Paul Newman towered above his peers, not just for his prodigious talent but because he carried himself like a movie star on – and off – screen.
The actor’s charitable work endures as much as his screen legacy.
A new, lavish box set debuts today that honors the latter, and it’s as comprehensive as a star of Newman’s caliber deserves.
“The Paul Newman Tribute Collection” features 13 of the actor’s films over 17 discs, including “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” “The Hustler” and “The Verdict.”
The set, alas, isn’t perfect.
Who wouldn’t rather see “The Color of Money,” “Hud” or “Nobody’s Fool” included here rather than “Towering Inferno” or “Rally ‘Round the Flag Boys?”
Still, the Newman essentials far outweigh the the dubious choices.
The handsomely crafted collection also includes a 136-page book filled with interviews from Newman, film commentaries as well as rare photographs of the actor, some previously unpublished.
Yes, the screen icon had a welcome sense of humility about him, but he also shared a competitive fire at times. Early in his career, his good looks caused him to be seen as a pretender to the acting throne, not the real deal.
“Someday, dammit, they’re gonna say Marlon Brando looks like me,” he once said.
We soon learned nobody looked, or acted, quite like Newman.
The collection’s other films include:
- “The Long, Hot Summer”
- “Exodus”
- “Hombre”
- “From the Terrace”
- “Rally ’round the Flag, Boys!”
- “What a Way to Go!”
- “Hemingway’s Adventures of a Young Man”
- “The Towering Inferno”
- “Quintet”
- “Buffalo Bill and the Indians”
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I'm an award-winning journalist and film critic with more than a decade of experience in newspapers, magazines and the Web. I'm a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association, the Washington, DC Area Film Critics Association and the Denver Film Critics Society.
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“Rally ’round the Flag, Boys”???
I would have thought his estate might have bought that one and buried it someplace in the desert.
All these box sets have their clunkers … must be a way to move certain product that otherwise would have a hard time moving.