best film: Cool Hand Luke. Newman has only actually been in two masterpieces, this and Butch Cassidy. It’s a weakness if you’re looking at his resume and comparing him with the other all-time greats. However, his 21-film archiveable resume is loaded with other top 10 films (too many to just list here—it would be easier to list the ones that aren’t in their respective years’ top 10). Back to Cool Hand Luke though and Newman- those are two non-auteur driven masterpieces. I could see arguing that this both boosts Newman’s credentials/resume (there’s no way either film is a masterpiece without him) and hurt him (he isn’t in one of the top 100 movies of all-time and after all we’re talking about film as art).
best performance: Cool Hand Luke. Newman’s Christ-allegory figure of a convict and anti-hero has it all. He’s incredibly charming, a likable rascal, anti-authoritarian, yet has his own set of principles and internal compass. Newman had done the southern accent before with mixed results (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Long Hot Summer) but improved on it since those two films in 1958 and he’s clearly in control here. His scenes George Kennedy show clear rapport and chemistry —but he also battles so well with Strother Martin and shows his tender side with the mother character Jo Van Fleet in their one absolutely devastating scene together. As much as I like Newman in Butch Cassidy, The Verdict and the Hustler– this is the easy choice- a justifiably iconic performance and character.
stylistic innovations/traits: He’s a more affable and approachable version of Marlon Brando, James Dean and Montgomery Clift. He could be funny and those other three monsters of method largely couldn’t—it’s a gift. Newman has 21 films in the archives and at least 10 are worthy of being in their years’ ten best. His style looks so effortless and unrehearsed. He won the Oscar for reprising his role of Eddie Felson in The Color of Money with Scorsese in 1986 but had eight other nominations to choose from that you could’ve given him the award for. He could show a dark side (Hud, the Hustler) but was probably at his best in Cool Hand Luke or Butch Cassidy where there’s just nobody you’d rather spend two hours of your time with. He made a slew of movies with “H” in the title for some reason (mostly marketing), was incredibly good lookin,g (especially in color with those eyes) but after he came to power in the 60’s avoided the beefcake roles and movies in lieu of more challenging material. His one downfall may be in the following category here.
directors worked with: Martin Ritt (3) and George Roy Hill (2)—I’m no George Roy Hill apologist and I’m a big believer in the auteur theory- but these two films are fantastic… then one film with Preminger, Penn, Altman, Pollack, Scorsese, Coen Brothers, Sam Mendes, and Sidney Lumet. It’s somewhat regrettable that of the three best auteurs he worked with Scorsese (5th all-time), Coen (25th) and Altman (29th)—the only film that makes their respective auteurs own top 10 is Buffalo Bill and the Indians (10th on Altman’s list).
Top 10 Performances:
- Cool Hand Luke
- Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid
- The Hustler
- The Verdict
- Hud
- Hombre
- The Color of Money
- The Road to Perdition
- Absence of Malice
- The Sting
Archiveable films
| 1956- Somebody Up There Likes Me |
| 1958- Cat on a Hot Tin Roof |
| 1958- Long Hot Summer |
| 1958- The Left Handed Gun |
| 1960- Exodus |
| 1961- The Hustler |
| 1963- Hud |
| 1966- Harper |
| 1967- Cool Hand Luke |
| 1967- Hombre |
| 1969- Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid |
| 1973- The Sting |
| 1974- The Towering Inferno |
| 1976- Buffalo Bill and the Indians |
| 1981- Absence of Malice |
| 1982- The Verdict |
| 1986- The Color of Money |
| 1990- Mr. and Mrs. Bridge |
| 1994- Nobody’s Fool |
| 1994- The Hudsucker Proxy |
| 2002- The Road to Perdition |
You’re insane if you don’t consider the Hustler a masterpiece. I was enjoying your website, but that took your credibility down by an order of magnitude.
haha aggressive– i love “the hustler” and have it as a “must-see” which is just one grade below- so we’re not far off– i’m just not overly impressed by the stylings of Robert Rossen and have several films from 1961 above it (in additional to the 5 listed here http://thecinemaarchives.com/2017/09/18/1961/ since doing my top 10 of 1961 i’ve seen “The End of Summer” from Ozu and it’s far stronger)
Newman is God.
Nah man Butch Cassidy is not a better Performance than Hud, The Hustler (his on the Waterfront), or the Verdict the following three I mentioned are among the best performances of all time. Also Butch Cassidy is a good performance don’t get me wrong But a better performance than The Hustler nah man I just can’t get on board with that at all his performance in The Hustler is on the same level as Meryl Streep in Sophies Choice, DeNiro in Taxi Driver, and Bogart in Sierra Madre. He was Brilliant in that Masterpiece and it’s a shame he didn’t win the Oscar that year same with Hud (another Masterpiece) it’s never should have taken him until the Color of Money to win an Oscar.
Altman is 34 and Coen 30. Dreyer, Ozu. Who else bumped up??
@AP– wow- good eye! It would take me some time to dig. Wong Kar-wai comes to mind quickly though
Since he was often compared to Marlon Brando, Who according to you is the better actor?.
I think Newman clearly had the better career or filmography. He has more Oscar nominations and he should have won atleast 3 for Cool hand Luke,The Hustler and The Verdict ( I haven’t seen Gandhi though). He gave great number of performances till the end of his career. He was consistent in giving great performances which no other lead actor has ever given. There are few bad or average performances. Cool hand Luke is one of the best movies and has one of the best performances of all time and I would rank it above One Flew over Cuckoo’s nest and Shawshank Redemption. You may find this funny though because many film experts forget about Paul Newman and Cool Hand Luke.
Hello Adam
Compared because they were handsome and talented haha
I love Newman, but it does not have a performance at the level of Brando (Waterfront, Godfather), see the page of Brando.
I think Brando is the best and most talented actor ever
@Adam- thanks for the comment and visiting the site. I adore Paul Newman- a tremendous actor. But I have Brando as the superior actor slightly.
Since he was often compared to Marlon Brando, Whom would you consider better actor overall?
Definitely Brando. I dont think Brando and Newman were compared for their looks as you said, more for their talent. On the Waterfront, Godfather, Apocalypse Now. That’s hard to beat I think. Drake has correctly ranked Brando as one of the best I think.
Drake are you going to update your actors list when you updated your best films list? If yes, do you think Newman or Brando could move up(or down)?
no- Adam is correct. They were compared for their looks, too. Newman said once he signed hundreds of autographs mistaking him for Brando in the 1960’s.
Thanks Drake I didn’t know about that. They were similar sized too, probably another reason why people compared them.
Did you know that Mark Wahlberg and Matt Damon were also mistaken for each other many times. Jesse Eisenberg and Michael Cera also get mistaken for each other.
Torn Curtain is missing from his archives.
@RK- nice catch- thank you. I’ll have it added when I update.
Your list is absolutely perfect. Interestingly enough, my favorite Newman performance is in The Young Philadelphians. Go figure