In Contention

Tag: Hud

  • Patricia Neal (1926 – 2010)

    The occasional indignity of being an Academy Award champ is that it gives obituaries an immediate short-cut through one’s career: a lifetime of distinguished work can be handily reduced to “culminated in an Oscar win for _________.”

    Such is the case in many pieces on the passing of Patricia Neal yesterday, albeit justifiably supplemented with observations on her troubled personal life and remarkable recovery from multiple illnesses. Indeed, as a kid obsessed with all things Roald Dahl, I was, for many years, more familiar with the woman than the actress.

    When discussing her film career, however, it’s hard not to zero straight in on her tremendous, Oscar-nabbing work in “Hud”: handily the most electric moment of an otherwise respectable career, yes, but also among the most essential, era-defining performances ever honored in the Best Actress category. (Yes, up there with greatest-win peers like Vivien Leigh and Hilary Swank, and perhaps something of an evolutionary link between them.)

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  • THE LISTS: Top 10 Paul Newman performances

    Paul Newman in The StingExpected or not, this week’s news that screen legend Paul Newman has broken through to the other side is deeply depressing.  But as I noted over the weekend, it’s best to take moments such as this as an opportunity to celebrate the man and his work.  So it is that this week’s list reflects the very best Newman had to give us…according to me, of course.

    Newman had an undeniable screen presence.  It wasn’t the piercing blue eyes, nor the tall, dark and handsome figure he cut into the celluloid.  It was the attitude.  His character dripped with a sort of soulful aroma that couldn’t quite be considered performance art so much as meditative experiences.  Right out of the gate with “The Silver Chalice” and all the way through to vocal work in “Cars,” Newman’s characters were more genuine than anything surrounding them.  It makes a list of ten nearly impossible to whittle down.

    Any list is going to vary, though a few staples are bound to pop up consistently enough (I’d wager my top four fit that bill).  But it’s ultimately a joy just to go back and revisit these portrayals, regardless of their ranked order.

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  • “Only murderers” and “I’m glad it’s you”

    These are the clips that likely assured the late Paul Newman a place alongside the supporting crop of contenders in 2002.  Stalwart, sincere, living inside the character with an eerie warmth.  Despite my spoken allegiance to “Hud,” I chose to remember Newman this morning by watching “Road to Perdition” for the first time in a number of years.  Criminally underrated, it is the shining beacon in Sam Mendes’s arsenal that gives me hope for “Revolutionary Road.”  Moreover, it contains a Newman performance for the ages, a subtle but meaningful display from an undeniable legend: