Beauty vs Beast: Legend In Blue Jeans
Monday, January 26, 2015 at 11:34AM Jason from MNPP here, eyeing the white-out weather outside the window of my office as I write this to you from New York City - everybody stay safe on the East Coast over the next couple of days! It's apparantly gonna be a biggun, this storm. I know, here, I'll give you something to keep you warm - Paul Newman!
It's the 90th anniversary of Paul Newman's birth today. A few years back I'd have wagered he'd still be around to celebrate this one with us - he retained his youthful glimmer right up til the end - but it wasn't to be. His death was one that hit me hard -- he was "The Legend" of my youth, still going strong, still beautiful and affecting. But hey his lifetime love the great Joanne Woodward is still around, so let's all send our happy movie memory vibes her way. And so today's "Beauty vs Beast" is for Paul, and my favorite performance of his...
Paul Newman is totally a beast in this movie - drunken, boorish, and an attempted rapist to boot - but all that said it's still a major struggle slapping him with anything but "Beauty. Beauty. BEAUTY." Ya know? Ya know. (See the episode of TFE's "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" series devoted to this movie right here.)
PREVIOUSLY Last week we got lost in the picket-fence nightmare of David Lynch's Blue Velvet, pitting Dennis Hopper's PBR lover against Isabella Rossellini's dewy-lipped songstress - well turns out y'all love the sultry way Dorothy suffers, as she sauntered away with 70% of the vote. Said Mike in Canada:
"Team Dorothy all the way. I'm always looking for her in my closet."
Reader Comments (17)
HUD. I'm a sucker for a bad boy blond with a twinkle in his eyes.
This one isn't fair. Push.
Neal is so damn sexy in this. That earthy sexiness that seems to have vanished from American cinema. Someone write a part as sexy as this for Kate Winslet, the best at bossom emoting.
Who am I to disagree with Joanne Woodward?
dang this is hard. Both are giving their best performances. I may have to abstain because I can't choose.
Tom - never abstain! Vote Hud from your laptop and Alma from your mobile
Newman, a great beauty no one took seriously until he surprised them all by becoming a great actor, always gets my vote.
Paul Newman was such a BABE! ugh, and a tremendous talent.
One must never ask me to oppose Paul Newman. Never!!!!!
As gorgeous as Newman is Hud is such a bastard I just couldn't go with him. Didn't feel too bad about that since Alma is so kickass and Patricia Neal so great playing her.
Sending many happy movie memory vibes Joanne Woodward's way but I just read an article yesterday, not in the National Enquirer, that she's been ravaged by Alzheimer's disease and apparently may not be with us for long. Very sad.
I've voted for Team Alma. Paul Newman may be very handsome but Hud doesn't deserve anyone's votes and he's so selfish he won't thank you for yours. Alma, on the other hand, makes washing dishes seem like the sexiest thing on screen. And I love that Patricia Neal won Best Actress, rather than Best Supporting Actress, for this - it's a perfect example, I think, of a role with a small amount of screen time but which is a lead because of its status within the film.
Do not make me choose! You cannot make me choose! But if I have to, Alma. I adore this film, and the as amazing as the whole cast is, Neal has always been the revelation for me. Somehow this woman knew this character. There's not a false note to the performance. Alma is what she is. Wary, hopeful, and just sexy as hell. Love, love, love this performance and movie from top to bottom!
what is PBR?
Hud is one of the sexiest films that I've ever seen. Neal and Newman are fire.
Team Alma, as that performance was kind of revelatory to me.
Mark - PBR = Pabst Blue Ribbon, Frank Booth's beer of choice in Blue Velvet
Hud - I like it rough!
Team Alma