PAUL NEWMAN TRIBUTE
Film / Discussion / Reception
In Person: Paul Newman’s daughter MELISSA NEWMAN
In coversation with Rafer Guzman, Newsday & NPR
THE HUSTLER
Starring Paul Newman, Piper Laurie, George C. Scott,
& Jackie Gleason
Monday, November 28th at 7:00 PM
Book & Film: Members $38 | Public $43
Film-Only: Members $20 | Public $25
Includes Reception
Join Paul Newman’s daughter Melissa Newman for
an event celebrating the publication of the new book The
Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man: A Memoir.
In The Hustler, Paul Newman is
cocky poolroom hustler “Fast” Eddie Felson, a swaggering pool shark punk who
works his trade in dingy bars and seedy poolrooms. Crashing after a match with
king of the poolroom Minnesota Fats (a cool, graceful Jackie Gleason at
his most effortlessly confident), he pulls himself back with the help of an
alcoholic debutante on the skids (a delicate Piper Laurie) and a
shifty, calculating promoter (an icy George C. Scott in a
career making performance). Robert Rossen’s atmospheric adaptation
of the Walter Tevis (The Queen’s Gambit, The
Man Who Fell to Earth) novel rarely leaves the shadowy world of smoky
poolroom caves—it seems to be lit by the spill from of overhead pool table
lights and bar lamps—and it won well deserved Oscars for the deceptively
austere art direction and smoky B&W cinematography. It was nominated for an
additional seven awards, including best picture, director, screenplay, and
acting nods for Newman, Laurie, Scott, and Gleason. the film also has a
small cameo role for the ‘Raging Bull’ himself, Jake LaMotta.
Despite being 60 years old it still stands the testament of time as one of the
landmark films of its genre. Newman returned as an older, wiser, cagier
Felson 25 years later in Martin Scorsese’s The Color of
Money. (USA, 1961, 134 min., B&W, DCP | Dir. Robert Rossen)
The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man: A Memoir is
the raw, candid, unvarnished memoir of an American icon. The greatest movie
star of the past 75 years covers everything: his traumatic childhood, his
career, his drinking, his thoughts on Marlon Brando, James
Dean, Elizabeth Taylor, John Huston, his greatest
roles, acting, his intimate life with Joanne Woodward, his
innermost fears and passions and joys. With thoughts/comments throughout
from Joanne Woodward, George Roy Hill, Tom
Cruise, Elia Kazan, Martin Ritt, John
Huston and many others.
In 1986, Paul Newman and his closest friend,
screenwriter Stewart Stern, began an extraordinary project. Stuart
was to compile an oral history, to have Newman’s family and friends and those
who worked closely with him, talk about the actor’s life. And then Newman would
work with Stewart and give his side of the story. The only stipulation was that
anyone who spoke on the record had to be completely honest. That same
stipulation applied to Newman himself. The project lasted five years.
The result is an extraordinary memoir, culled from thousands
of pages of transcripts. The book is insightful, revealing, surprising.
Newman’s voice is powerful, sometimes funny, sometimes painful, always meeting
that high standard of searing honesty. The additional voices—from childhood
friends and Navy buddies, from family members and film and theater
collaborators—that run throughout add richness and color and context to the
story Newman is telling.
Newman’s often traumatic childhood is brilliantly detailed.
He talks about his teenage insecurities, his early failures with women, his
rise to stardom, his early rivals (Brando and Dean),
his first marriage, his drinking, his philanthropy, the death of his son Scott,
his strong desire for his daughters to know and understand the truth about
their father. Perhaps the most moving material in the book centers around his
relationship with Joanne Woodward—their love for each other, his
dependence on her, the way she shaped him intellectually, emotionally and
sexually.
The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man is
revelatory and introspective, personal and analytical, loving and tender in
some places, always complex and profound.
