Paul Newman

Reflections on the Spirit of Resistance

November 22, 2012

. Paul Newman’s 1967 film Cool Hand Luke, the apex of journeyman Stuart Rosenberg’s directorial career, imbued popular culture with many iconic scenes and memorable lines. (“What we have here – is failure to communicate.” “Sometimes nothin’ can be a real cool hand.”) Among the famous scenes is that of the prison camp boxing match [...]

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CineFile – Nobody’s Fool

August 7, 2011

In my previous post I offered a couple of links to video excerpts from Paul Newman films. Sometimes, though, people don’t click on links. (What’s that all about? Don’t they know how web surfing works? How else are they going to go down the rabbit hole?) So I thought I’d offer one of those excerpts [...]

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The Privilege of Being Here

August 4, 2011

My last post, about my nephew Rob’s birthday, got me to thinking. (There are exits all around.) Over a pre-birthday, birthday dinner this past Saturday, Rob acknowledged to me that he actually doesn’t feel very celebratory on his birthday. Actually, neither do I, though birthdays in our family, as in most others, have for years [...]

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CineFile: The Birth of Cool Hand

November 28, 2010

The emblematic performance of Paul Newman‘s career. The scene that gave the character his name. Too little recognized is Stuart Rosenberg‘s directing accomplishment, that gratifying work of assured artistry that only some journeymen get to achieve. Note here how the characters are arranged around the table, where and how Kennedy stands in relation to Newman, [...]

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