Paul Newman Movies

Want to know the best Paul Newman movies?  How about the worst Paul Newman movies?  Curious about Paul Newman’s box office grosses or which Paul Newman movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Paul Newman movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences and which got the worst reviews? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.

One of the few things I remember from my college days was this little lesson……one of my professors was explaining Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs pyramid and how self-actualization is the highest level a person can reach. The example he gave off a person that had reached the top of the pyramid was Paul Newman (1925-2008). During Newman’s very successful 52 year movie career, he received nine Oscar® nominations for acting……winning for The Color of Money. He also received two honorary Oscars® in 1986 and 1994. His 56 movies averaged almost 100 million in adjusted for inflation dollars at the box office per movie, while earning 98 Oscar® nominations.

I however believe he will ultimately be remembered for what he gave back to society. He started Newman’s Own in 1982 with all profits being donated, after taxes, to various charitable organizations. To date they have donated nearly 300 million dollars. Newman also started the Hole in the Wall summer camp program. The camp serves nearly 15,000 seriously ill children every year, free of charge. Newman arranged for the continuation of the distribution of Newman’s Own profits to charity after Newman’s death through the establishment of the Newman’s Own Foundation.

Ok….so let’s starting talking about movies. Paul Newman is one of my favorite actors. My favorite movie of all-time is Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Other Newman movies that I think are classics would include: The Sting, Cool Hand Luke, The Verdict, Nobody’s Fool, Slap Shot and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Paul Newman passed away in September 2008. He is missed by movie fans all around the world.

His IMDb page shows 82 acting and 6 directing credits from 1949-2006. This page will rank Paul Newman movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television shows, shorts, cameos and movies that were not released in theaters were not included in the rankings.

Paul Newman in 1994's Nobody's Fool
Paul Newman in 1994’s Nobody’s Fool

Paul Newman Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.

Paul Newman Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table

The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies anyway you want.

  • Sort Paul Newman movies by titles and trailers
  • Sort Paul Newman movies by co-stars of his movies.
  • Sort Paul Newman movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
  • Sort Paul Newman movies by yearly box office rank
  • Sort Paul Newman movies how they were received by critics and audiences.  60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
  • Sort by how many Oscar® nominations and how many Oscar® wins each Paul Newman movie received.
  • Sort Paul Newman movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score.  UMR Score puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.

Adjusted Paul Newman Adjusted Worldwide Box Office Grosses 

Paul Newman in 1967's Cool Hand Luke
Paul Newman in 1967’s Cool Hand Luke

Check out Paul Newman’s career compared to current and classic actors.  Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.

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73 thoughts on “Paul Newman Movies”

  1. Hello Bruce. A great page on Paul Newman, perhaps my favorite film star of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. I liked “The Sting” and several of Newman’s later films but I really felt he peaked as a top draw film star with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. He just could never top that one which is also my favorite Paul Newman film. It’s also my favorite Robert Redford film role though Jeremiah Johnson was a close second for me. Thanks for another great page.

    Reply

    1. Hey Lyle….thanks for checking out my Paul Newman page…I am glad to see that I actually included Paul Newman movies on the table versus Clark Gable movies on the Paul Newman table…..I think it makes the page so much better when I include the correct movies…lol.

      Butch and Sundance is one of my favorite films of all-time. After Newman passed away I could not bring myself to watch it again as I feared it might change the movie for me….but after almost a 7 year boycott….I finally rewatched it again…and I am happy to report that I enjoyed the movie just as much as I did before…although it was bittersweet seeing Newman in his prime.

      I used to include graphs on this pages….it would be interesting to see if he did peak with Butch and Sundance…..Towering Inferno was pretty massive….so I think that might be his peak…and then the thankfully slow design. I think Newman’s last great performance was in the tv mini-series Empire Falls…how he did not win an Emmy for that role I do not understand….thanks for stopping by.

      Reply

  2. Good page Cogerson about one of my all-time favourite film stars, who brought a nice wry comic touch to so many of his movies. Glad to see ‘Butch Cassidy’ and ‘The Sting’ so high on the list (though I must admit I would put ‘The Sting’ slightly ahead of your favourite as I think the script is so clever in that movie). Both though are in my top 100. I’m not a great fan of disaster movies, because they’re so often cliche ridden, but one of the very best has to be ‘The Towering Inferno’. Interesting how they arranged the top billing for Newman and McQueen!

    Two films from lower down the list are also favourites of mine. I liked ‘The Prize’ when I first saw it years ago. It looked a bit slow and dated when I saw it again recently, but still a really nice slightly mystery comic thriller of the kind they did so well in the 60s. And ‘Torn Curtain’ – much maligned as a Hitchcock film – but with two great scenes – the bus ride at the end, and that very brutal and very realistic fight with the German agent in the kitchen.

    Reply

    1. Hey Greensleeves Hubs. Thanks for checking out my Newman hub, the man had so many great movies throughout his career. I think both Redford/Newman movies are awesome….so I can see your point in picking The Sting over Butch. Torn Curtain is a Hitchcock movie that does not get much support from Hitch fans, but I like it and it was made during the peak of Newman’s career. I have yet to see The Prize but I will add it to my list of Newman movies to watch. Thanks for the comment and the compliment.

      Reply

      1. ‘The Prize’ has a similar feel and similar mix of comedy, mystery and thriller to ‘North by NorthWest’ and ‘Charade’. If you like them, you’ll probably like ‘The Prize’

        I wouldn’t suggest it’s quite as good as either of those after my recent viewing, as it does seem a little slow to get going, but it’s got a good plot (a double takes the place of a kidnapped Nobel Prize Winner, and nobody believes Newman when he realises something is wrong). Newman is at his best in a lightly comic ‘ordinary guy forced to become a hero’ role, and it co-stars Edward G Robinson, which must be a plus.

        Reply

        1. Well Charade is one of my favorite movies of all-time….so a comparison to it means I have to watch The Prize….thanks for the information.

          Reply

  3. My five favourite Newman films are, in alphabetical order:

    Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

    Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

    Cool Hand Luke

    Hud

    The Hustler

    The Sting

    I also enjoy The Towering Infero, The Sweet Bird of Youth,Harper, and Absense of Malice.

    He made one film with Alfred Hitchcock late in the director’s career-Torn Curtain. It wasn’t the best film or either of them, but it has this excellent scene that shows how difficult it is to kill someone with a knife, instead of far away with a gun.

    I love Newman films in general. And though I usually don’t watch recent films, I have seen Road to Perdition twice.

    Reply

    1. Hey Flora great Top Five for Newman, I love four of the five you mentioned….for some reason I have never thought The Hustler was a great movie…..good performances….but I do not think it has aged very well….but then again I have not watched it in about 10 years….so maybe it is time to watch it again. I am very familiar with the scene from Torn Curtain….easily the best scene in that movie….I was sad when he passed away….thanks for reading and commenting.

      Reply

  4. Paul Newman was a class act. I thought Newman and Redford should have done one last movie together, They could play aging actors who starred together on an old western movie. yrs later, cantankerous and feuding they are called out of retirement to have cameos in the remake and keep bickering with each other and the director.

    Reply

    1. Hey ruffridyer, I agree I wish their would have been a 3rd Newman/Redford movie….and know they looked for a script but they could never agree on one….George Roy Hill the director of Sundance and The Sting actually made one more movie with each of them…Newman/Hill in Slap Shot and Redford/Hill in The Great Waldo Pepper. Your idea for the third one, would have worked for me….thanks for reading.

      Reply

  5. GREAT MOVIE PAGE! Not only informative but well written. Looks like lots of research went into this one, and I don’t think there are too many people out there that don’t have a favorite Paul Newman movie. He was not only a great movie star, with incredible blue eyes, but a true gentleman and humanitarian as you pointed out.

    Reply

    1. Thanks for the compliment tillsontitan. I am a huge Newman fan, and before I wrote this page, I felt that there were no more Newman movies for me to watch…..after the hub I realize I watch very few early Newman movies….which means I can still experience some new Newman moments…..a great passed away when he died….his camp is not too far from my house..thanks for stopping by.

      Reply

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