Sometimes I detour from my usual auteurist bent -- more attuned to directorial vision on film than to the players who come and go – and really focus on an actor’s career. A while back I fixated on Barbara Stanwyck, and lately I’ve been buddying up to Paul Newman, hanging out with him night after night. Quite a guy, always fun to be with, pretty to look at, quite the craftsman but not too serious about himself.
Making my way through Newman’s five-decade filmography is not just a longitudinal study of his illustrious career, but also the phases of Hollywood moviemaking, touching all the various genres as they wax and wane. Mr. Newman’s presence is no guarantee of a film’s quality – as a bankable star he appeared in a lot of tinseltown cheese – but his personality is always appealing, even in its darkest shades or flimsiest vehicles.
[click through for mini-reviews of three dozen Paul Newman films]
