The Paul Newman Collection (Harper / The Drowning Pool / The Left-Handed Gun / The Mackintosh Man / Pocket Money / Somebody Up There Likes Me / The Young Philadelphians)

Fantastic

Paul Newman. The last true movie star. Someone who was insightful enough and cared to star in movies about social causes, long before this became a Hollywood trend. The leading actor in so many quality, intelligent movies.If you want to witness quality drama, look no further than this box set of treasures.

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!

I like westerns but didn't really enjoy this. HUD was better

Warners has been doing stand-up service; this is reasonably priced the extras are fine, the transfers are excellent, and even the weakest movie in this set (MACKINTOSH MAN) is an efficient genre picture with some offbeat locations, so I'll return to it even if it isn't a masterpiece. While the set may be short on Newman classics (a la THE HUSTLER, THE VERDICT, etc.), all the film are highly watchable; THE LEFT-HANDED GUN, an Arthur Penn film, is quite underrated, and POCKET MONEY is a funny change-of-pace. HARPER and DROWNING POOL are well-made old-school detective flicks; I actually like DROWNING POOL a bit better than HARPER, due to its New Orleans locations and Walter Hill's script, but HARPER is a classic of sorts. If you think you'll like it, you will.

Good movie, but Paul Newman doesn't cut it for me. James Dean was going to have this role after Rebel without a cause, but unfortunately was killed in car accident. He would have been perfect for this role. RIP JD.

I actually purchased the entire Newman Collection because I was unable to find "The Young Philadelphians" on its own. Getting 6 Newman movies at one low price was certainly a bargain. Back to the business at hand, my review. I have seen "The Young Philadelphians" many years ago and remember it as a great story about a young man who learned some valuable lessons on his journey into law school set in the late 1950's in the Main Line section of high society Philadelphia. In addition to a truly all-star cast, the way Newman's character held his moral ground throughout his college, military, and professional career was outstanding. I was thrilled that my 19 year-old daughter watched this movie with my wife and I.

Saw this awesome western last night. The first of its kind, as I understand. Because it shows the western outlaws for the killer psychopaths they were.The film failed in the states when it was originally released in 1958 because audiences weren't ready for this kind of a western. But apparently it found acceptance in France :)The hero (played by Paul Newman) is 21 year old Billy the kid, an unbalanced mood swinging psychopath, set on a killing spree, fueled by misplaced grief and desire for revenge.His self-destructive nature brings death and pain to most of the people that embrace him, and he is finally gunned down by his friend, who turns foe in the end.Very unhollywood. Very cool.

What more can be said about Paul Newman? Grit,grace,and style.....His contribution to American cinema can't go unnoticed. The collection here includes films that have been reletively forgotten. Yet,his 'persona' bravura' carry his portrayls to a different level.

I never really fancied the film, even though I usually enjoy his films. I bought this on a whim, probably because it was reasonably priced and I remember reading a critic at the time of release enthusing about the film. As stories about "Billy the Kid" go it's well acted and quite good, I'm glad I bought it. Trivia, Paul Newman was 33 when he made this film, Billy the Kid was 21 when he died. It's widely believed he was right handed, the misconception being due to a mirror image photograph.

Classic Paul Newman at his best

Some of the Newman films I had never seen. All were worth seeing as an overview of the variety of his work. The Young Philadelphians is of course the best of those in this collection.

This was bought for my mother-in-law who is a Paul Newman fan and she liked that there was a collective set.