The Paul Newman Collection (1956)

 Paul Newman Collection
This was purchased as a Christmas present. Unfortuneatly six of the seven DVD's did not have the sound track January 2, 2008

 A Two-Decade Paul Newman Retrospective...
Paul Newman may be the quintessential film star of the past half century; his career mirrors both the highs and lows of the industry, from the end of the 'studio' system to the 'artist'-driven era that continues, to some extent, to this day, and "The Paul Newman Collection", while lacking legendary titles like "Cool Hand Luke" or "Hud", does include some VERY credible performances!

"Somebody Up There Likes Me" (1956), the earliest of the collection, is also one of the best. After the fiasco of Newman's film debut, "The Silver Chalice", he left Hollywood for Broadway, but when James Dean died prior to production of this film, Newman was tapped to play Rocky Graziano, and with first-class talent on both sides of the camera (Robert Wise directed), a warm, funny, and ultimately inspiring boxing classic was created. Note Pier Angeli's excellent portrayal as Rocky's wife (certainly an inspiration for 'Adrian' in Stallone's "Rocky"), watch for Steve McQueen's unbilled appearance as a young hood, and try to ignore the sappy theme song, and you'll love this film! (5 stars out of 5)

"The Left-Handed Gun" (1958), Arthur Penn's film directorial debut, is a retelling of the 'Billy the Kid' legend, with the 33-year old Newman a bit 'long in the tooth' as the teen-aged gunfighter. The approach is original, suggesting Billy was more a confused, isolated kid searching for meaning and older authority figures he could believe in, and ultimately becoming a victim of circumstance and his own reputation. Low-budget, but effective, Penn lingers on brooding shots of Newman, and you may see why so many early critics compared him, physically, to Marlon Brando. (3 1/2 stars)

"The Young Philadelphians" (1959), Newman's last film under his initial Warner Brothers contract, offers one of his best early performances. A slickly entertaining drama of a rising young lawyer with a society 'name' and a family secret, director Vincent Sherman plays up the 'white collar/blue collar' conflict in his life, while introducing a top-notch supporting cast, including Brian Keith, Barbara Rush, Alexis Smith, and Oscar-nominated Robert Vaughn. Long, but NEVER dull! (4 1/2 stars)

"Harper" (1966), offers Newman at the top of his form, in this entertaining update of the 'Film Noir' detective film. Down on his luck, but still a man of ethics, Newman tackles a simple case that turns complex, with an A-list group of suspects, including Lauren Bacall, Shelley Winters, Julie Harris, Robert Wagner, and Arthur Hill. Watch for a wonderful turn by Janet Leigh as his soon-to-be-ex-wife, and savor director Jack Smight's colorful homage to classics like "The Big Sleep". (5 stars)

"Pocket Money" (1972), is more a testament to the confusion both Newman and the studios felt over the era's changing public tastes, than a great piece of filmmaking. An off-beat comedy about dim-bulb cowboy Newman and seedy promoter Lee Marvin buying cattle in Mexico, the pace is so laid-back that the story seems to drift, unsure of which direction to take. There are some funny moments, but you may end up scratching your head by the end. (2 stars)

"The MacKintosh Man" (1973), directed by John Huston, is certainly a lesser effort by both director and star, but still quite watchable. A gritty spy drama of agent Newman investigating a 'leak' in British Intelligence, Huston plays up locales in Monte Carlo and his adopted home of Ireland, offers warmly engaging James Mason and Ian Bannen as suspects, and gives audiences a chance to hear Newman attempt an Australian accent! Forget Dominique Sanda's inept performance as spy chief Harry Andrews' daughter, and you might enjoy it! (3 stars)

"The Drowning Pool" (1975), Newman's reprise of his "Harper" character, is a far less successful film than the original; New Orleans doesn't 'suit' Newman's detective persona as well as L.A., and the characters, while off-beat, lack charm. There are 'pluses', however; Joanne Woodward is always watchable, especially playing with her real-life husband, and Melanie Griffith, in the 'nymphet' stage of her career, has some sexy moments. The finale is tense and claustrophobic, and makes up for some of the earlier lack of suspense, but, all in all, the film is routine, at best. (2 1/2 stars)

A mixed bag, to be sure, but Paul Newman is always worth watching!




December 1, 2007

 Paul Newman Collection Review
I bought this collection being a young fan of Paul Newman, having only seen most of the bigger classics (Cool Hand Luke, The Sting, Hustler, Butch Cassidy, etc.) and bought this boxed set mainly because I heard "Harper" was a good movie. After watching them all finally, I can say that it is well worth the cost of the set to buy.

The best film in the set for me ended up being "Somebody up there likes me," as I had no idea how much other boxing movies have taken from this one since it came out. Paul Newman is awesome in the lead role, and everything about the movie (story, acting, fight scenes) it top notch. This, along with the underrated Diggstown are probably my two favorite boxing movies I've seen now (I prefer them to Raging Bull, where the fight scenes are too artsy).

"Harper" was indeed enjoyable, but I found myself enjoying "The Drowning Pool" slightly more, as it had the great climax at the end where the movie got its name from, and overall was just a fun movie.

"The Young Philadelphians," and "Pocket Money" were both slightly above average as well, with the first being a romance driven story that my girlfriend also enjoyed, while the latter was very funny in parts and driven by the quirkiness of Newman's character.

The only two movies in the set I wasn't blown away by were "The Mackintosh Man," and "The Left-Handed Gun." Even still, Mackintosh was an average spy movie that picked up towards the middle with his escape scenes, and was certainly worth watching once. Having seen too many Billy the Kid movies as it is, "Left-Handed" was the only movie in this set I probably won't watch again.

Hopefully another Newman box set is released in the future, as he certainly has a deep enough catalog of movies to uncover hidden gems like the ones here. July 24, 2007

 As Good As It Gets
This boxset of early Paul Newman films is a good example of how
to properly assemble a major film star's career works on dvds.
It is a valuable boxset at a very reasonable price for the consumers.
It does Mr. Newman justice and he ought to be proud. July 14, 2007

 A sample of (lesser known) Newman
Paul Newman is one of the all-time great movie actors with a career that now spans six decades. Among his biggest movies are The Hustler, Hud, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, Cool Hand Luke The Verdict, The Color of Money (for which he won the Oscar) and even Cars. None of these movies are in the Paul Newman Collection, which features seven of his second-tier efforts. That does not mean they are bad movies, merely not as big.

In chronological order, the first movie in the set is Somebody Up There Likes Me, a biopic of boxer Rocky Graziano. Directed by Robert Wise (who had previously made one of the best boxing movies ever, The Set-Up), this is an entertaining film of a man successfully wrestling his inner demons to become a success. In one of his earliest roles, Newman is already showing why he a cinema immortal.

The next movie is The Left-Handed Gun, a decent, if unspectacular, version of the Billy the Kid story (the best version of this story is Sam Peckinpah's Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid). Newman, as the title character, plays Billy similarly to his Rocky: a self-destructive outlaw. Unlike Graziano, however, Billy never finds redemption through family and friends.

The Young Philadelphians has a more easy-going Newman playing the ambitious Anthony Lawrence who climbs the social and business ladder, often with more than a little ruthlessness. When his best friend is accused of murder, his efforts towards acquittal threaten both his happiness and reputation. This is an entertaining melodrama. A little bonus is seeing a pre-Batman Adam West as a man who is very briefly married to Anthony's mother.

Harper is the first of two Newman movie adaptations of Ross MacDonald's Lew Archer novels (the name was changed to continue Newman's string of "H" movies: Hud, Hustler, etc.). This fun private eye story is a real all-star flick: it also stars Janet Leigh, Lauren Bacall, Robert Wagner and Shelly Winters. The plot deals with Harper's attempts to find a missing - apparently kidnapped - man; in his search, he unearths all kinds of family scandal. The sequel (and last movie, chronologically) is The Drowning Pool, which transports Harper to New Orleans to help an old flame with a blackmailer. Like most sequels, this is a pale shadow of its predecessor, but it has its moments. It also has Melanie Griffith in one of her earliest roles.

Pocket Money is probably the weakest in the set, an amiable but meandering movie with Newman as a modern day cowboy hired to buy and transport some cattle for a shady businessman. Lee Marvin co-stars as his friend and partner. It's a movie in which the parts just don't seem to fit together all that well.

Finally, there is the Mackintosh Man, a spy flick with Newman as a British agent out to stop a Soviet network inside England that specializes in smuggling people out of the country. While this is an interesting movie, Newman's foray into James Bond territory is a little too serious to be fully enjoyed. From an acting standpoint, this is probably his least compelling role in the set.

There are lots of bonuses with the set, including commentaries on the first four movies; the best of these is William Goldman's amusing and biting track for Harper. On the Amazon rating system, Pocket Money is a low-three stars, The Left Handed Gun, The Mackintosh Man and the Drowning Pool a straight three, and the remainder four stars. As is my practice with boxed sets, I average this out to a high-three stars or low-four, but the extras push it up to a comfortable four stars. You don't get the best or most well-known Newman with this set, but you do get a good sampling of his talent and range.
May 13, 2007

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