Paul Newman was much more than just an award winning Hollywood actor. He was a film director, race car driver, and entrepreneur. Everyone has probably heard of Newman's Own a food company that donates 100% of its after-tax profits to the Newman's Own Foundation, a private nonprofit foundation which in turn supports various educational and charitable organizations.
I have enjoyed Paul Newman films for most of my life. My favorite of course being Somebody up there likes me, The Hustler and Cool Hand Luke. When I heard of Liberation Hall releasing a trilogy of early Paul Newman teleplays on DVD to say I was excited is an understatement. Let's take a look at what is included in this release.
Classic Cinema Plus Rating System:
****=Don’t Miss it!
***=Worth a look.
**=An Ok way to spend an evening.
*=You haven’t missed anything.
Five In Judgment (1955): Two hitch hiking college students take shelter from a storm at a small town diner. While there they soon find themselves being accused of committing murder. ****
The Rag Jungle (1956): Charlie (Newman), working in the garment industry, refuses to pay the protection money demanded by racketeers. After his father Vito is beaten up Charlie organizes a stand against the mob. ****
The Army Game (1956): PVT. Danny Scott (Newman) is a spoiled mama's boy, who doesn't want to be in the Army. So he concocts a plan for a psychiatric discharge by pretending he's crazy. ***
Even though these teleplays are early in his career the same charisma he had in the big Hollywood movies shines through these kinescopes. You can't teach talent and Paul Newman was one talented actor.
All of these programs were live TV productions. The only way to record live programs back in the 50s was through a process called kinescope. A process in which they would focus a 16mm camera to a TV monitor and record the show. Now as you can probably imagine this does not lean itself to the most spectacular quality print, but this is the only surviving prints of these amazing TV plays.
All 3 of these teleplays are presented in their original black and white full screen format and in 2.0 audio. DVD is a dual layer disc so their is plenty of room for the 2 and a half hour run time. Personally I am impressed with the audio and video quality. While they are not flawless, in my opinion the laws are to be overlooked when you think of the significance of these productions.
So if you love Paul Newman as much as I do, this trilogy of early TV dramas are an absolute must add to your collection. I can not recommend this DVD enough. Head over to Amazon.com and order your copy today.
Out of 4 Film Reels (4 Being the Best) Liberation Hall DVD Paul Newman Trilogy receives...
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