Pages tagged “paul newman”

Release Date: Sept. 9
Director: Stuart Rosenberg
Writers: Donn Pearce, Frank Pierson
Cinematographer: 
Conrad Hall
Starring: Paul Newman, George Kennedy, Harry Dean Stanton, Strother Martin

Studio/Run Time: 
Warner Home Video, 126 mins.

Newman has aged well

Stuart Rosenberg's 1967 classic Cool Hand Luke has left a heavy footprint in our pop-culture conscience. A sampling of its many iconic moments includes Boss Godfrey's mirrored aviators, the hardboiled-egg-eating contest and Strother Martin drawling, "What we've got here is a failure to communicate." But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Newly remastered on DVD and Blu-ray, this deluxe edition features a "making-of" documentary and audio commentary from writer Eric Lax. But it's Paul Newman's exhilaratingly understated performance as the existential title character that anchors the film. Unlike Brando or Redford, Newman was a master at softening his masculinity without sacrificing virility. His anti-authoritarianism quietly burns as he first spars then bonds with his fellow prison-camp inmates, all the while planning his escape. Forty years later, Cool Hand Luke feels as fresh and vibrant as it did in the turbulent era of its initial release.

Friday evening, the Broadway League devoted a moment of silence to Paul Newman's memory. The actor and philanthropist, who passed away on Sept. 26 at the age of 83, was best known for his screen work, but played several significant parts on the New York stage. House lights across Broadway were dimmed for one minute, just before curtain, in honor of his legacy.

[Above: Robert Redford, left, and Paul Newman in 1969's Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Photos courtesy IMDB.com.]

Paul Newman, who died over the weekend at 83, left behind a historic career with more than 60 films to his credit as a writer, director, producer and actor. Below is a selection of 10 films we'll remember him by, in chronological order. Please include yours in the comments.

(Read Paste's list of the top 10 films by which to remember Paul Newman.)

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Despite the fact that when the film opened in 1969 Paul Newman was already a major star, there was no more enduring image in his career—and few ever in the movies—than the final moments of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Cornered in an abandoned house in Bolivia, Butch (Newman), in muted acknowledgment that the pair could go no further, suggests a next stop in Australia (at least, he reasons, they speak English there). Sundance bickers, but Butch is resolute, and the two bloodied men emerge from the house, pistols ready, to a freeze-frame and the terrible sound of gunshots.