The Paul Newman Collection

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

The Paul Newman Collection

Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956) The Left Handed Gun (1958)

The Young Philadelphians (1959) Harper (1966) Pocket Money (1972)

NOTE: Harper is on Blu-ray Reviewed HERE

NOTE: The Drowning Pool is on Blu-ray Reviewed HERE
The MacKintosh Man (1973) The Drowning Pool (1975)

Titles

Somebody Up There Likes Me
Stars Paul Newman, Pier Angeli, Everett Sloane, Eileen Heckart, Sal Mineo
Directors: Robert Wise
Theatrical Release Date: July 3, 1956
Synopsis - Rocky Granziano is building a career in crime, when he's finally caught and arrested. In jail, he is undisciplined, always getting into trouble. When he gets out after many years he has decided to start a new life. However, he is immediately drafted to the army. But they can't keep him and he goes AWOL. Rocky discovers boxing as a way of earning quick money, and is discovered as a new talent.

The Left Handed Gun
Stars Paul Newman, Lita Milan, John Dehner, Hurd Hatfield, James Congdon
Directors: Arthur Penn
Synopsis - William Bonney - Billy the Kid - gets a job with a cattleman known as 'The Englishman,' and is befriended by the peaceful, religious man. But when a crooked sheriff and his men murder the Englishman because he plans to supply the local Army fort with his beef, Billy decides to avenge the death by killing the four men responsible, throwing the lives of everyone around him - Tom and Charlie, two hands he worked with; Pat Garrett, who is about to be married; and the kindly Mexican couple who take him in when he's in trouble - into turmoil, and endangering the General Amnesty set up by Governor Wallace to bring peace to the New Mexico Territory.

The Young Philadelphians
Stars Paul Newman, Barbara Rush, Alexis Smith, Brian Keith, Diane Brewster
Directors: Vincent Sherman
Theatrical Release Date: May 30, 1959
Synopsis - Up and coming, young lawyer Anthony Lawrence faces several ethical and emotional dilemmas as he climbs the Philadelphia social ladder. His personal and professional skills are tested as he tries to balance the needs of his fiance Joan, the expectations of his colleagues and his own obligation to defend his friend Chester on a murder count.

Harper
Stars Paul Newman, Lauren Bacall, Julie Harris, Arthur Hill, Janet Leigh
Directors: Jack Smight
Theatrical Release Date: February 23, 1966
Synopsis - Harper is one of the best detectives around. He is called by Elaine Sampson to find her missing husband. Harper reluctantly takes the case knowing that his job is putting his marriage in jeopardy. Miranda Sampson (the daughter) isn't too eager to help Harper find her father, but, house-guest, Allan Taggert, is. Perhaps too eager!

Pocket Money
Stars Paul Newman, Lee Marvin, Strother Martin, Wayne Rogers, Hector Elizondo
Directors: Stuart Rosenberg
Theatrical Release Date: February 1, 1972
Plot - Outline Broke and in debt, an otherwise honest cowboy gets mixed up in some shady dealings with a crooked rancher.

The MacKintosh Man
Stars Paul Newman, Dominique Sanda, James Mason, Harry Andrews, Ian Bannen
Directors: John Huston
Theatrical Release Date: July 25, 1973
Synopsis - Joseph Rearden takes the fall for a robbery and winds up in the Scrubs. From there he escapes in the company of a convicted spy and is taken to a remote manor at an unknown location where he is kept isolated. He overpowers his guard and flies, but nothing is quite what it seems in this drama of intrigue as Rearden pursues his quarry from Ireland to Malta.

The Drowning Pool
Stars Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Anthony Franciosa, Murray Hamilton, Gail Strickland
Directors: Stuart Rosenberg
Theatrical Release Date: July 1975
Synopsis - Harper is brought to Louisiana bayou country to investigate an attempted blackmail scheme. He soon finds out that it involves an old flame of his and her hellion of a daughter. What is more, he finds himself caught in a power struggle between the matriarch of the family and a greedy oil baron, who wants her property. Poor Harper! Things are not as straight-forward as they initially appeared.

Posters

Theatrical Releases: 1932- 1948

DVD Reviews

DVD Review: Warner (7-disc) - Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Warner Home Video - Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC
Runtime	1:53:16 + 1:42:09 + 2:16:16 + 2:00:40 + 1:39:51 + 1:39:18 + 1:48:12
Video	Original Aspect Ratio(s) Average Bitrate: 6.2 - 6.8 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bit: Somebody Up There Likes Me
Bit: The Left Handed Gun
Bit: The Young Philadelphians
Bit: Harper
Bit: Pocket Money
Bit: The Mackintosh Man
Bit: The Drowning Pool
Audio	English (original)
Subtitles	English, French, Spanish, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Warner Aspect Ratio: Original aspect Ratio(s) Edition Details: • Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956) Commentary by Paul Newman, Robert Loggia, Director Robert Wise, Martin Scorsese, and Richard Schickel Theatrical Trailer • The Left Handed Gun (1958) Commentary by director Arthur Penn Theatrical trailer • The Young Philadelphians (1959) Commentary by director Vincent Sherman and film historian Drew Casper Theatrical Trailer • Harper (1966) Commentary by screenwriter William Goldman Introduction by TCM host Robert Osborne Theatrical trailer • Pocket Money (1972) Theatrical Trailer • The Mackintosh Man (1973) Featurette - John Huston - the Man, the Myth , the Filmmaker • The Drowning Pool (1975) Vintage featurette Harper Days Are Here Again Theatrical Trailer DVD Release Date: November 14th, 2006 7 slim transparent keep cases inside a cardboard box (see image at top) Chapters: various

Comments:

Paul Newman's earlier roles in such films as Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, 'The Hustler', 'Hud' and 'Cool Hand Luke' helped define his legendary superstar status and hence this Boxset is one of the more anticipated DVD packages of the year. I'd seen all the films before (except Pocket Money) and revisiting them was a true pleasure. I'd remembered how much I had enjoyed Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956), The Young Philadelphians (1959) and The Drowning Pool (1975) - and re-watching has reinforced those entertaining memories.

Warner's Boxset is as well done as you might have anticipated - we get 7 films (over 7 dual-layered DVDs) with the only glaring weaknesses I noticed were some contrast flickering and damage at the beginning of The Left Handed Gun (1958). Otherwise all progressive, anamorphic (all are widescreen) are pretty clean, relatively sharp and probably look as good as when they were shown theatrically. I think The Young Philadelphians (1959) and Harper (1966) look the best of the lot with maybe Pocket Money (1972) looking the weakest - although I suspect it may have been shot that way - in a gritty ad-hoc fashion. There were some annoying cue blips visible during The Young Philadelphians (1959).

All have English, French and Spanish subtitles except Harper (1966) which also offers Portuguese subs on top of that (and a French DUB). All are encoded in the NTSC standard for Regions 1,2,3 and 4 except Pocket Money (1972) which is only Region 1,2 and 3.

Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956), The Left Handed Gun (1958), The Young Philadelphians (1959) and Harper (1966) have good commentaries of which I enjoyed the ensemble grouping of Newman, Robert Loggia, Director Robert Wise, Martin Scorsese, and Richard Schickel on Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956) - and the often imperfect, but always fun and informative, Vincent Sherman supported by film historian Drew Casper on The Young Philadelphians (1959). There are a couple of featurettes - John Huston - the Man, the Myth , the Filmmaker on The MacKintosh Man (1973) which I have seen somewhere before (on another DVD) and 10 minutes of Harper Days Are Here Again on that DVD. Pocket Money (1972) - the definite weak link of the film collection only offers a theatrical trailer.