Watching the Newman & Woodward documentary left me with the impression that Newman came to understand that much of his career was smoke and mirrors and short on substance. He was a superstar no doubt, but he ran on fumes for much of his career. Woodward, on the other hand, was a true thespian. Her talent is up there with the greats like Vivian Leigh or Geraldine Paige.
He himself always thought Joanne was more talented than he was - from the very beginning of their relationship. She was brilliant and I always wanted to watch her work whenever I had the chance. And still love watching Rachel, Rachel and Mr. & Mrs. Bridge - and more. But to completely dismiss all of his work is more than a bit harsh. As the director, Martin Ritt says in the documentary you cite - he respected Paul so much because of how hard he worked to get a good performance despite not being born with the natural talent or emotional range Joanne or others had. The Verdict, Nobody's Fool, and Road to Perdition in his later years were all flawless performances. Of his earlier work, Hud and The Hustler still hold up to this day. Other lesser known roles, such as Judge Roy Bean and Buffalo Bill are really interesting too. I also saw him on Broadway in Our Town in 2002. He was wonderful as the stage manager - full of New England practicality combined with warmth and wit and irony sprinkled throughout.
@@noelannporter5723 I agree. My smoke and mirrors comment came from Newman’s heyday when he was making so many commercial films. The PR machine was in a constant churn over Newman the sex symbol with the blue eyes. I grew up in the 70’ & 80’s and his face was everywhere. And I think being Oscar nominated as many times as he was yet never winning until the very end of his career is telling.
@@pam0626 his name pops up anytime it gets or when someone in the interwebs adds an anecdote or anything and his name trends for days...I guess that's what the universe wants anyway in exchange for not winning an Oscar...to stay relevant even when he's long gone.
Like Clea said, he was tough on himself. Yes, he was the world's biggest movie star but he was also a very accomplished actor. Being a movie star & being an actor are two completely different things. Some movie stars were great actors & some movie stars were bad actors and most movie stars are somewhere in the middle. He definitely leans more towards the former. Don't think for a minute that he wasn't a serious actor who didn't work hard at his craft, because he did.
I am almost 100% sure that those numerous affairs with Marlon Brando, James Dean and so on and so on aren't mentioned in the memoir. Naughty naughty Paul.
