PAUL NEWMAN
That Charm! Those Eyes! That Spaghetti Sauce!
We asked our members to let us know what they think about one of our favorite actors, PAUL NEWMAN. Check out what our members said were his best films and why Paul Newman is such a amazing actor!
Well, it’s official, we love Paul Newman. And when we asked what our PFS members thought about the man with those steely blue eyes, our members praised Newman for the down-to-earth nature that he brought to his characters. “He always seems to be himself and yet he still is unique in the way he embraces each character, “ explained one PFS member. Another agreed, “besides the ice blue eyes and the Greek god face, it was always his honest portrayal of the character that drew me to him. You never got the same performance in a role. You believed his authenticity. “ ability to express his emotions and thoughts without speaking....his body language, smile or frown, eyes..speak volumes
While our PFS members were all huge fans of his acting, many pointed out his philanthropy as a big reason why Newman is one of our favorites. According to one PFS member, “Off the screen, he gave generously and supported causes he believed in.”
As one member so succinctly put it, “the impact his (enormous) charitable contributions have made is just as strong as the impact those beautiful blue eyes have had on so many.”
You can see how Newman’s films ranked with our PFS members below:
PFS Best Paul Newman Films
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
By far, our #1 pick, Paul Newman teams up with Robert Redford in the titular roles. Based loosely on fact, the two are on the run from a crack US posse after a string of train robberies. The film won four Academy Awards: Best Cinematography; Best Original Score for a Motion Picture (not a Musical); Best Music, Song (Burt Bacharach and Hal David for "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head"); and Best Original Screenplay.
As one of our members mentioned, “He was anti-hero sometimes but you knew he had a heart”. As the website Rotten Tomatoes puts it, “with its iconic pairing of Paul Newman and Robert Redford, jaunty screenplay and Burt Bacharach score, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid has gone down as among the defining moments in late-'60s American cinema.”
The Sting (1973)
Set in September 1936, Paul Newman again teams with Robert Redford for this tale of two con men inspired by real-life cons perpetrated by brothers Fred and Charley Gondorff as documented in the 1940 book The Big Con: The Story of the Confidence Man by David Maurer.
The Sting was nominated for 10 Academy Awards and won seven, but it was Redford, not Newman, who received the nomination for Best Actor.
Cool Hand Luke (1967)
Newman plays a laid back Southern petty criminal who is sentenced to two years in a rural prison, but refuses to conform. Luke becomes a symbol of hope and resilience to the other men in the prison camp -- and a symbol of rebelliousness that must be stamped out to the guards and the captain.
Cool Hand Luke is one of Newman’s most memorable films, with one of cinema’s most memorable lines. "What we've got here is failure to communicate", was listed at No. 11 on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 most memorable movie lines.
The Verdict (1982)
Paul Newman stars as Frank Galvin, an alcoholic Boston lawyer who tries to redeem his personal and professional reputation by winning a difficult medical malpractice case.
As critic Bob Thomas put it, “Paul Newman has the role of his later career. He uses none of his blue-eyed charm, and scarcely ever smiles except while telling bar jokes. He IS the bruised Frank Galvin, and you feel for him with every shot of Irish whiskey and every legal defeat.”
Also Noteworthy…
Along with The Sting and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, there were a few films that certain members thought deserved special recognition:
