Newman: A tough act to follow

Rather than add to the already widespread and universal praise for the life and career of Paul Newman, who died Sept. 26, I want to instead celebrate one film in particular. It’s my favorite film of Newman’s, one of his most popular — Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Part musical, all western, and pure Newman, Butch Cassidy is the story of two charismatic outlaws who go down in history not so much as bandits or criminals, but more as folk heroes. Newman played Butch, the rough and tumble leader of the Hole in the Wall Gang, and Robert Redford played Sundance, a gunslinger with a dangerous reputation — it was their first of two movies together and the beginning of their long friendship.

The movie has many great scenes, including a memorable train explosion (Sundance: “Use enough dynamite there, Butch?”), a wonderful musical montage to “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head,” and a famous shootout with Bolivian bandits, where Butch admits he’s never actually killed anyone before. But you have to admire the ending, with Butch and Sundance’s last moments frozen in time, their legacy and legend preserved in grainy silence.

Butch Cassidy was one of many amazing achievements by the talented actor. Newman’s career also included courtroom dramas (The Verdict), sports comedies (Slapshot), an underrated Hitchcock thriller (Torn Curtain), a Christ allegory set in a prison (Cool Hand Luke), two stints as a pool maverick (The Hustler, The Color of Money), a gangster picture about fathers and sons (Road to Perdition), his Newman’s Own line of food products, auto racing and philanthropy. And also that iconic grin — Dragline in Luke said it best: “He was smiling … That’s right. You know, that, that Luke smile of his. He had it on his face right to the very end … That old Luke smile. Oh, Luke, he was some boy. Cool Hand Luke. Hell, he’s a natural-born world-shaker.”

Here’s Newman world-shakin’ in one of my favorite scenes from Butch Cassidy:

Scene

Butch and Sundance, bank-robbing outlaws, have returned to their gang’s compound and are immediately met with contention as one of their gang members, a giant of a man named Harvey Logan, has decided to hijack the group’s leadership while Butch and Sundance were away. Butch, rightfully still the gang’s leader, doesn’t agree with the new arrangement or the showdown that’s required to settle it. The scene begins as Butch and Sundance ride up to the gang as they’re preparing to leave for a job.

Butch: Hi, News. Whatcha doin’?
News: [Nervously buckling a saddle] Oh, uh, howdy, Butch. Uh, nothing. Nothing. Howdy, Sundance.
Butch: Well, you sure? You’re doin’ something. What?
[Harvey Logan comes out of a nearby cabin and eyes Butch]
News: We’re fixing to rob the Union Pacific Flyer, Butch. That’s what we had in mind.
[Butch gets off his horse]
Butch: You fellas got everything I told you all wrong. Sure, we might hit the Flyer, but if we do it will be the return. Now Sundance and me we’ve been checking the banks ...
Harvey: No banks.
Butch: What?
Harvey: Flyer, Butch.
Butch: Fellas, bad as they are, banks are better than trains. They don’t move; they stay put. You know the moneys in there. When I left I gave orders.
Harvey: New orders been give.
Butch: Well, I run things around here, Harvey.
Harvey: Used to you did. [Harvey approaches Butch] Me now. [He points at Sundance] This don’t concern you. You tell him to stay out of it.
Butch: Well, he goes his own way like always. [Butch looks around irritated] What’s the matter with you guys. When I came here you were nothin’. You weren’t even a gang. I formed ya.
Harvey: Who says?
Butch: Well, read a clippin’, News.
News: Which one?
Butch: Any of’em.
[News takes folded papers from his vest pocket]
News: Uh, this one here is from the Salt Lake Herald: “Butch Cassidy’s Hole in the Wall Gang struck ...”
Butch: “Butch Cassidy’s Hole in the Wall Gang,” that’s me. You want Harvey doing your planning for ya? You want him to do your thinkin’ for ya? You want him to run things?
Butch: [Noticing News is still reading the newspaper] You can shut up now, News!
News: Oh, not yet, not until I get to the good part, Butch. “Also known to have participated in the hold-up are Flat Nose Curry and News Carver. [News flashes a toothy grin] I just love readin’ my name in the paper, Butch.
Butch: OK, so we just forget about Logan takin’ over, Flat Nose.
Flat Nose: You always said any one of us could challenge you, Butch.
Butch: Well, ’cause I figured no one would do it.
Harvey: Figured wrong, Butch.
Butch: You guys can’t want Logan!
News: Well at least he’s with us, Butch. You’ve been spending a lot of time gone.
Butch: Well, that’s because everything’s different now ...
Harvey: Guns or knives, Butch?
Butch: ... it’s harder now. You gotta prepare more.
Harvey: Guns or knives?
Butch: Neither?
Harvey: Pick.
Butch: I don’t want to shoot with you Harvey.
Harvey: [Drawing a knife from his belt] Anything you say, Butch.
Butch: [Turning to Sundance and in a low voice] Maybe there’s a way to make a profit in this. Bet on Logan.
Sundance: I would, but who’d bet on you?
Harvey: Sundance, when we’re done and he’s dead, you’re welcome to stay.
Butch: [To Sundance] Listen, I don’t mean to be a sore loser, but when it’s done, if I’m dead, kill him.
Sundance: Love to. [Sundance waves to Harvey and smiles]
[Harvey, now with his shirt off, is in a fighting stance]
Butch: No, no, not yet. Not until me and Harvey get the rules straightened out.
Harvey: Rules? In a knife fight? No rules!
[Butch winds up and kicks Harvey in the groin]
Butch: Well, if there ain’t going to be any rules, let’s get the fight started. Someone count, “1, 2, 3, go.”
Sundance: [Quickly] 1, 2, 3, go. [Butch, with his hands laced together, knocks Harvey out with a sweeping punch to the jaw]
Flat Nose: I was rooting for you all along, Butch.
Butch: Well, thank you, Flat Nose. That’s what sustained me in my time of trouble.