The “unhinged” movie that almost broke Paul Newman: “I had too much pressure on me”
Few stars have captivated audiences like Paul Newman did in the 1950s, emerging as an iconic figure of the silver screen through performances in movies like Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and The Long, Hot Summer. The actor wasn’t your typical Hollywood star—he had a grittiness to him that was reflected in the likes of Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy, and the Sundance Kid, and he exuded a raw sensuality that gave him an unforgettable screen presence.
Throughout his career, his portrayals of unconventional leading men helped to usher in the New Hollywood movement, and he seamlessly transitioned from this dying period of the classic studio era into this more experimental and creative time for mainstream cinema. Newman was well acquainted with the industry as a result – that shift from the 1950s to the 1960s was a groundbreaking time for cinema marked by the end of the Hays Code – so it’s only natural that he took an interest in directing.
Newman made his first feature in 1968 with Rachel, Rachel, which starred his wife, Joanne Woodward. He didn’t act in the film, instead working strictly behind the scenes, and this led him to find great acclaim, including a ‘Best Picture’ nomination at the Academy Awards. He starred in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid shortly after, which earned him further praise, and it seemed as though Newman’s career was reaching an all-time high.
Yet, after great success, you can sometimes find yourself struggling with periods of hardship, and for Newman, the early 1970s left him feeling rather “unhinged”. It was during this time that he was asked to direct his second feature, which failed to receive as much attention as Rachel, Rachel, although it did see Newman appear in front of the camera.
He once revealed via The Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man: A Memoir: “The time when I was doing Sometimes a Great Notion was a kind of unhinged period for me. I felt unsettled, I was warring with everybody. There were even some difficult times with Joanne.” The actor wasn’t initially the first choice for directing the film, but he was soon asked to step up to the demanding job when initial plans fell through.
“The Newman-Foreman Company was producing the picture, I was starring, and our director, Richard Colla, had to be replaced. I ended up having to direct the film myself—and then the production had to be briefly shut down because I’d had a nasty motorcycle accident near our set in Oregon. I had too much pressure on me from every direction, and I didn’t ask for it,” he explained.
The movie featured icons like Henry Fonda and Lee Remick, and it was well-received by critics. Still, Newman found it incredibly stressful, and paired with difficult personal issues, the job of starring in front of the camera while also directing the movie was almost too much for him to handle. Luckily, his natural talent for directing was evident, and he walked away from the project with another success under his belt. This challenging experience didn’t seem to deter him too much, though, and he went on to direct his next movie, The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, just one year later.
