by Nick Taylor

I'm not sure when I first became aware of Paul Newman. Much like how Nathaniel described in his write-up of The Hustler, he's been a ubiquitous figure without a clear entry point into my consciousness. My big introductions to him as an actor came with the one-two punch of Hud - which Juan Carlos paid great tribute to - and Cool Hand Luke (on referral from Nick Davis's excellent write-up of both films). I also went springboarding from my love of Law & Order reruns straight to The Verdict and was completely awed by the whole film, but that's for later. Newman's career is so impressive that even with so much time to catch up with his filmography, try his sauces, learn more about his activism, and read his incredible biography from last year, I still feel like I've barely scratched the surface of what he contributed to the world.

But today, we're here for one man. A cool man with a cool hand. A man working hard to retain his individuality against folks determined to flatten him into whatever paragon best serves them. Set in the post-war Florida of the early 1950s, our next dive into Paul Newman's decorated career is his rebellious, discontent war veteran in Stuart Rosenberg's Cool Hand Luke...