11 Greatest Paul Newman Movies
by Gary Susman
Movie fans who know Paul Newman only as the voice of Doc Hudson in "Cars," or as the face on bottles of salad dressing, may not realize what a revolutionary actor he was. Case in point: his landmark film, "The Hustler." The best movie ever about pool turns 55 this year. Celebrate this classic with 11 more of Newman's best.
'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' (1958)
Back then, the film had to tame a lot of the kink that made Tennessee Williams' dysfunctional Southern family drama so hot-and-bothered. But Newman and Elizabeth Taylor still steam up the screen as the squabbling couple at the movie's core. Seldom has marital strife looked so much like foreplay.
'The Hustler' (1961)
Tired of the pretty-boy roles he'd been playing, Newman leapt at the chance to play a meaty dramatic role. Playing pool shark Fast Eddie Felson marked a turning point in Newman's career. It got Jackie Gleason and Piper Laurie to be taken seriously as dramatic actors, too, but it's Newman, inhabiting nearly every grimy frame, whose seedy charm illuminates the film's dangerous underground world.
'Hud' (1963)
Newman's title character is actually the villain of the film, a selfish wastrel who competes with his upright old father (Melvyn Douglas) for the soul of Hud's teenage nephew (Brandon de Wilde). But he's so charismatic that you almost feel bad for him for his coming out on the wrong end of this cattle-ranch tragedy. If rigid, uncompromising Douglas were your dad, you might rebel the way Hud does, too.
'Cool Hand Luke' (1967)
Sorry, "Shawshank" fans, but this is the best prison movie ever. Newman is iconic as the chain-gang con who repeatedly tries to escape, bets he can eat 50 hard-boiled eggs, and refuses to knuckle under to any authority. One of those movies (like "The Graduate," "Easy Rider," or "Five Easy Pieces") that's an allegory about the '60s without ever actually being about the '60s, which makes it timeless.
'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' (1969)
William Goldman's script and the loose, jokey performances of Newman and Robert Redford made this Western about the train-robbing outlaws into the prototype for all future buddy pictures. Not to sleight Katharine Ross as their moll, but this movie is all about the bromance.
'The Sting' (1973)
Newman and Redford are golden again as two Depression-era Chicago grifters who seek revenge on a crime lord (Robert Shaw) by targeting him for a long con. Newman was 48 when he played Redford's mentor here, and he settles easily into the role of a worldlier, wiser man passing the baton to a younger, cockier upstart. In other words, the kind of role Newman would specialize in for the rest of his career.
'Slap Shot' (1977)
Here, Newman does for hockey what he did for billiards in earlier films. In this raucous comedy, he's a player/coach of a team that comes to be known more for its on-ice rough-housing than its goal-scoring prowess. Newman is 52 here and still incredibly physical, but he's also near the beginning of what would be the most gracefully-aging career in the history of movies.
'The Verdict' (1982)
Newman is majestic as an alcoholic, ambulance-chasing attorney who sees a shot at redemption in what should have been a routine medical malpractice case. The younger Newman's brash bark is starting to turn to gravel, and the actor uses the new colors in his voice to display the hollow desperation of a ruined man who has finally -- but perhaps too late -- discovered his soul.
'The Color of Money' (1986)
A quarter-century after "The Hustler," no one was expecting a sequel, but Martin Scorsese's assured direction and Newman's effortless performance justify another look at Fast Eddie, still hustling but now the sort of mentor and elder statesman that he once tried to take down. Tom Cruise gives him a run for his money as the cheeky protege, but Newman reminds everyone that he's a force to be reckoned with. That includes the Academy, which finally gave Newman his first competitive Oscar for this movie.
'Nobody's Fool' (1994)
In this dramedy, Newman is a small-time contractor, nursing a lifetime of grievances and regrets, who gets a brief shot at being a better role model to his grandson than he ever was to his own boy. It's a wry, subtle movie, with character growth measured in inches, not yards. Still, Newman's turn as a rebellious (yet surprisingly beloved) crank feels like a grand summation of his career.
'Road to Perdition' (2002)
Newman returns to gangland Chicago, this time as a world-weary crime boss who knows his sins are coming to collect. Tom Hanks is the unlikely avenging angel in this tragedy about fathers and sons who inevitably disappoint each other. While Hanks is the film's star and tortured conscience, supporting player Newman is its tragic, poetic soul. So good in the role, he scored Best Supporting Actor Oscar nom.
