Newman on DVD: A Dozen Picks from a Superb Career

Want more Paul Newman? Here are a dozen DVD picks from his five-decade career.

ByABC News
September 29, 2008, 4:39 PM

Sept. 30, 2008— -- In his five-decade evolution from hunk-ish Actors Studio rebel to the voice of Doc Hudson in Pixar's 2006 "Cars," Paul Newman was initially admired for a forceful presence (one not exactly diminished by his looks). And, eventually, he came to be both admired and beloved on an extraordinary number of levels. He carried himself with classy reserve, becoming a celebrity role model for how to keep your private life private and for being that low-key face on the salad dressing bottle and at the track.

None of this discounts his trove of treasured movies. On his way to winning a best-actor Oscar, life achievement Oscar, a Jean Hersholt humanitarian Oscar and eight more acting nominations, Newman amassed a filmography with uncommon consistency, though like every superstar, he had to survive such clunkers as "Lady L" or "When Time Ran Out."

Early on, he specialized in playing hustlers and heels and floundered when attempting comedy; his touch just wasn't light. Only later did Newman become one of the movies' best relaxed actors.

Though Newman's career did benefit from high-profile stage work in the early 1950s ("Picnic," "The Desperate Hours") and memorable contributions to TV's Golden Age ("The Battler," the original "Bang the Drum Slowly" and several more), it was a sometimes sticky apprenticeship, as evidenced by his earliest appearance available on DVD. It's on Vol. 1 of ABC-TV's cheesy "Tales of Tomorrow" (Image, $25), a live sci-fi anthology series that anticipated "The Twilight Zone." Cast as an Army sergeant on an Aug. 8, 1952, episode, Newman hysterically describes the fatality of one colleague after a woebegone rocket blast somehow leads to the freeze-over of a U.S. desert. At least the teleplay's title is nothing if not precise: "Ice From Space."

But in the end, the best of Newman's film career is an embarrassment of riches. Among his movies with robust fan bases are "The Left-Handed Gun," "The Long Hot Summer," "Harper," "The Towering Inferno," "Blaze," "Mr. & Mrs. Bridge," "Empire Falls" and "Road to Perdition." But for a combination of must-viewing and full career perspective, start with the following dozen DVDs: