Show Business: His Own Critic: Newman on Newman

Asked by TIME to assess his career, Newman offered a wry and sometimes caustic critique of a remarkable series of memorable hits and forgotten turkeys:

The Silver Chalice (1954): Junk.

Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956): Had some fun with that.

The Rack (1956): Really aspired to something, and nobody went to see it. A fine example of me trying too hard.

Until They Sail (1957): Not much to play there.

The Helen Morgan Story (1957): Ugggghhh.

The Long Hot Summer (1958): Pretty good. Still aware of how hard I was working.

The Left Handed Gun (1958): A little bit ahead of its time and a classic in Europe. To this day I still get $800 at the end of the year. Go to Paris right now, and I bet you it is playing in some tiny theater.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958): Pretty good film. I’m still aware of how hard I was working.

Rally ‘Round the Flag, Boys (1958): A situation comedy. I was probably weak.

The Young Philadelphians (1959): Just kind of a cosmopolitan story that didn’t demand very much.

From the Terrace (1960): Pretty good soap opera. Didn’t ask for a lot.

Exodus (1960): Chilly.

The Hustler (1961): I had occasion to see some segments of it recently. Again, very conscious of working too hard, which comes partly from lack of faith in your own talent and lack of faith that just doing it in itself is all the audience requires.

Paris Blues (1961): I had some fun with that. Not that it is a great film.

Sweet Bird of Youth (1962): Pretty good.

Hemingway’s Adventures of a Young Man (1962): I tried to do what I did in the TV show, and that wasn’t the way to go at it.

Hud (1963): Pretty good, again, working hard, working hard.

A New Kind of Love (1963): Joanne read it and said,-“Hey, this would be fun to do together. Read it.” I read it and said, “Joanne, it’s just a bunch of one-liners.” And she said, “You son of a bitch, I’ve been carting your children around, taking care of them at the expense of my career, taking care of you and your house.” And I said, “That is what I said. It’s a terrific script. I can’t think of anything I’d rather do.” This is what is known as a reciprocal trade agreement.

The Prize (1963): A lark.

What a Way to Go! (1964): Done out of whimsy.

The Outrage (1964): I liked that one.

Lady L (1966): I woke up every morning and knew I wasn’t cutting the mustard.

Harper (1966): An original character who would simply accommodate any kind of actor’s invention. There was no way you could violate the character; he was so loose and funky and whimsical.

Torn Curtain (1966): Not so good.

Hombre (1967): By then I was doing it less and enjoying it more.

Cool Hand Luke (1967): I had great fun with that part. I liked that man.

The Secret War of Harry Frigg (1968): A lurch at comedy. I didn’t accomplish it very well.

Rachel, Rachel (directed 1968): Great fondness, great fondness. That is areally good film.

Winning (1969): Pretty good story about racing. The people were not integrated well into the racing, but pretty good.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969): A delight. Too bad they got killed at the end, ’cause those two guys could have gone on in films forever.

WUSA (1970): A film of incredible potential, which the producer, the director and I loused up. We tried to make it political, and it wasn’t.

Sometimes a Great Notion (starred and directed 1971): A much better film than its popularity would signify.

Pocket Money (1972): Loved the character, the script never came together though.

The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (directed 1972): I may not have been able to make the transition from stage to film. Too much theater and not enough cinema. I screwed up there.

The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972): Marvelous. The first three-quarters of the picture are classic. We never came to grips with the ending though. I loved that character.

The Mackintosh Man (1973): Thought we could make an effective melodrama out of that, and I was wrong.

The Sting (1973): Oh, great fun.

The Towering Inferno (1974): Of its kind, rather good. Get the actors off and the stunt men on as quick as you can.

The Drowning Pool (1975): Only time I ever played the same character twice [Harper], and it didn’t work.

Silent Movie (1976): Just a cameo.

Buffalo Bill and the Indians (1976): Don’t know what happened to that one. Made a mistake somewhere, along the line. Great potential.

Slap Shot (1977): One of my favorite movies. Unfortunately that character is a lot closer to me than I would care to admit—vulgar, on the skids.

Quintet (1979): Again, made a mistake somewhere. Director Robert Altman is very interesting, a real explorer.

When Time Ran Out (1980): I’m trying desperately to look the other way.

The Shadow Box (directed for television 1980): I take some pride in that one.

Fort Apache, The Bronx (1981): Some good moments, I guess.

Absence of Malice (1981): A relatively easy part for me and compatible with the image.

The Verdict (1982): It was such a relief to let it all hang out in the movie—blemishes and all.