The First Annual Paul Newman Film Festival

February 8, 2009
Napa, California

Six of us, women friends between the ages of 45-65, gathered in a beautiful home in the rolling hills east of Napa, California. At about 2pm on a Saturday afternoon, we began to view our selection of eleven Paul Newman’s films. We weren’t sure how many movies we’d have time to see, but we were set up for an entertaining weekend. Though it was cold and raining outside, inside we had a trove of Newman organic snacks, a crackling fireplace, and big-screen DVD in a cozy living room.

Most of us had seen these films years ago when they were first made, at least the ones from the 60’s, or we had caught them on TV in later years. But we were all of one accord that since Paul Newman was an incredibly talented actor, handsome man and generous philanthropist, and since he had recently passed away, we needed to celebrate him. We also wanted to celebrate each other as we celebrated him, to commemorate together the unique ways that he’d influenced us and our generation.

The first movie we saw was The Long, Hot Summer. Made in 1958, it was Paul Newman’s sixth movie, and the one that really launched him into stardom. Written by William Faulkner, the tale is soaked in the gothic drama of the dysfunctional Southern family. As a grasping drifter, Paul arrives in town and seeks to supplant the incompetent son in the patriarchal father’s heart. Inheritance issues loom large. The daughter, Joanne Woodward, is being “married off” to Paul to cement the deal, at which she chafes… but these two strong characters manage to fall in love, anyway, all on their own. Orson Wells is the classic domineering father, and the scene in which he forgives the good-for-nothing son is surprising and touching. There is a lot of contrast between the rich and the poor, between those who have to work hard to stay alive and those who can just take it easy, sucking up the wealth they’ve had no part in creating. But it seems to turn out fine for everyone in the end. I think this was my favorite of all the movies we viewed, with evocative scenery and cinematography.

The second movie, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, was also made in 1958, and was written by Tennessee Williams. It is again set in the South, with lots of wealth and family angst. Big Daddy is dying and the family members come home to claim their due - all except Paul Newman, that is, who elects to stay drunk and reject everything and everyone, including his saccharine sweet wife, Elizabeth Taylor. She plays the graceful, ultra-cool daughter-in-law, who tries to manipulate Big Daddy to get the gold, meanwhile tenuously clinging to her empty marriage with Neman, the broken ex-football hero. The “rival” brother and his family are depicted as conniving and unappealing. The story line is slightly choppy and unbelievable but, basically, Newman finally shapes up after confronting the demons of his past (some kind of damaging, dependent relationship he’d had with a buddy who committed suicide) and takes his rightful place when Big Daddy kicks the bucket.



The Hustler, made in 1961, centers around gambling, intense pool competitions and the strange city slickers that inhabit the pool hall life-style. The characters are all somehow caught up in obsessive and crude actions, in shaky and dysfunctional relationships. Paul’s strange, over-sensitive girlfriend drinks herself into oblivion, then offs herself. In the end, although Paul achieves his dream of beating the legendary Fats (Jackie Gleason) at pool, he seems to remain sad and unfulfilled.

Sweet Bird of Youth, made in 1962, is chock-full of drinking, smoking, and general mayhem. There is a great deal of tension between reality and the characters’ dreams and life goals. I missed some of this movie, due to falling asleep around midnight. My friends had to fill me in on the basic plot, which pits Paul and the woman he loves against her powerful family who despise him. Similar thematically to many of the films seen so far, fear and hatred result in grief, violence and the desperate desire to escape family dysfunction for some alternate, healthier reality.

Hud was a favorite of the group. Made in 1963, it was based on a book by Larry McMurtry, one of the great authors of the American West. With a complex plot and expert cinematography, the traditional way of life of the Texas ranches and the small American heartland towns is celebrated and mourned. This interesting theme of modern life vs. what has been lost is apparent in the contrasting desires of the characters to promote oil drilling vs. preserving the natural resources (in this case, the cattle range). Paul is at his peak of male beauty in this film, but he is also terribly naughty and self-centered, out to get whatever he can in any way possible, even to the tune of “helping” his father die. It is said that Paul and the director saw this character as an anti-hero, and they were dismayed at how disaffected young audiences placed the cold-hearted Hud on a pedestal.


Hombre was made in1967, and was written by Elmore Leonard, a favorite author of mine. Here, Paul Newman plays the unusual role of an “Indian” white man. He has been raised by a Native American tribe and is therefore sympathetic to their cause, hyper-aware of the whites’ cruelty and prejudice to those who are different. He is the disaffected loner, not really at home in either race. This film is a western classic, one that shows Paul acting like a hero and, in the end, dying like a martyr.


The End: At 1pm the next day, we all reluctantly returned to our normal lives. But after viewing six films and eating way too many snacks, we knew a tradition had been birthed – a sort of new and improved “super-bowl weekend” for women. As for myself, I left the film festival happy that I had come a bit closer to understanding the great and elusive persona that was Paul Newman.