The Robert Redford movie Paul Newman hated: “I would have advised him not to touch it”
Robert Redford and Paul Newman only made two movies together, and they were both released within four years of each other between 1969 and 1973, but the two legends were such close friends for such a long time that they’ll forever be intertwined in Hollywood history.
Of course, two actors who happen to be close away from the cameras aren’t obligated to make countless films as part of the same cast, and the two they did collaborate on achieved more success, acclaim, and awards season adoration than a dozen lesser pictures could possibly hope to achieve.
Newman was instrumental in launching Redford’s A-list career when he personally recommended him for the second title role in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, insisting that the relative newcomer – who’d only played his first leading part in a feature two years previously when Barefoot in the Park was released – would be the ideal foil.
As it turned out, he was right on the money. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was a runaway success at the box office, won more Baftas than any movie before or since, and won four Academy Awards to go along with further nominations for ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Director’.
Incredibly, things went even better the second time around when they re-teamed for the heist thriller The Sting. It made more money at the box office and outstripped the first Redford/Newman flick at the Oscars, claiming seven prizes, including ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Director’.
The duo’s plans to reunite for A Walk in the Woods failed to come to fruition before Newman’s death, but they remained friends, confidants, and creative sounding boards. They’d share scripts with each other and discuss potential projects, only for Redford to be warned against making the film that saw him reach the pinnacle of the industry.
Redford had picked out an adaptation of Judith Guest’s Ordinary People as his directorial debut, and he was so committed to making it work that he never contemplated the idea of playing an onscreen role. When Newman first read Alvin Sargent’s screenplay, though, he was less than impressed.
“I did not like it at all,” he told The Washington Post. “I would have advised him not to touch it.” Either the material wasn’t to his liking, or the draft he read underwent serious revisions before principal photography began because Newman might have been one of the only people who didn’t see anything in the heart-wrenching family drama.
Ordinary People would go on to recoup its budget almost 15 times over in ticket sales, win the Oscar for ‘Best Picture’, and secure Redford the ‘Best Director’ statue. Newman couldn’t have been more wrong about its potential or prospects, and it’s lucky he didn’t try to twist his buddy’s arm and convince him that it was the wrong movie to kick off his directorial career.
