I agree. Great movie.
But now we’ve got to work on getting that quote right.
Heh…
Ok…
On another note…It was Paul N who played the ‘loser’ lawyer suing a hospital/doctor …damn what was the name.
He did a great job in that one
The Verdict. One of his best. Jack Warden and James Mason helped make that one work, as did Charlotte Rampling.
Nah, he’s the racing car guy.
Oh. You’re right. My bad. Maybe I was thinking of Steve McQueen. Never could keep those guys straight.
The Top 4 (in chronological order):
Hud
The Hustler
Slap Shot
The Verdict
As movies (and not just his performances), I honestly don’t think anything else even comes close.
My two cents
Five best (that I’ve seen):
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Cool Hand Luke
The Hustler
Slapshot
The Verdict
Five worst:
Quintet (tried to sit through this one twice and never made it)
The Silver Chalice (never actually seen it but I’ll take Newman’s word for it)
The Sting (maybe not really terrible, but vastly overrated)
The Towering Inferno (Irwin Allen - no further explanation should be necessary)
When Time Ran Out… (great cast wasted in a volcano movie)
Agreed - it was the second that came to my mind (after The Hustler).
That’s it!
It was one of his best. Fine show and great acting job.
That’s well said I was struggling with a way to put this
Top:
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Somebody Up There Likes Me
Cool Hand
Nobodys Fool
This was hard
Bottom:
Drowning Pool
Verdict
Mr & Mrs. Bridge
Blaze (I enjoyed this Movie just can’t see saying Sting, Inferno,Slap Shot or Roy Bean)
This was harder
A superb film and at the top of my list of Newman movies by far. Second would be Hud or The Hustler, and then Cool Hand Luke.
Exodus!
(As an aside - the actual captain of the Exodus, Ike Aaronson, is a neighbor of my parents. Newman’s character from the movie - Ari Ben Canaan, the most awsome character name ever - is actually a composite of several real-life Hagannah members).
Here, as a refresher, is the IMDb listing (sorted by their ratings) for Mr. Newman’s acting work.
How many of these have you seen? How many of them do you take strong exception to as far as the rating goes?
===================
(8.30) - The Sting (1973)
(8.30) - Cool Hand Luke (1967)
(8.20) - Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
(8.10) - The Hustler (1961)
(7.90) - Our Town (2003) (TV)
(7.89) - Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)
(7.89) - Hud (1963)
(7.70) - Road to Perdition (2002)
(7.69) - The Verdict (1982)
(7.60) - Cars (2006)
(7.40) - The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)
(7.38) - Empire Falls (2005) (TV)
(7.38) - Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956)
(7.29) - Hombre (1967)
(7.28) - The Long, Hot Summer (1958)
(7.21) - Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon 3D (2005)
(7.20) - Nobody’s Fool (1994)
(7.18) - Sweet Bird of Youth (1962)
(7.16) - The Young Philadelphians (1959)
(7.10) - Slap Shot (1977)
(6.99) - Harper (1966)
(6.98) - Sometimes a Great Notion (1971)
(6.95) - Cars (2006) (VG)
(6.88) - Mater and the Ghostlight (2006) (V)
(6.80) - Absence of Malice (1981)
(6.80) - The Color of Money (1986)
(6.80) - The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972)
(6.80) - Exodus (1960)
(6.70) - The Towering Inferno (1974)
(6.70) - What a Way to Go! (1964)
(6.69) - The Rack (1956)
(6.60) - Mr. & Mrs. Bridge (1990)
(6.60) - The Prize (1963)
(6.51) - The Left Handed Gun (1958)
(6.51) - Paris Blues (1961)
(6.50) - Torn Curtain (1966)
(6.50) - Fort Apache the Bronx (1981)
(6.42) - From the Terrace (1960)
(6.41) - Fat Man and Little Boy (1989)
(6.41) - The Drowning Pool (1975)
(6.35) - Until They Sail (1957)
(6.24) - The Outrage (1964)
(6.17) - The Secret War of Harry Frigg (1968)
(6.13) - The MacKintosh Man (1973)
(6.12) - The Helen Morgan Story (1957)
(6.11) - Where the Money Is (2000)
(6.05) - Hemingway’s Adventures of a Young Man (1962)
(6.03) - Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull’s History Lesson (1976)
(6.01) - Twilight (1998)
(5.97) - Winning (1969)
(5.92) - Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys! (1958)
(5.91) - A New Kind of Love (1963)
(5.78) - Harry & Son (1984)
(5.64) - Blaze (1989)
(5.58) - Lady L (1965)
(5.48) - WUSA (1970)
(5.41) - Message in a Bottle (1999)
(5.37) - Pocket Money (1972)
(4.82) - Quintet (1977)
(4.71) - The Silver Chalice (1954)
(4.01) - When Time Ran Out… (1980)
I loved Blaze and The Secret War of Harry Frigg. Newman is a great comedian.
I hated Sweet Bird of Youth. Not Newman’s fault, though. Tennessee Williams wrote four alternate endings to the play, so people could have either a sad ending or a happy ending. The suits in Hollywood still butchered it. (I don’t even like Tennessee Williams, but that still ticked me off.)
I think I’ve heard that PN was cast in “Somebody Up There Likes Me” as a replacement for the late James Dean. So think of Paul Newman’s career as an extension of James Dean’s. Perhaps.
That’s quite true. There’s even video of Newman and Dean screen testing for the roles in East of Eden. Newman was not selected; Dean was.
Also of note in the SUTLM lore is that Steve McQueen’s minor role marked their first joint venture and from then on, Steve was trying to catch up with Newman. It finally happened in The Towering Inferno. Even so, McQueen always felt he was in Newman’s shadow.
I’m confused. The only *Bang the Drum Slowly * I know of was a film and Paul Newman wasn’t in it. A very young Robert DeNiro was, however. It was a very good film.
He did a very funny, albeit brief, cameo in Mel Brook’s “Silent Movie”. He was driving a miniature race car trying to escape from Brooks who was trying to recruit him for his movie.
Before it was made into a movie, it was TV play. It aired during the 50’s and featured (I think) Albert Salmi in the role that was later played by DeNiro. Newman’s role was played by Michael Moriarty in the movie.