankable over the title for the rest of his career and life. Perhaps only Clint Eastwood lasted longer.
Still...it all begins with luck for Paul Newman: a star career forged out of the death of young James Dean and the pack of Golden Age male stars leaving the screen in the 60s.