Whether you love him for his memorable roles in “Cool Hand Luke” or “The Color of Money,” or enjoy dressing your salad with Newman’s Own, Paul Newman was a once-in-a-lifetime star. But for fans of the Western genre who have yet to see Newman’s beloved role in 1969’s “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” what are you waiting for? Newman plays Butch Cassidy opposite Robert Redford’s Sundance Kid in a buddy comedy-style take on the genre, full of fast-paced dialogue and brilliant chemistry between its two leads.
While not terribly well received at the time of its release, “Butch Cassidy” has since amassed a cult following that led to it becoming one of the most successful Westerns ever. The picture follows two outlaws on the run from a lawman posse after a string of train robberies. While it sounds like trademark Western fodder, “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” goes above and beyond by shattering the genre’s traditional character archetypes and embracing the New Hollywood style of filmmaking.
Part of what makes “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” so notable is the unique blend of action and comedy that, while great on paper (the screenplay did win an Oscar, after all), is cinematic gold when Newman and Redford are together. It may be a departure from traditional Westerns, but with Newman and Redford delivering the performances of a lifetime, you’ll be just as thrilled.
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Paul Newman’s career peaked with Butch Cassidy
By the time “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” came about, Paul Newman had solidified his place in the Western genre. The first was 1958’s “The Left-Handed Gun,” where he played Billy the Kid. From there, he worked with director Martin Ritt on 1963’s “Hud” and 1967’s “Hombre.” In between, he also starred in a Western remake of “Rashomon” titled “The Outrage.” But none live up to “Butch Cassidy.”
Newman’s boyish charm and gentlemanly charisma shifted public perception of the historic outlaw, and to this day his face is still the first we picture whenever we hear the name. It certainly helped that Newman and Redford were such an impressive duo. The tightly bonded pair teamed again for the best picture-winning “The Sting” a few years later after, though tragically never made an unmade third film “A Walk in the Woods.”
While Redford went on to be associated with the genre for the rest of his career (even almost starring in “Yellowstone”), Newman’s time in the Old West would wind down. He starred in only three more horse operas in the years following, one of them being modern day neo-Western “Pocket Money.” Through it all, he peaked playing the famed, smooth-talking outlaw in a movie many rank high among Paul Newman’s greatest films.
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Read the original article on Looper.
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