THE HUSTLER Milestones

Paul Newman brought a new, casual intelligence to male stardom in the 1950s and ’60s, a sensitive tricksterism versus Brando’s and Dean’s wounded inarticulation; David Thomson wrote that Newman “seems to me an uneasy, self-regarding personality, as if handsomeness had left him guilty.” As Fast Eddie, the talented pool player who lacks the self-esteem, focus and drive to win, Newman’s performance in THE HUSTLER ( 1961) was his first major critical and popular breakthrough. (It was such an iconic role for the enduring star that he would win his first and only Best Actor Academy Award for playing Eddie again in the film’s 1986 sequel, THE COLOR OF MONEY) Frequenting dimly lit New York pool halls, captured in moody black-and-white by European cinematographer Eugen Schufftan (EYES WITHOUT A FACE) and rhythmically edited by Dede Allen (BONNIE AND CLYDE), the film is an absorbing psychological drama that effectively subordinates plot to character exploration. In addition to Newman, the film boasts several other remarkable performances, including the steely George C. Scott as a pitiless gambler and Jackie Gleason as Minnesota Fats, Eddie’s ultimate adversary; both actors were nominated for Academy Awards for their memorable contributions.

20th Century Fox has struck a new print of the film for this screening. Director: Robert