Paul Newman started acting in school productions at the age of seven. To help prepare for the part, he worked on a ranch for a brief time before filming. I can’t picture any other actor in the role. He is so mesmerizing at making this man who lives only for himself a complete and whole person. “Hud” is perhaps the most unsympathetic role of his career, yet because of his likable quality, it’s hard to hate him. When I was in an archeological museum in Italy, I was half joking when I commented that the heads of many of the idealized Roman statues looked just like Paul Newman - and they did! He excelled possibly better than any other actor at playing likable, morally ambiguous characters. He was also known for his beautiful looks and piercing blue eyes. He had a charming cockiness about him, and early in his career became best known for playing rebellious, complex and brooding characters, often with a subtle humor about them. Paul is such a skilled actor that if you watch him closely, you will rarely if ever find a false moment. He was listed among the top ten box office stars fourteen times between 19 (twice being #1). An international legend, icon and charismatic movie star for over fifty years, he gave countless extraordinary performances in many classic films. I’m thrilled to introduce the work of one of my all-time favorite actors, Paul Newman, who stars in the title role as “Hud Bannon”. Martin Ritt died in 1990 at the age of 76. Many consider “Hud” his crowning achievement. He would direct twenty five features, often about social issues, including several classics such as "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold", "Norma Rae", "Sounder", "The Great White Hope", "Pete 'n' Tillie”, “Murphy's Romance”, and "The Front". Ritt worked with Paul Newman twice before “Hud” - in ”The Long, Hot Summer”, and "Paris Blues” (which also starred Poitier ). After the Red Scare, he directed his first feature film “Edge of the City” in 1957 with Sidney Poitier (who you saw in “In the Heat of the Night” ). Come the McCarthy Era he was blacklisted from television and became an acting teacher at the Actors Studio. Ritt acted in and directed plays, and then began directing television in 1950. Martin Ritt began as an actor and joined the Group Theater in New York where he worked with Elia Kazan (who I mention in “A Face in the Crowd” post). His direction earned him his one and only “Best Director” Oscar nomination. With a somewhat streamlined look and feel, director Martin Ritt holds nothing back in immersing the viewer into life in a small Texas town and seducing us to crave more about these characters.
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