In the week since Paul Newman died I've been looking for the Catholic "hook" to write something here about the great movie star. Providentially, and not surprisingly, thanks to its punchier new style, the Vatican's official newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, gave me an opening. The Sept. 29 edition carried an appreciation of the actor, writing:
"In his films he was the tough guy and the braggart, the rebel and the conquistador. In reality Newman was a generous heart, an actor of a dignity and style rare in Hollywood quarters."
Religion News Service's man in Rome, Francis X. Rocca, gave his entry on the Vatican appreciation one of the better headlines ever: "Peter praises Paul." The Catholic News Service write-up is more straightforward but has a nice roundup of appreciations from Catholic reviewers.
Both RNS and CNS note that L'Osservatore Romano praises Newman's first big screen role, in "The Silver Chalice," in which he plays an artisan who crafts a silver chalice to hold the Holy Grail. New man himself hated the role, and when it ran on television in 1966, he took out an ad in a Hollywood trade paper apologizing for it and asking people not to watch.
I've never seen that movie--and doubt I will at this point--but I couldn't begin to enumerate the many other fantastic Newman films, from the all-time best buddy movie, "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," to "Nobody's Fool" and so on. (See a filmography here.)
But I'll cite the one that the Vatican paper did not, namely, "Cool Hand Luke." Forget the bailout (the financial package, not Sarah Palin's performance). Watch that again this weekend. Not only does it have as many great lines and great performances as, say "Casablanca," but it is also a Christian allegory of sorts--as the CNS story says, "a Christ figure coming to the nasty world of the prison and sacrificing himself for others--not in a very conscious, churchy way but in a subtle, very intelligent way."
"It was a very, very good film. It was shown a lot in the 1960s and '70s in a lot of church halls as well as at film festivals," the retired reviewer of St. Anthony Messenger, Jim Arnold, said.
I'd have to agree. Besides, there is that very moving moment--which is usually played for laughs today--when Newman plucks out the tune to "Plastic Jesus" and sings to himself after he learns his mother has died. There are many versions, many lyrics, but here's the best I could find. Better yet, watch it on YouTube:
I don't care if it rains or freezes long as I've got my Plastic Jesus Glued to the dashboard of my car, You can buy Him phosphorescent Glows in the dark, He's Pink and Pleasant, Take Him with you when you're travelling far.I don't care if it's dark or scary,
Long as I have magnetic Mary,
Ridin' on the dashboard of my car,
I feel I'm protected amply,
I've got the whole damn Holy Family,
Riding on the dashboard of my car.You can buy a Sweet Madonna
.
Dressed in rhinestones sitting on a
Pedestal of abalone shell,
Goin' ninety, I'm not wary
'Cause I've got my Virgin Mary,
Guaranteeing I won't go to Hell
Newman was also of course a remarkable humanitarian, a loving husband and father, and about as human a celebrity as one could find. I'd advise starting with this NYT appreciation, "An Actor Whose Baby Blues Came in Shades of Gray."
Requiescat in pace.
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I like The Silver Chalice, as Jack Palance's brilliant Simon Magus is what got me interested in Gnosticism back in the 1960s, but I can see why Paul Newman hated the film. It was his first starring role and he was pretty bad. In fact were it not for the way the women in the audience felt strange feelings when he came on screen, his career probably would have ended with it. One of the really fascinating features of the movie is the way it is staged, almost like it was lifted off the stage of the time, with actually minimal sets and really small crowds. It is a very good example of the theater of the time.
Forty years later, Cool Hand Luke is just boring and it is hard for me to see what all the fuss about it was.
Plastic Jesus was good, but "The Vatican Rag" by Tom Lehrer … now THAT is truly hymnal material!
http://www.stlyrics.com/songs/t/tomlehrer3903/thevaticanrag185506.html
I'm with Charlie. I saw Cool Hand Luke again recently because we wanted to introduce our teens to classic films. Didn't work -- too mannered. I'll be renting The Sting. And continuing to serve Newman's Own marinara spaghetti sauce, a household fave.
it's hard not to admire Paul Newman for putting his money to work in such productive ways... his Newman's Own line is high quality stuff and the proceeds go to good causes too, it's a win-win
Cool hand luke was boring? No reading your comment was boring, cool hand luke was and still is a classic. Nuff said R.I.P Paul Newman.
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