They Called Him “Fast Eddie”
My favorite Paul Newman film is The Hustler from 1961, his acting in that role still brings that film to life with a raw power that you don’t see often today (of course a good screen play and the right director help too). Of course many fanboys and fangurls know Newman for so many of the other films that he brought to life — every role from a prisoner in Cool Hand Luke (1967) to a cowboy in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). Paul Leonard Newman we salute you:
Paul Newman: A First-Class Actor, A Class Act
“Paul Newman, who died yesterday at 83 of cancer, was a beautiful man who never seemed to notice his own beauty. He was at his worst when the camera did.
But far more often, he was at his best when he was too busy thinking to care about the looks he’d been given. He stood for an American archetype: he was the shrewd guy. Practical, tough, urban. He figured angles, calculated odds, charted courses, deployed distractions, maneuvered brilliantly. He wasn’t violent, he wasn’t a leader, he wasn’t Mr. Cool with the babes, he had limited gifts for comedy and highly-articulate, dialogue-driven set pieces. But nobody played shrewd better than Paul Newman. He became great playing shrewd.
You could see it in his eyes, and he probably didn’t care much whether they were blue or not. You’d see them narrow as he lapsed into concentration, then come alive again as they read cues, divined patterns, perceived dynamics, sniffed weaknesses. He figured it out with a gusto he sold to audiences brilliantly and you — with him — enjoyed his triumphant cerebration.”
Below: The famous scene from The Hustler between Eddie Falson (Paul Newman) and Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason):
Below: A trailer from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid:
Below: The boxing scene from Cool Hand Luke: