Paul Newman — My Earliest Memory

PAUL NEWMAN 1925-2008

Paul Newman: husband, father, actor, director, race car driver, philanthropist!

My first and most powerful memory of Paul Newman was from the movie, Hombre. My sister and I sat in the theater as wild horses thundered across the screen in the opening scene. Then some Apaches slam the trap shut.

Next, I remember Paul Newman’s character, a white man who had been kidnapped and raised by Apaches, waiting for a stagecoach. Richard Boone’s character wants on that stagecoach and threatens Newman’s character. A soldier intervenes and Boone turns on him. Surprisingly, Newman doesn’t reciprocate. From the beginning, this is a complex character, and one I wanted to understand.

Then their is a stagecoach robbery and everyone is a helpless victim except Newman. This sets the stage for the rest of the story to play out in the dessert and it was hot and gritty. I loved it.

My favorite scene was when Newman and the other survivors were trapped in a mining shack and Boone, under a white flag, came up the hill to negotiate the relinquishment of the money that Newman had saved from the robbers. Newman sat quietly while Boone talked to one of the characters. At the end of the conversation Newman said, ‘I have a question. How do you plan to get down this hill alive?’ He then shot Boone. The look on Boone’s face and the effect of the action was thrilling. It made perfect sense.

That was one of many great movies that Paul Newman starred in.

We’ll miss him!

Below are some links to a few of Paul Newman’s movies on Amazon.com.

Hombre (1967):

Cool Hand Luke (1967):

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969):

The Sting (1973):

The Color of Money (1986):

Click this link to tryout Amazon Prime:

Click here for an explanation of Amazon Prime.

-Thomas