The Paul Newman Collection (Harper / The Drowning Pool / The Left-Handed Gun / The Mackintosh Man / Pocket Money / Somebody Up There Likes Me / The Young Philadelphians)

For those of us who loved Paul Newman, admired him as an accomplished actor/director and respected him as a beautiful man inside and outside,
this is a must.

This was purchased as a Christmas present. Unfortuneatly six of the seven DVD's did not have the sound track

Paul Newman may be the quintessential film star of the past half century; his career mirrors both the highs and lows of the industry, from the end of the 'studio' system to the 'artist'-driven era that continues, to some extent, to this day, and "The Paul Newman Collection", while lacking legendary titles like "Cool Hand Luke" or "Hud", does include some VERY credible performances!

"Somebody Up There Likes Me" (1956), the earliest of the collection, is also one of the best. After the fiasco of Newman's film debut, "The Silver Chalice", he left Hollywood for Broadway, but when James Dean died prior to production of this film, Newman was tapped to play Rocky Graziano, and with first-class talent on both sides of the camera (Robert Wise directed), a warm, funny, and ultimately inspiring boxing classic was created. Note Pier Angeli's excellent portrayal as Rocky's wife (certainly an inspiration for 'Adrian' in Stallone's "Rocky"), watch for Steve McQueen's unbilled appearance as a young hood, and try to ignore the sappy theme song, and you'll love this film! (5 stars out of 5)

"The Left-Handed Gun" (1958), Arthur Penn's film directorial debut, is a retelling of the 'Billy the Kid' legend, with the 33-year old Newman a bit 'long in the tooth' as the teen-aged gunfighter. The approach is original, suggesting Billy was more a confused, isolated kid searching for meaning and older authority figures he could believe in, and ultimately becoming a victim of circumstance and his own reputation. Low-budget, but effective, Penn lingers on brooding shots of Newman, and you may see why so many early critics compared him, physically, to Marlon Brando. (3 1/2 stars)

"The Young Philadelphians" (1959), Newman's last film under his initial Warner Brothers contract, offers one of his best early performances. A slickly entertaining drama of a rising young lawyer with a society 'name' and a family secret, director Vincent Sherman plays up the 'white collar/blue collar' conflict in his life, while introducing a top-notch supporting cast, including Brian Keith, Barbara Rush, Alexis Smith, and Oscar-nominated Robert Vaughn. Long, but NEVER dull! (4 1/2 stars)

"Harper" (1966), offers Newman at the top of his form, in this entertaining update of the 'Film Noir' detective film. Down on his luck, but still a man of ethics, Newman tackles a simple case that turns complex, with an A-list group of suspects, including Lauren Bacall, Shelley Winters, Julie Harris, Robert Wagner, and Arthur Hill. Watch for a wonderful turn by Janet Leigh as his soon-to-be-ex-wife, and savor director Jack Smight's colorful homage to classics like "The Big Sleep". (5 stars)

"Pocket Money" (1972), is more a testament to the confusion both Newman and the studios felt over the era's changing public tastes, than a great piece of filmmaking. An off-beat comedy about dim-bulb cowboy Newman and seedy promoter Lee Marvin buying cattle in Mexico, the pace is so laid-back that the story seems to drift, unsure of which direction to take. There are some funny moments, but you may end up scratching your head by the end. (2 stars)

"The MacKintosh Man" (1973), directed by John Huston, is certainly a lesser effort by both director and star, but still quite watchable. A gritty spy drama of agent Newman investigating a 'leak' in British Intelligence, Huston plays up locales in Monte Carlo and his adopted home of Ireland, offers warmly engaging James Mason and Ian Bannen as suspects, and gives audiences a chance to hear Newman attempt an Australian accent! Forget Dominique Sanda's inept performance as spy chief Harry Andrews' daughter, and you might enjoy it! (3 stars)

"The Drowning Pool" (1975), Newman's reprise of his "Harper" character, is a far less successful film than the original; New Orleans doesn't 'suit' Newman's detective persona as well as L.A., and the characters, while off-beat, lack charm. There are 'pluses', however; Joanne Woodward is always watchable, especially playing with her real-life husband, and Melanie Griffith, in the 'nymphet' stage of her career, has some sexy moments. The finale is tense and claustrophobic, and makes up for some of the earlier lack of suspense, but, all in all, the film is routine, at best. (2 1/2 stars)

A mixed bag, to be sure, but Paul Newman is always worth watching!

I bought this collection being a young fan of Paul Newman, having only seen most of the bigger classics (Cool Hand Luke, The Sting, Hustler, Butch Cassidy, etc.) and bought this boxed set mainly because I heard "Harper" was a good movie. After watching them all finally, I can say that it is well worth the cost of the set to buy.

The best film in the set for me ended up being "Somebody up there likes me," as I had no idea how much other boxing movies have taken from this one since it came out. Paul Newman is awesome in the lead role, and everything about the movie (story, acting, fight scenes) it top notch. This, along with the underrated Diggstown are probably my two favorite boxing movies I've seen now (I prefer them to Raging Bull, where the fight scenes are too artsy).

"Harper" was indeed enjoyable, but I found myself enjoying "The Drowning Pool" slightly more, as it had the great climax at the end where the movie got its name from, and overall was just a fun movie.

"The Young Philadelphians," and "Pocket Money" were both slightly above average as well, with the first being a romance driven story that my girlfriend also enjoyed, while the latter was very funny in parts and driven by the quirkiness of Newman's character.

The only two movies in the set I wasn't blown away by were "The Mackintosh Man," and "The Left-Handed Gun." Even still, Mackintosh was an average spy movie that picked up towards the middle with his escape scenes, and was certainly worth watching once. Having seen too many Billy the Kid movies as it is, "Left-Handed" was the only movie in this set I probably won't watch again.

Hopefully another Newman box set is released in the future, as he certainly has a deep enough catalog of movies to uncover hidden gems like the ones here.

This boxset of early Paul Newman films is a good example of how
to properly assemble a major film star's career works on dvds.
It is a valuable boxset at a very reasonable price for the consumers.
It does Mr. Newman justice and he ought to be proud.