Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke

TCM recently aired another viewing of Cat On A Hot Tin Roof. The classic movie is played several times a year, and it usually has me pressing record on my DVR. I saw the Tennessee Williams classic for the first time only a few years ago and it inspired a tribute to the many actors who have played the role of Brick. (A Ton of Bricks)

I only watched a few minutes of my recent recording, but enough to remind me how talented, and incredibly hot Paul Newman was. I was thinking how sad it was we never got a Newman nude scene when a quick google proved me wrong. Many of you many have known of Newman's brief nude scene from 1967's Cool Hand Luke, but I had not. Not usually a lover of westerns, I was never really drawn to the film, but after reading Newman was briefly nude, I had to find a copy.

First off, if you haven't seen the movie, the scene is quick and set a night, so darkly lit. But... you do get a brief view of Newman's butt, well, one cheek is a little better lit than the other. I was however far from disappointed as given I didn't think there was any Newman nudity, it was a pleasant surprise. The entire movie was a pleasant surprise and I ended up enjoying it very much. Newman was great, and very heartbreaking as Luke, whose spirit is slowly ripped away as the story progressed.

The film is also a testosterone and sweaty and shirtless filmed 2 hours with appearances by a slew of young actors like George Kennedy, Dennis Hopper and Harry Dean Stanton. I had never thought of these actors as 'hunks', but they all looked good shirtless. Pa Walton, actor Ralph Waite also had a brief butt scene which I capped below. I believe there were only two named female characters, and both on screen only briefly. Rumor has it, director Stuart Rosenberg wanted to encourage the male bonding, and prison type feel by banning wives and girlfriends from the set.

Ralph Waite

Pa is the third member of the Walton family who drou from the camera. Check out my previous post with John Boy and Grandpa's posterior's HERE: (Too bad we didn't get a Jim Bob flash...

Paul Newman: The Eighties

TCM's 31 Days of Oscar is always a tiring time for my DVR. Movies I have never seen, some never heard of get recorded and hopefully eventually watched. This year, some of my favorites were from the 70's and 80's. This weekend, I watched the 1981 and 1982 double punch (and Oscar nominated) Absence Of Malice and The Verdict both starring Paul Newman. Although Newman, and co-star Sally Field were both top notch in Absence, the movie was bit unfocused and not nearly as enjoyable, and interesting as The Verdict.

Newman would have been close to 60 during filming of The Verdict, and was still incredibly sexy and fascinating to watch. It was interesting to read Robert Redford left the project due to the characters unlikability. Redford missed that this was exactly what made the movie work. When Newman punches the equally sexy Charlotte Rampling I was both disgusted yet understanding given the story. I have to also check out more of Rampling's work, she is an intriguing actress I had only seen previously in Orca. I have yet to get the 90's or 2000's as I am still enjoying the darker scenes and classic story and character driven dramas of the TCM eighties films.

Paul Newman in The Long Hot Summer (1958)

Although not especially hot, nor feeling especially long, TCM's airing last Sunday of 1958's The Long Hot Summer was the perfect movie for a muggy summer night. Although I had not seen the movie before, I had a bit of déjà vu when seeing the listing and setting my DVR recording. I had fleeting memories of promos for the 1985 television remake. I had not seen that version either, but remember cutting the advert out of the TV Guide.

The 1958 film was based on three works by William Faulkner: the 1931 novella 'Spotted Horses', the 1939 short story 'Barn Burning', and the 1940 novel 'The Hamlet'. The cast is stellar, especially Angela Lansbury and Orson Welles. Interesting to read about the friction between Welles and director Martin Ritt. Although Welles later apologized for his behaviour, stories are he was a pain in the ass on the set.



Paul Newman is a sexy as every as Ben Quick, a drifter who causes friction within the Varner Family. Newman and co-star Joanne Woodward went on to marry about a year after filming. Some of the characters in the film are said to be loosely based on Tennessee Williams' 1955 play, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. That film, which also starred Newman was released about six months later and did much better at the box office than The Long Hot Summer.

Too hot to sleep inside...

A Visit to Venice:

Like many, I've been reading about, and watching promotional interviews and ads for HBO Max's The Last Movie Stars.  The Ethan Hawke directed series looks back and celebrates the life of superstars Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward.  I hadn't really planned to post yet, as I've yet to watch the series, but a certain image of Paul on the beach had me changing my mind. 

When I researching my piece on Frank Sinatra last week, I ended up on IMDB to see if I'd ever actually seen a Frank Sinatra movie.  I hadn't, not that I could remember anyway.  But on the side of Sinatra's credits was an image of Newman and a themed photo album ladled 'Vintage Celebrities at the Beach.' (HERE:)

Along with Elizabeth Taylor and the usual suspects was a shot of Newman walking in his 'swimming suit'.  Had it been the 70's he may have been sporting a speedo, had it been the 80's, maybe shorts, but given it was the 50's, I'd safely say they were called swimming trunks at the time..  When I was growing up in the 80's, my mother always said 'bathing suit' but father always called them 'trunks', no matter how we groaned. 

Newman was in Venice for the 1963 Venice film festival and took a little break for a quick dip.  I'm guessing here, but it  looks as if Newman may have been on a boat as he often appears with a guy looking very much like the captain of the yacht he may have been traveling on.  I'm not sure what film Newman was promoting but I'm guessing possibly Hud which was released in May of that year.

Favorite Birthday Boy #3 Paul Newman

Paul Newman still looking good turns 83 today. Still has that great smile.




Paul in Cool Hand Luke (Below)



Paul with Robert Redford

Kudos to Entertainment Weekly

Above: Paul Newman & Joanne Woodward

One of my favorite magazines is Entertainment Weekly. It is really the only weekly I currently buy every week. I buy it for the articles (cough cough) but over the last two issues EW has also been showcasing some pretty hot photos!

I think the first Paul Newman movie I saw was The Color Of Money when I was a kid. I was in my Tom Cruise phase then (which passed painlessly about the time of Cocktail's release ). At that time Newman was 'the old man' to me. The shot above with wife Joanne Woodward cements for me I really must go back and catch up on his earlier films!

I always wondered what was beneath Ron's Hogwarts uniform and Rupert Grint looks pretty adorable getting made up for the next Harry Potter flick.

Below: Rupert Grint


Last but not least is one of the hottest shirtless shots of Chris Evans in awhile. Chris is looking every bit the Captain America role he is playing.

Below: Chris Evans in Captain America