The Best 35 films of Paul Newman.
by jacobyjhn-18-315763 | created - 17 Aug 2011 | updated - 24 Jan 2015 | PublicCharismatic, blue eyed, Paul Newman, was horribly miscast in his film debut in 1955, in the silly biblical epic, The Silver Chalice. They must have learned quickly because the next nearly 50 years featured sheer brilliance, and one memorable film characterization after another for the wonderful Paul Newman. From Somebody Up There Likes Me to Road to Perdition, Newman, was likeable, magnetic and consistently excellent. Here are 35 of his very best.
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1. The Hustler (1961)
Not Rated | 134 min | Drama, Sport
An up-and-coming pool player plays a long-time champion in a single high-stakes match.
Director: Robert Rossen | Stars: Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason, Piper Laurie, George C. Scott
Votes: 86,739 | Gross: $8.28M
2. The Sting (1973)
PG | 129 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Two grifters team up to pull off the ultimate con.
Director: George Roy Hill | Stars: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw, Charles Durning
Votes: 279,607 | Gross: $159.60M
3. The Verdict (1982)
R | 129 min | Drama
An outcast, alcoholic Boston lawyer sees the chance to salvage his career and self-respect by taking a medical malpractice case to trial rather than settling.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Paul Newman, Charlotte Rampling, Jack Warden, James Mason
Votes: 45,927 | Gross: $54.00M
4. Cool Hand Luke (1967)
GP | 127 min | Crime, Drama
A laid-back Southern man is sentenced to two years in a rural prison, but refuses to conform.
Director: Stuart Rosenberg | Stars: Paul Newman, George Kennedy, Strother Martin, J.D. Cannon
Votes: 188,371 | Gross: $16.22M
5. The Color of Money (1986)
R | 119 min | Drama, Sport
Fast Eddie Felson teaches a cocky but immensely talented protégé the ropes of pool hustling, which in turn inspires him to make an unlikely comeback.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Paul Newman, Tom Cruise, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Helen Shaver
Votes: 93,196 | Gross: $52.29M
6. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
PG | 110 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
In 1890s Wyoming, Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid lead a band of outlaws. When a train robbery goes wrong, they find themselves on the run with a posse hard on their heels. After considering their options, they escape to South America.
Director: George Roy Hill | Stars: Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Katharine Ross, Strother Martin
Votes: 226,575 | Gross: $102.31M
7. Hud (1963)
Passed | 112 min | Drama, Western
Honest, hard-working Texas rancher Homer Bannon has a conflict with his unscrupulous, selfish, arrogant, egotistical son Hud, who sank into alcoholism after accidentally killing his brother in a car crash.
Director: Martin Ritt | Stars: Paul Newman, Melvyn Douglas, Patricia Neal, Brandon De Wilde
Votes: 23,917 | Gross: $10.00M
8. Absence of Malice (1981)
PG | 116 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
When a prosecutor leaks to a Miami reporter that a liquor wholesaler is suspected in the murder of a union head, the man's life begins to unravel.
Director: Sydney Pollack | Stars: Paul Newman, Sally Field, Bob Balaban, Melinda Dillon
Votes: 14,745 | Gross: $40.72M
9. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)
Not Rated | 108 min | Drama
Brick is an alcoholic ex-football player who drinks his days away and resists the affections of his wife. A reunion with his terminal father jogs a host of memories and revelations for both father and son.
Director: Richard Brooks | Stars: Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Burl Ives, Jack Carson
Votes: 53,385 | Gross: $17.57M
10. Nobody's Fool (1994)
R | 110 min | Comedy, Drama
A stubborn man past his prime reflects on his life of strict independence and seeks more from himself.
Director: Robert Benton | Stars: Paul Newman, Bruce Willis, Jessica Tandy, Melanie Griffith
Votes: 22,511 | Gross: $39.49M
11. Road to Perdition (2002)
R | 117 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A mob enforcer's son in 1930s Illinois witnesses a murder, forcing him and his father to take to the road, and his father down a path of redemption and revenge.
Director: Sam Mendes | Stars: Tom Hanks, Tyler Hoechlin, Paul Newman
Votes: 284,328 | Gross: $104.45M
12. Fat Man and Little Boy (1989)
PG-13 | 127 min | Biography, Drama, History
This film reenacts the Manhattan Project, the secret WWII project, and the first atomic bombs designed, built, and tested in Los Alamos.
Director: Roland Joffé | Stars: Paul Newman, Dwight Schultz, Bonnie Bedelia, John Cusack
Votes: 9,116 | Gross: $3.56M
13. The Long, Hot Summer (1958)
Not Rated | 115 min | Drama
Accused barn burner and conman Ben Quick arrives in a small Mississippi town and quickly ingratiates himself with its richest family, the Varners.
Director: Martin Ritt | Stars: Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Anthony Franciosa, Orson Welles
Votes: 12,400
14. The Young Philadelphians (1959)
Approved | 136 min | Drama
A promising lawyer tries to handle his social and professional problems while climbing the ranks in Philadelphia.
Director: Vincent Sherman | Stars: Paul Newman, Barbara Rush, Alexis Smith, Brian Keith
Votes: 4,269
15. Harper (1966)
Not Rated | 121 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Cool private investigator Lew Harper is hired by a wealthy California matron to locate her kidnapped husband.
Director: Jack Smight | Stars: Paul Newman, Lauren Bacall, Julie Harris, Arthur Hill
Votes: 10,856
16. Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956)
Passed | 113 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
Boxer Rocky Graziano's biopic, based on his autobiography, from childhood to his World Middleweight Championship title win at age 28 in 1947.
Director: Robert Wise | Stars: Paul Newman, Pier Angeli, Everett Sloane, Eileen Heckart
Votes: 9,014
17. From the Terrace (1960)
Passed | 149 min | Drama, Romance
An ambitious young executive chooses a loveless marriage and an unfulfilling personal life in exchange for a successful Wall Street career.
Director: Mark Robson | Stars: Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Myrna Loy, Ina Balin
Votes: 3,185 | Gross: $11.34M
18. Mr. & Mrs. Bridge (1990)
PG-13 | 126 min | Drama
Set during World War II, an upper-class family begins to fall apart due to the conservative nature of the patriarch and the progressive values of his children.
Director: James Ivory | Stars: Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Saundra McClain, Margaret Welsh
Votes: 3,481 | Gross: $7.70M
19. Sweet Bird of Youth (1962)
Approved | 120 min | Drama, Romance
A drifter and a faded film star, both traumatized by Hollywood, arrive to the guy's hometown, where the old bitter memories revive again.
Director: Richard Brooks | Stars: Paul Newman, Geraldine Page, Shirley Knight, Ed Begley
Votes: 8,464
20. The Towering Inferno (1974)
PG | 165 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
At the opening party of a colossal, but poorly constructed, office building, a massive fire breaks out that threatens to destroy the tower and everyone in it.
Director: John Guillermin | Stars: Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, William Holden, Faye Dunaway
Votes: 48,199 | Gross: $116.00M
21. The Prize (1963)
Approved | 134 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
As the Nobel Prize winners come to Stockholm to receive their awards, their lives are overturned and perturbed in various ways.
Director: Mark Robson | Stars: Paul Newman, Edward G. Robinson, Elke Sommer, Diane Baker
Votes: 5,270 | Gross: $7.70M
22. Slap Shot (1977)
R | 123 min | Comedy, Drama, Sport
A failing ice hockey team finds success with outrageously violent hockey goonery.
Director: George Roy Hill | Stars: Paul Newman, Michael Ontkean, Strother Martin, Jennifer Warren
Votes: 41,200 | Gross: $28.00M
23. The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972)
PG | 120 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
In Vinegaroon, Texas, former outlaw Roy Bean appoints himself the judge for the region and dispenses his brand of justice as he sees fit.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Paul Newman, Ava Gardner, Roy Jenson, Gary Combs
Votes: 9,327 | Gross: $16.53M
24. Torn Curtain (1966)
PG | 128 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
An American scientist publicly defects to East Germany as part of a cloak and dagger mission to find the solution for a formula resin before planning an escape back to the West.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock | Stars: Paul Newman, Julie Andrews, Lila Kedrova, Hansjörg Felmy
Votes: 29,223
25. Exodus (1960)
Approved | 208 min | Action, Drama, War
The State of Israel is created in 1948, resulting in war with its Arab neighbors.
Director: Otto Preminger | Stars: Paul Newman, Eva Marie Saint, Ralph Richardson, Peter Lawford
Votes: 11,368 | Gross: $18.97M
26. Fort Apache the Bronx (1981)
R | 125 min | Crime, Drama
In New York City, South Bronx's main police precinct is nicknamed Fort Apache by its employees who feel like troopers surrounded by hostiles in a wild west isolated outpost.
Director: Daniel Petrie | Stars: Paul Newman, Edward Asner, Ken Wahl, Danny Aiello
Votes: 6,979 | Gross: $29.20M
27. The Left Handed Gun (1958)
Approved | 102 min | Drama, Western
After his employer is murdered by rival cattlemen, a troubled and uneducated young cowboy vows revenge on the murderers.
Director: Arthur Penn | Stars: Paul Newman, Lita Milan, John Dehner, Hurd Hatfield
Votes: 4,639
28. The Outrage (1964)
Approved | 96 min | Crime, Drama, Western
Travelers in the 1870s Southwest discuss a recent murder trial in which all the principals told differing stories about the events.
Director: Martin Ritt | Stars: Paul Newman, Laurence Harvey, Claire Bloom, Edward G. Robinson
Votes: 2,521 | Gross: $3.92M
29. Paris Blues (1961)
Approved | 98 min | Drama, Music, Romance
During the 1960s, two American expatriate jazz musicians living in Paris meet and fall in love with two American tourist girls.
Director: Martin Ritt | Stars: Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Sidney Poitier, Louis Armstrong
Votes: 3,956 | Gross: $1.30M
30. Hombre (1967)
Approved | 111 min | Drama, Western
John Russell, disdained by his "respectable" fellow stagecoach passengers because he was raised by Native Americans, becomes their only hope for survival when they are set upon by outlaws.
Director: Martin Ritt | Stars: Paul Newman, Fredric March, Richard Boone, Diane Cilento
Votes: 13,813
31. Winning (1969)
M | 123 min | Action, Drama, Sport
Frank Capua is a rising star on the race circuit who dreams of winning the big one--the Indianapolis 500. But to get there he runs the risk of losing his wife Elora to his rival, Luther ... See full summary »
Director: James Goldstone | Stars: Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Robert Wagner, Richard Thomas
Votes: 2,213 | Gross: $14.64M
32. The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)
PG | 111 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
A naive business graduate is installed as president of a manufacturing company as part of a stock scam.
Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen | Stars: Tim Robbins, Paul Newman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Charles Durning
Votes: 85,010 | Gross: $2.87M
33. Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys! (1958)
Approved | 106 min | Comedy
All about the citizens of Putnam's Landing and their reactions to an Army missile base in their backyard.
Director: Leo McCarey | Stars: Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Joan Collins, Jack Carson
Votes: 1,376
34. Sometimes a Great Notion (1971)
PG | 114 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A family of fiercely independent Oregon loggers struggle to keep the family business alive amidst changing times.
Director: Paul Newman | Stars: Paul Newman, Henry Fonda, Lee Remick, Michael Sarrazin
Votes: 4,487 | Gross: $9.20M
35. The Drowning Pool (1975)
PG | 108 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Harper's a big-city PI, who travels to Louisiana to help an old girlfriend who's worried her husband will find out she's been cheating on him.
Director: Stuart Rosenberg | Stars: Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Anthony Franciosa, Murray Hamilton
Votes: 6,178
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