Paul Newman "is"...
Tuesday, February 23, 2016 at 9:00AM We're reviving "Curio" but with a twist. It won't just be arts & crafts any more but any curiousity so here's one about movie vernacular, taglines, and advertisements. - Editor.
Fifty years ago today Harper (1966) hit movie theaters. We only mention this because it gives us (another) excuse to post Paul Newman photos and to talk about a favorite movie poster quirk. Joe Reid recently wondered aloud why we say "Actor 'in' Name of Movie" versus "Actor 'on' Name of TV Show" which is true and curious. Why is that the language?
And why do some advertising campaigns say Movie Star IS... rather than Movie Star IN... or Movie Star AS? With Paul Newman it was "is" more often than not. Here's some proof...
Even when Harper opened in other countries it was "Paul Newman is..."
Even when they changed the title for the UK release, it was still "Paul Newman is..."
And of course three years before Harper, in Paul Newman's greatest film it was still... "Paul Newman is..."
Later when he made Hombre (1967) we got one of the best "Paul Newman is..." taglines
Hombre means man. Paul Newman is Hombre."
The very next year in The Secret War of Harry Frigg (1968) the studio PR team dispensed with the title altogether to use "Paul Newman is..."
Hell, even when fans mock up "what if" posters it's "Paul Newman is..."
Sadly when Harper got a sequel The Drowning Pool (1975) ... they couldn't exactly use "is". And Cool Hand Luke (1967) bucked the trend even in its heyday despite the perfect opportunity to use it.
"as"... ??? That's just noncommittal.
Cool Hand Luke, Curio, Harper, Hud, Iron Man, Paul Newman, movie posters
Reader Comments (11)
And yet we didn't get Blanchett IS Carol.
I don't know the exact reasoning, but it seems to me that a film is a finite piece of work that you can appear "in" once and only once but a television show is a series that could technically run forever. "In" means contained in an object, or something within limitations or a moment contained in time (like a finite piece of work - film). Appearing "on tv" just sounds like an idiomatic phrase, like being "on the telephone," or "on" being used when you do not enclose something (like a series that can run technically forever).
ANYWAYS, I haven't seen Harper. Is it any good?
What a cool poster, I like it lots.
Julia Roberts is Erin Brockovich
Pam Grier is Jackie Brown
To the best of my understanding they say "is" when the title is the name of the character. For example "Paul Newman is Hud" (or else "Paul Newman as Hud"). But if the title is something else, like "The Verdict", it would make no sense to say "Paul Newman is The Verdict". Hence, "Paul Newman in The Veredict."
I think "is" gives more of a sense of immediacy and that the actor is inhabiting the character rather than just playing him or her.
The other two Harper posters are interesting but the original is so cool, clever and individual.
Ryan-The movie is a highly enjoyable detective adventure. Newman is terrific and it's an actressexual's dream with Lauren Bacall, Julie Harris, Shelley Winters, Janet Leigh and Pamela Tiffin supporting him as well as Robert Wagner at his "It Takes a Thief" suavest.
Any excuse to give me some Paul Newman in the morning is a good one.
Harper's poster has the feel of the Ross Macdonald novel it was taken from, and a script by William Goldman. As Joel6 says - well worth checking out.
The Drowning Pool a sequel in 1975 wasn't as good, but Newman's 50 year old body was in excellent shape.
What exactly is a barbed wire soul? I've seen HUD a couple of times (that chemistry with Patricia Neal!) but I don't recall that phrase being used.
When it come to biopics, that "is" can be questionable...
Julia Roberts is Erin Brockovich
The thing is—and I think I posted a comment about this here several years ago—this was was a clear case of "Julia Roberts as Erin Brockovich," or even "Erin Brockovich is Julia Roberts." Because that movie was a classic example of a perfectly constructed Vehicle, designed to show off all the best attributes of a movie star and get her to the podium on Oscar night. It certainly wasn't an example of an actor embodying a person through the use of gesture, voice or makeup ("Meryl Streep/Daniel Day Lewis/Marion Cotillard/etc. is...)
We need to post about Paul Newman, or the other Golden Hunks: Marlon Brando and Burt Lancaster, every day.
Paul Newman is a MOVIE STAR