In 1969 I was a sports intern at KMPC radio in Los Angeles. This was a big full-service station at the time. News, personalities, sports. Gary Owens from LAUGH-IN, the Rams, Angels, and UCLA Bruins. For people in the Midwest, think WGN. I worked in the newsroom, wrote sportscasts and changed teletype ribbon. The station could not run without me.One day the general manager (Mr. Carlson of WKRP) approached me and said there was somebody who was going to be making a movie about radio and wanted to do a little research. Could I show him around for two days? I said sure, and he brought in Paul Newman. (He was about to make WUSA). And this was the Butch Cassidy-era Paul Newman, girls. So I picked myself off the floor and for a few days hung with my new BFF, Paul Newman. He even took me out to lunch. And I can happily report he was as nice, as gracious, as down to earth as you could possibly imagine.
I celebrate his life. And I celebrate his work. Here are some of my favorite Paul Newman movies.
ABSENCE OF MALICE (coincidentally, my latest Netflix pick of the month)
THE VERDICT
HARPER
BUTH CASSIDY (duh!)
THE STING (Shame on you if you haven't already seen this movie)
COOL HAND LUKE (the girl washing the car is maybe the sexiest scene ever)
HUD (the ultimate bad boy flick)
THE HUSTLER (Jackie Gleason is his bitch)
NOBODY’S FOOL (a small but underrated movie)
SLAP SHOT (I was saving this for a future Netflix pick)
TORN CURTAIN (Considered one of the lesser Hictchcock films but shouldn’t be)
Oh, who am I kidding? Just about any Paul Newman movie really. Except maybe WUSA.
What are your favorites?
The Newman family suggests donations in his name to the Assn. of Hole in the Wall Camps. You can get information here.
55 comments :
The Sting, The Verdict and his salad dressing all kick ass. He was as generous as he was talented.
The Verdict. It could have been melodramatic bathos but he made it real. Every frame is so watchable. It's a great loss. What a great actor. What a great guy.
I've seen every one that you mentioned, Ken. Hard to pick a favorite, so I'll name two: 'The Sting' and 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.'
I'm a long time fan of Mr. Newman's. As an actor and a person. He always came across as down to earth in interviews. Thank you for verifying he truly was a 'nice guy.' I just knew it!
So many good movies. But my favorite is "The Verdict." I a sucker for redemptive characters and Newman's Frank Galvin is one of the best. And who wouldn't like a movie with Newman, Mamet, and Lumet as key players?
I am genuinely pleased to hear Paul Newman was the class act he seemed to be. Goodnight, Henry Gondorf.
My favorite Paul Newman film is THE HUSTLER. This seems to grow in stature every year; it's simply a brilliant drama. Favorite scene: Fast Eddie's evisceration of Murray Hamilton's Kentucky gambler. Favorite line: George C. Scott's blood-curdling "You owe me MONEY!"
My favorite Newman performance is his alcoholic lawyer in THE VERDICT. Broken down, pathetic, almost at the end of his rope, he really makes you believe Frank Galvin isn't good enough to try the case... and then he makes you think that he might be. All the colors, tones and notes are here, folks; it's as good as this sort of thing gets.
Newman is also exceptional in THE STING, HUD, NOBODY'S FOOL and, though it's not an outstanding movie, in Altman's BUFFALO BILL AND THE INDIANS.
I'm also a big fan of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting. He and Robert Redford had some great chemistry, huh?
I also loved him in the more recent Empire Falls. His wife Joanne was also excellent in it.
Regardless of the role, Newman made acting look effortless. It is not effortless. Neither is being a good guy, and donating millions to charity. Neither is writing. Who makes writing look effortless? Hemingway, perhaps.
Sigh. Cue blue funk.
-AE
DUDE, you have had one charmed life!!!
Who else would be just mucking along doing their job and have Paul freaken Newman come along and want to shadow them?
Day-um!!!
What nobody thought The Silver Chalice was one of Newman's best roles? I'm shocked!
Some of my personal favorite films of Paul Newman's are his so-called lesser films: Fort Apache, the Bronx (which co-stared my friend Rachel Ticotin), The Young Philadelphians, and Hombre (yeah, I know he had the wrong "look" for the film, but he had that quiet, determined demeanor that was right for the role) to name a few)...
Leading man (Butch & Sundance) or character part (Nobody's Fool--from the great Richard Russo book), Newman gave it his all--I don't believe he ever phoned in a performance in his life. Matched only (and maybe even surpassed) by his off-screen work he was a hellova guy.
I'm too young I guess to know his work that well but the one that stood out on your list is "Slapshot". I love that kind of movie. Like "Major League" and "Bad News Bears" . Odd sports stories. But of course "Slapshot" is the hardcore version of them all :-)
"Blaze"! No one else could have played Earl K. Long and made it work. Also, best sex scene of all time.
"I apologize, ma'am, on behalf of myself, my family name, and the great state of Louisiana."
Paul Newman and Steve McQueen were in, 'The Towering Inferno' (1974). The movie was so hot, they had to put the two coolest guys alive in it.
Hallie
Two days with Paul Newman in 1969 wasted on a straight boy? Why oh why couldn't he have researched WUSA at KGIL, where I could have had at him instead? I'd have been erect the entire two days. I've had a major crush on Paul since THE PRIZE (The nudist scene. BOING!), and it's never gone away.
Sadly, I saw WUSA its opening weekend. What a horrible, depressing dud that was.
I'm afraid I am among those who classify TORN CURTAIN (Another opening weekend viewing, and several times since) as lesser Hitchcock. Nowhere near the worst of Hitchcock (Such as his next: TOPAZ), but also nowhere near the heights of PSYCHO, NORTH BY NORTHWEST or VERTIGO.
TORN CURTAIN was one of those films where Julie Andrews was trying to shed her goodie-two-shoes image, in this case by playing perhaps the only sex scene Paul Newman ever did that utterly failed to be sexy. (Hud screws Mary Poppins! It should have COOKED!) What we have here is a failure to eroticize.
The film as a whole is disappointing, though the famous murder scene in the middle of the picture remains a classic Hitchcock sequence.
For a while in the 1950s Paul, Joanne Woodward, and Gore Vidal shared a house in Malibu. Now THAT was one hell of a menage. Vidal remained a close friend of The Newmans ever since.
Favorite Newman films?
CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF (Even though the script was castrated worse than Newman was in SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH, it's still great, and a rare Newman role as a latent homo!)
RALLY 'ROUND THE FLAG BOYS. (Max Shulman! One of Joan Collins's classic sluts. Gale Gordon!)
HUD (of course)
WHAT A WAY TO GO (Overall, an enjoyable mess: Newman's segment is sexy and funny. And it's Margaret Dumont's last movie.)
THE PRIZE (Silly psuedo-Hitchcock, but the nudist scene!!!)
OUTRAGE (RASHOMON without Kirasawa's genius, and with Newman as a blue-eyed Mexican bandito. And it asks you to believe Paul Newman could rape someone. Like someone would turn down Paul Newman. Who could resist?)
HARPER and it's sequel THE DROWNING POOL
Believe it or not, I've never seen COOL HAND LUKE.
BUTCH CASSIDY & THE STING naturally. Seen both a billion times. The great thing about THE STING is that, even after you know all the plot twists and reversals, it's still entertaining.
BUFFALO BILL AND THE INDIANS. (Great? No. But Newman & Altman!)
(Not a favorite, but did you ever see him in a sillier mess than WHEN TIME RAN OUT? Made THE TOWERING INFERNO look like Tennessee Williams.)
THE VERDICT (For him and for James Mason.)
BLAZE
How bizarre that his last movie was an animated film, CARS.
His recent TV broadcast of his Broadway turn in OUR TOWN was good. He was playing the role I played in my high school production back in 1966. He was a tad better.
BTW, anyone ever see the live TV production of OUR TOWN as a musical back in 1955 in which Newman played George Gibbs, and Sinatra played the role Newman and I played later? Paul was quoted as saying he wasn't much of a singer.
One could write volumes about his charitable work and his political activism. He was prouder of being on Nixon's Enemies List than he was of his Oscars.
But for me, his greatest accomplishment was: He stayed sexy to a later age than just about any other man ever, except arguably Sean Connery. At 75, Newman could still spark lust.
The Newman Family suggests donations in his name to the Assn. of Hole in the Wall Camps. Information: http://holeinthewallcamps.org/
Oh, I meant to add that my late mother really LOVED Newman's UNTIL THEY SAIL.
And CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF was the only Tennessee Williams movie Mother ever watched; caught by Newman's beauty when she was channel-surfing one afternoon, it held her captivated to the end. Mother was amazed that "It wasn't dirty! I thought Williams only wrote filthy trash!" (Mother was too influenced by HER mother's prejudices.)
I remember her asking me afterwards: "Is Elizabeth Taylor always that good?" She'd avoided "That slut's" movies so completely that it was news to her that Liz was actually a good actress.
Thanks Doug,
I've posted the donation information.
[Wrenching sob] PAUL!
PAAUULLL!
PAAAAAUUUUULLLLLLL!!!!!!
[Sob! Wail! Loud keening!]
What's the point of being a Screen Immortal when you can still die?
THE SILVER CHALICE, the only Biblical epic ever to offer me something worth worshipping! PAUL!
Damn that Joanne Woodward! She selfishly kept Paul and I apart for 50 years! He should have been MINE!
What kind of straight man is faithful to one woman for half a century? It's unnatural! Marital Fidelity? What the hell is that anyway! Some kind of bizarre religous cult, like Shakers or Mormons?
Paul, Paul, Paul. I could have made a new man of Newman. I'll never drink another salad.
I rail my grief for Paul at greater length over on my flog, for any who share my view that, yes, he was a great actor, with often marvelous taste in scripts, but his real immortality is as the longest-enduring male sex god ever.
Paul, Paul, Paul.
No Cheers, darling. Not today.
COOL HAND LUKE (the girl washing the car is maybe the sexiest scene ever)
Agreed, but because also of how tortured the men are while she washes that car. That's my favorite scene in the film, not the apparently more popular "50 eggs."
Highlighting his films as a director, I've not yet seen "Rachel, Rachel," but I loved his take on "The Glass Menagerie," starring Joanne Woodward as Amanda Wingfield. Quietly devastating performances in that one.
His salad dressing wasn't bad either.
I just popped in the DVD of WHAT A WAY TO GO to rewatch just Paul's scene. How could I have forgotten that his character in that film, an American painter in Paris (Playing a Gene Kelly role in a movie that Gene Kelly is in!), is named "Larry Flynt"?
Yup. Paul Newman was the first "Larry Flynt," long before Woody Harrelson, hell, before Larry Flynt.
There has to be a piece in fictional movie characters with names of later-famous real people.
In the first GODZILLA, Raymond Burr plays "Steve Martin," but with none of Steve's slick comic timing, while the ridiculously huge dinosaur is the wild and crazy beast.
Unfortunately, I was too young to see Paul Newman in his prime.
A few thoughts of his cannon:
ABSENCE OF MALICE: My first Paul Newman at the movie theater.
THE VERDICT: My second Newman flick. Go back and watch the bar scene. It is small, but it establishes his character while he attempts to drink the shot. Powerful acting. Powerful directing.
HARPER: I want to own a Porsche 356 (?) because I will look just as cool.
BUTH CASSIDY: We have to have rules when we fight.
HUD: Another amazing acting performance. You can fell the acid that runs through his veins. Every word he says has so much vile and contempt. He makes everything he touches ugly.
NOBODY’S FOOL: A pleasant movie but not Newman's best performance. He plays old coot well. Bruce Willis turns in a equal performance and Melanie Griffith flashes her boobs. If you read the source material, then you will understand why the movie lacks an ending.
SLAP SHOT: Funny but the Hanson Brothers make the movie. The ending represents one of the best comments on contrived violence and mayhem.
I like Newman's evil board member in the Coen Bros' underrated Hudsucker Proxy. His turn as Gen. Groves in Fat Man and Little Boy is chilling because he does not care about consequences only the achievement of the goal.
The Verdict,Cool Hand Luke , The Sting, The Hustler.
The Verdict is my favorite, but
what a remarkable list to choose from!
All the ones that were mentioned by K.L. are memorable, but I would add Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, where he and Elizabeth Taylor manage to restore some of the heat and subtlety that had been edited out of the script.
It's unfortunate that when, at the height of his popularity, he wanted to put himself on the line with that magnificent but uneven moviemaker Robert Altman, the result was two of Altman's worst creations, Buffalo Bill & the Indians and Quintet.
And much as I love all his performances, his greatest contribution to a movie, for me, is his direction of The Glass Menagerie -- the best movie ever made from Tennessee Williams. There's a book about its making, NO TRICKS IN MY POCKET, that gives a bit of insight into the process.
I have to agree with those who say "Torn Curtain" is minor Hitchcock. It's so good for the first two-thirds of the film, but then it just falls apart at the end. If you read any interviews with Hitchcock about this film he states that, because Newman and Andrews were such big stars at the time, the two of them only had a very limited window in which they could make the film. Because of that, it went into production before the script was ready. Unfortunately, it shows. It's sad because, as I said, most of the film is quite good.
COOL HAND LUKE (the girl washing the car is maybe the sexiest scene ever)
That's Joy Harmon, an ultra-buxom blonde who was a starlet in the fifties and sixties. "Cool Hand Luke" is one of her two best-known films; the other is "Village Of The Giants," a silly Bert I. Gordon adaptation of H.G. Wells' "The Food Of The Gods," where Joy plays one of several "bad" teens who consume a special formula (created by an Opie-aged Ron Howard) and grow six times their size before an antidote is found. Through the magic of trick photography (and a large-scale reproduction of her massive bustline), the giant Joy "dances" with a normal-sized guy.
Last I heard of Joy, she runs "Aunt Joy's Pies," a bakery/catering service in L.A.
D. McEwan said...
I just popped in the DVD of WHAT A WAY TO GO to rewatch just Paul's scene. How could I have forgotten that his character in that film, an American painter in Paris (Playing a Gene Kelly role in a movie that Gene Kelly is in!), is named "Larry Flynt"?
Yup. Paul Newman was the first "Larry Flynt," long before Woody Harrelson, hell, before Larry Flynt.
There has to be a piece in fictional movie characters with names of later-famous real people.
How about the scandal-sheet editor the great character actor Walter Connolly portrayed in 1937's "Nothing Sacred"? His character's name was...Oliver Stone.
The Verdict is a near-perfect film, and Newman was THE MAN in that movie.
I hate to "me, too", but what you all said. Personal favorites are The Sting, The Verdict, Slap Shot and Nobody's Fool. And Pineapple Salsa (hard to find in stores here) and Sock-a-rooni Spaghetti sauce.
Mr. Newman. Thanks for the entertainment and the food. Rest in Peace. You did good.
The Secret War of Harry Figg, A Different Kind of Love, Somebody Up There Likes Me, The Sting, The Verdict
Truth be told, I loved almost everything with Mr. Newman but I have a fondness for his lighter side.
I you can still find it, check out one of his earliest films: "The Left-Handed Gun", directed by Arthur Penn, with script contributions from Gore Vidal.
I think that Paul Newman gave us so many great performances in so many classic films, but in "Nobody's Fool", Paul Newman gave us an amazing look into the life of an aging, blue collar man who had made some mistakes in life by LIVING life... his character's simple joys, complex pains, and the recognition that if you live life right, you will screw up a lot, but you will also get one or two things right... one of the best written, most honest and wonderful portrayals of a real American man and a real American town. I will miss Paul Newman.
A great tribute to a great man. THE VERDICT was my favorite.
BTW, the link to the donation info doesn't work...
My favorite Paul Newman performances have to be "Slap Shot," "The Verdict," and "The Sting." Especially "The Sting," where his performance gets even better after you've seen the movie and know the con game he's playing. Three completely different characters and he nailed them all.
That being said, I'm 28 years old. And whenever I see a shirtless Paul Newman standing outside Joanne Woodward's window trying to seduce her in "The Long Hot Summer," I completely melt.
What a talent, and what a generous, wonderful human being. I'm really going to miss him.
I think Newman's best film is The Hustler. He's great in it, too, though I think he got even better as he aged and let some of the Method stuff go.
I first saw it when I was 14, in Pan and Scan on a 9" B&W portable TV. Even in such a compromised state, it blew me away and instantly gave me the filmmaking bug. I agree with griff that it just looks better as time goes on, especially these days when such artfully crafted adult fare is a rarity at the multiplex.
As for Newman's best performance, I guess I'd go with The Verdict, but he was always strong. RIP to "a natural born earth shaker."
The only trait I ever shared with Paul Newman is that he lived in my hometown of Westport, Conn. I never met him, except I did hold the door for him once when I was exiting a downtown store... He was one of the few people in that town who actually said thank you. Anyway, everyone who did know Paul Newman described him as you did, Ken. Gracious, thoughtful and down to earth. I think "dignified" is a good way to describe Paul Newman, as well as his career in films.
You mentioned three of my favorite Paul Newman films:
1. Nobody's Fool
2. Slapshot
3. Absence of Malice.
And then one that you didn't mention: "Sometimes a Great Notion" (Which was originally titled "Never Give an Inch")
We'll miss Paul Newman.
Paul Newman led a long and charmed life, so it's neither a surprise or a tragedy that he has passed. But I do feel bad at the news.
In trying to explain to one of my sons why, it came to me that the loss is really ours, not Mr. Newmans. He was a man's man and a good citizen. The world feels a little ... less... without him in it.
I feel blessed that I've lived in a time that has seen so many of the greats. I'm not sure my kids, nor certainly their kids, will feel the same.
Ever notice how many films Paul Newman made that the title started with the letter H?
Hud
Hombre
The Hustler (Yeah I know. But it fits if you file it as Hustler, The.)
Harper
He made it look so easy. The kind of personality that made you forget how handsome he was after about 5 minutes (at least if you were a nerdy plain straight guy.)The kind of guy you could actually see yourself having a beer with, which some of my car racing buddies actually did. And Newman bought the beer! They said if you hadn't known he was a movie star, it never would've crossed your mind. They also said that if you tried to talk about Hollywood with him, he'd clam up. But talk racing with him, you couldn't get him to stop.
I think my favorite Newman film would have to be "Cool Hand Luke."
Look, another H in the title!
A true movie STAR.
"jbryant said...
I think Newman's best film is The Hustler."
Quite possibly. I didn't include it in my list only because it's been 40 yaers since I saw it, and all I rmember of it now is Newman showing up on Carrie's mother's stoop, saying, "They broke my thumbs."
"VP81955 said...
How about the scandal-sheet editor the great character actor Walter Connolly portrayed in 1937's 'Nothing Sacred'? His character's name was...Oliver Stone."
Excellent one. While we're on Olivers, in CAT PEOPLE, Kent Smith plays an architect with a sexophobic wife, who is named "Oliver Reed". Hard to imagine the real Oliver Reed with a sexophobic wife. "Oliver Reed" is also in CURSE OF THE CAT PEOPLE.
"Steely Dan said...
I have to agree with those who say 'Torn Curtain' is minor Hitchcock... If you read any interviews with Hitchcock about this film he states that, because Newman and Andrews were such big stars at the time, the two of them only had a very limited window in which they could make the film."
In the Trauffaut/Hitchcock book, Hitchcock also reports to have had problems working with Newman's method training. Hitchcock would say, "On this word, look over here."
Paul would say, "Why?"
Hitch would say, "Because that's the direction I need you to be looking for the camera."
Paul would say, "Yes, but what's my motivation?"
Hitch: "You motivation is for me to photograph you correctly."
Two radically different ways of working that did not mesh on this occasion. Hitchcock just didn't have patience, or interest, in The Method. Not a coincidence that Brando was never in a Hitchcock film.
"Barry in Portland said... The Left-Handed Gun", directed by Arthur Penn, with script contributions from Gore Vidal."
I don't know what the possibly-arbitrated credits say, but Gore Vidal wrote that movie. "Contributions" would be by otehrs. Gore was, however, sufficently unhappy with the final result (Newman was already too old for the role. Billy the Kid died at 21, and having one of the handsomest men on earth playing the butt-ugly Billy was pretty unrealistic also.) that he returned to the subject matter with a TV movie decades later. But it began a never-ending friendship between Vidal and Newman.
"JK Chicago said... whenever I see a shirtless Paul Newman standing outside Joanne Woodward's window trying to seduce her in "The Long Hot Summer," I completely melt."
You and me both. But to be fair, if I found Newman lying in a gutter, unshaven and unbathed, in a pool of his own drool, and he rolled bloodshot eys up at me and slurred out drunkenly, "Do me, bitch." I would still melt.
Paul Newman was a lovely man, a great actor, and is irreplaceable i so many ways. But let's not go overboard on 'The Hustler'. Jackie Gleason blew the young upstart off set.
What transpired between Jackie Gleason and Paul Newman off-set is none of our concern. They were consenting adults. Who are we to judge?
Still, I wish they'd gotten it on film. Talk about a "Hustler"!
Cheers.
The Sting is perhaps my favourite movie of all time so that's what I'm sticking with. But there are so many right behind it. And I liked the Iconoclasts episode where he and Redford drove around New England reminiscing old theatre times, he seemed like a lovely man indeed.
gleason fan: I don't think anyone here has said Newman's best performance was in The Hustler (if that's what you meant by "going overboard on The Hustler"). A couple of us have said it's his best film, but this of course in no way diminishes Gleason's contribution. He was wonderful in it.
Best perf in the film was George C. Scott though.
view "From the Terrace" an oldie but a very good rainy day pick. and young joanne woodward also plays opposite him.
Nobody's fool is probably one of his best, underrated and overlooked. Great picture, great screenplay, great performances, already a classic.
By the way, the link is not working.
For everyone having trouble with the link, this is the URL
http://holeinthewallcamps.org/
Thanks for sharing your story about Paul. I fell hard for him after watching Long Hot Summer with Joanne Woodward. I went to see Road to Perdition for him not TOm Hanks, and when I found out he was doing one of the voices in Cars, my friend and I were the first in line.
Those blue eyes MAMA MIA...He'll be missed greatly, but I'm glad to think he is now resting without pain.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting.
Thanks, Mr. Newman. You had vision and the rest of the world wore bifocals.
They play The Long Hot Summer allot on TV. I think actors over acted back then, but I still liked it.
I think he played down more as he aged. I think many actors seem to. Perhaps they get better at the subtle details. I don;t know... I do like him though. My hubby and I quote scenes from Cool Hand Luke all the time..."Takin' it off here Boss!"(during the wet girl scene).. or "What we have heayuh is a failyuh to communicate!"
I think he was under-used in Hollywood. I think he could have had more meaty parts. Perhaps that was his own choosing.
I saw him interviewed once on TV, and he was with his wife and daughter. He was very humble and tried to let the women get the starlight ... of course that's impossible though...he's Paul Newman! He acted a bit embarrassed by his fame.
KMPC dj Geoff Edwards had a minor part in the movie "WUSA" I beleive some of it was shot inside the KMPC building.
KMPC dj Geoff Edwards had a very small part in "WUSA" I'm thinking some of the film was shot at the big KMPC building on Sunst.
KMPC dj Geoff Edwards had a very small part in "WUSA" I'm thinking some of the film was shot at the big KMPC building on Sunst.
KMPC dj Geoff Edwards had a small part in "WUSA"
Hey does anyone know if KMPC dj Geoff Edwards had a small part in WUSA? :)
anonymous: "I think actors overacted back then." Obviously one can track variations in acting techniques and standards through the decades, but overactors have always been with us and always will be. Same with underactors and every other kind of actor.
I loved him in From the Terrace and Exodus. In both roles I thought he was just figuring out how to inhabit his skin. Somehow he comes across as so much better than the movies, and you just can't take your eyes off of him when he is in the scene.
it's hard not to admire Paul Newman for putting his money to work in such productive ways, such as his Newman's Own line--high quality stuff and the proceeds go to good causes... very smart.
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