When not driving fast cars, or presiding over a salad dressing empire, Paul Newman was one of the most acclaimed and beloved actors of his generation.
In a screen career that spanned more than half-a-century, he earned a Bafta, Oscar and Emmy for his efforts, that included playing everyone from Billy the Kid to Buffalo Bill and an anthropomorphic Hudson Hornet.
To celebrate the arrival on Neon of the six-part docu-series – The Last Movie Stars – that takes a look back at the life and career of both Newman and his second-wife Joanne Woodward, Stuff to Watch has taken a look through the streaming services available to Kiwis (annoyingly, many of his terrific turns are currently unavailable to legally view here) and come up with a list of nine knockout Newman performances (and where you can watch them right now).
The Verdict, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid are among the terrific Paul Newman movies currently available to stream in New Zealand.
READ MORE: * Eight great Michael Keaton performances (and where you can watch them) * Winona Forever: As she hits 50, here are 10 of her best screen performances * Ten of Nicole Kidman’s best performances (and where you can watch them) * Eight great Minnie Driver movies (and where you can watch them) * Eight great Val Kilmer performances (and where you can watch them) * Eight great Ethan Hawke movies (and where you can watch them) * Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: At 50, is it a relic or a classic?
Paul Newman and Katharine Ross in an iconic scene from Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid.
From Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s Oscar-winning song, to that jaw-dropping ending, George Roy Hill’s loosely-based-on-fact western is brought to life by the winning chemistry between Newman and co-star Robert Redford. The pair play late-1890s outlaws Robert LeRoy Parker and Harry Longabaugh, who are attempting to evade the authorities after conducting a series of train robberies.
“Note-perfect performances, a screenplay steeped in both nostalgia and a timely sense of insight, and anti-heroes you can’t help but love: it’s no surprise that the always re-watchable Butch And Sundance was once labelled the most likeable film ever made,” wrote Empire magazine’s Bob McCabe.
Newman starred opposite Elizabeth Taylor and Burl Ives in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
Not only was this adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ 1955 Pulitzer Prize-winning play nominated for six Academy Awards, it was also the third-highest grossing film of the year in America.
Starring opposite a mesmerising Elizabeth Taylor as the infamous Maggie “the Cat” Pollitt, Newman is superb as her alcoholic ex-American Football playing husband “Brick”.
“Bolstered by extraordinary performances, this tale’s a summer sizzler,” wrote the Austin Chronicle’s Marjorie Baumgarten.
Newman teamed up with a youthful Tom Cruise for The Color of Money.
Reprising his character from 1961’s The Hustler – “Fast’ Eddie Felson – Newman finally won an Oscar for his work in Martin Scorsese’s belated sequel. Taking talented, but overconfident young pool player Vincent Lauria (Tom Cruise) under his wing helps inspire the now retired stickman to embark on an unlikely comeback of his own.
“[It’s] A joy to see two masters [Scorsese and Newman] at ease with their work, and one, Cruise, in the making,” wrote Empire magazine’s Angie Errigo.
Newman’s Cool Hand Luke faces up to a less-than-eggcellent scenario.
Filled with memorable scenes (that egg-eating) and dialogue (“What we have here is a failure to communicate”), this adaptation of Donn Pearce’s 1950s-set 1965 book of the same name has become something of a cult classic, thanks to its anti-establishment leanings and Newman’s turn as the defiant Florida prisoner.
Lalo Schifrin’s iconic score added much to the already rich atmosphere of the film.
“The whole thing depends on Newman’s blue eyes, easy grin and ability to appear charismatic but never cocky,” wrote The Age’s Jake Wilson.
Joanne Woodward and Newman joined forces for The Long, Hot Summer.
One of 16 films Newman and Woodward starred in together, this might have been based on three William Faulkner short stories, but its tone was also clearly inspired by Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (which Newman then appeared in a screen adaptation of just months later).
He plays ambitious drifter Ben Quick, whose arrival in a small Mississippi town causes conflict within the wealthy Varner family.
“An excellent cast gives an exceptional performance under Martin Ritt’s skilled direction,” wrote Cosmopolitan’s Marshall Scott.
In Road to Perdition, Newman stars as John Rooney, the head of a powerful Irish mob in the Depression-era Midwest.
Newman’s final live-action big-screen role, he’s a menacing presence as Irish Illinois mob boss John Rooney in Sam Mendes’ 1930s-set crime movie. When his loose-cannon son Connor (Daniel Craig) takes out the wife and youngest son of his loyal enforcer Mike Sullivan (Tom Hanks), Rooney suddenly finds himself the target of a revenge mission.
“A powerful, atmospheric crime thriller that blends Godfather-style mayhem with philosophical meditations on the nature of good and evil,” wrote BBC.com’s Neil Smith.
Redford and Newman were reunited in The Sting – and joined by Robert Shaw.
Director George Roy Hill reunited his Butch Cassidy stars – Newman and Redford – for this 1936-set caper about two grifters who attempt to con a mob boss.
Not only did it win seven Oscars, the film also brought about a resurgence in ragtime music and, in particular, Scott Joplin’s The Entertainer, which features prominently as part of the movie’s soundtrack.
“There is just no way not to love this movie,” wrote the Detroit Free Press’ Susan Stark.
Steve McQueen, Paul Newman and Faye Dunaway get up close and personal in The Towering Inferno.
A star-studded, high-octane adventure produced by “the master of disaster” Irwin Allen, this secured both an Oscar nomination for Best Picture and the top-slot for the year at the US box-office.
Newman is Glass Tower architect Doug Roberts, who discovers to his horror that corners have been cut in the creation of his San Francisco skyscraper.
“The Towering Inferno is a brawny blockbuster of a movie, by far the best of the mid-1970s wave of disaster films,” wrote Chicago Sun-Times’ Roger Ebert.
Newman’s co-stars in The Verdict included the brilliant James Mason.
Nominated for five Academy Awards, Newman is compelling as alcoholic, ambulance-chasing lawyer Frank Galvin in this magnificent legal drama scripted by the brilliant David Mamet.
Based on Barry Read’s 1980 novel of the same name, it sees the disgraced attorney attempt to find redemption by taking on a law-firm dean, the Archdiocese of Boston and the overall system.
“The performances, the dialogue and the plot all work together like a rare machine,” wrote Chicago Sun-Times’ Roger Ebert.
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