Surprised how many of his best performances haven't been mentioned, or how taken for granted he was by the Academy when it came to handing out Oscars. He was simply a natural who comfortably moved into any role in which he was cast. You never saw Paul Newman 'act'.
He was given just one Oscar, for the reprisal role as Fast Eddie Felson in the overwrought "Color of Money", in what was a generally acknowledged as a "make up call" for the egregious blunder three years earlier: The opportunity to give Newman the statuette for his aching and courageous performance as alcoholic Boston attorney Frank Galvin in "
The Verdict".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVZFlBJftgg
The Verdict gave Newman an opportunity to do something he rarely had been given before, a chance 'flash chops' as an actor. While he had played men with flaws before, he had never been cast as hopeless and desperate. The Verdict is not only Newman's best performance, but wall-to-wall, as well-constructed a film as you will ever see.
Directed by the immortal
Sidney Lumet..
A classic
David Mamet screenplay, his 2nd assignment in Hollywood..
A supporting cast like you rarely see assembled anymore:
James Mason as the imposing courtroom adversary Ed Concannon, his last large role on film..
The wonderful, under-appreciated
Jack Warden, as gifted a character actor as we've ever had, as exasperated Galvin gaurdian angel Mickey Morrissey..
Charlotte Rampling, who lends an air of feminine gravitas to any film and role, as 'love interest' Laura, a woman who turns out to be far more flawed and damaged than Newman's Galvin.. Watch them together here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goNVH...eature=related
Also with Milo O'Shea.. a young Lindsay Crouse.. (and famously, an uncredited Bruce Willis in the courtroom gallery)..
The Verdict is a dark, grim story that slowly allows in some light. The parallels between Galvin representing a comatose patient and a likely last opportunity to awaken his own comatose career and life are obvious. Newman's performance is subtle and multi-layered as he torturously discovers shreads of evidence that build his courtroom case and internal battle for dignity as a talented lawyer and decent man.
To me, it is by far Newman's defining screen moment. If you've never seen it, rent or buy it. I've probably seen 25 of Newman's films, and everyone enjoys the 'famed' roles of course.. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Sweet Bird of Youth, Butch/Sundance, The Sting, Hud, Cool Hand Luke, Slap Shot, Exodus, Hombre, The Long, Hot Summer, etc.. My other less recalled favorites with him are The Hudsucker Proxy, Absence of Malice, Road to Perdition and the 2 'Harper' films.
As for his Hole in the Wall charity work, my food broker associate friends Jerry Rounds and David Kalman, neighbors of Newman and Woodward in Westport, created and handled the Newman's Own products and built the business. It will stand as the model for doing good works with a celebrity image, and will endure. But Paul Newman's legacy deserves to start with an incredible body of work as an artist that started with the great live television dramas of the 50's and carried on for a half century of generous and timeless portrayals. We all will never stop enjoying his work.