Marvelous appreciation of one small moment in The Verdict by Stephen Metcalf.
But the scene I kept coming back to sets up the whole film. It’s hardly noticeable. Newman is intent on bedding a fellow barfly played by Charlotte Rampling. He buys her dinner the night before voir dire, and for the first time in the film, we come up close to Newman’s face. The deep-set mask of middle-aged failure softens. Watch Newman here, ye who would be actors; study him. Where does this come from? “See, the jury believes. The jury wants to believe.” The lines are almost inconsequential. But Newman is giving us evidence that Galvin is still alive. “It is something to see. I have to go down there tomorrow and pick out 12 of them. All of themâall their livesâsay, ‘It’s a sham, it’s rigged, you can’t fight city hall. But when they step into that jury box ⦠you just barely see it in their eyes. Maybe, maybe ⦔ Rampling leans imperceptibly forward. “Maybe what?” And Newman exhalesâjust a littleâputting a lifetime of defeat into that exhale, and suddenly Frank Galvin is talking about himself. “Maybe I could do something right.”
In 1982, I was a young, would-be actor and Newman’s work in The Verdict was the kind of deep, deep, “subtle” expression I aspired to. Even the scene where he is playing pin-ball is brilliant in its multi-layers of behavior – his mind, or rather sense of being,is clearly is on larger issues of his life, but he is here distracting himself in the game playing, being annoyed by the machine, the sense of the alchohol affecting him (or not enough), nothing obvious besides a certain amount of disdain, a private man a little too ashamed perhaps to let on – all these things working at once. It was the kind of “subtle” expression that too many actors attempted without having the real craft to create the actual experience of a character’s life. Those actors form a laundry list. Newman was great in that part.
There are so many moments in that movie! I didn’t remember that one until he described it and it came back in full memory. It’s amazing. The subtle, brilliant moment I remember is when he’s in the playground with the retired nurse and she notices his plane ticket from Boston, and he says, “Will you help me?” The whole movie, trying to do something right, and he needs her help. So vulnerable. What a craftsman!
…all these things working at once
Yes – it’s so so wonderful when you can watch a true master work, because … it doesn’t just look effortless, it looks like life itself- it is life itself. He was so good to watch, for stuff like that.
Beautiful work.
When my piece goes up on House Next Door – you’ll see that I included an anecdote from Sidney Lumet about the first couple read-thrus of the Verdict – it REALLY touches me.
What I loved about THE VERDICT was that Paul Newman, celebrity, star, sexy guy, handsome guy, let us see he was old. I mean, no dyed hair/face lift/airbrushing/Superman-ageless OLD. Thank God! Fearless, just like his acting. So many “actors” refuse to let us see they are more than a facade–something Newman has always done, but we were blinded by the smile, the eyes, the skin, the voice, the great body… but he was a damn fine actor ALL THAT TIME and here, just as with Michael Caine, you can see an actor using a lifetime of craft as well as talent to do much mroe subtle things than be pretty.
Pearl – yes yes yes – it’s wonderful to see him as a young man, too – because he’s not skating by on his beauty – he’s using it – like a skill – like playing baseball or being able to dance – or any of the other things that actors who have gifts can “use”. So many beautiful actors can’t do that … and to see Newman continue to grow and change and show us his aging – just totally fearless. I love him for it, too.
Diane Keaton has that quality for me, too. She’s gorgeous – still – but hasn’t ironed out her crow’s feet or the wrinkles around her lips – no collagen … she’s obviously still slim, and fit, and her hair is gorgeous … but she’s growing old and she’s showing it. GO DIANE.