While browsing
the in rack in Queen Video of recent blu rays, I come across a digitally
upgraded version of the classic film; ‘Three Faces of Eve.”
Recently, I’ve
been fixated with HBO, AMC, Netflix, etc
series .. any thing, thirteen episodes or more - much to do with the past three
months of stiffs. Stepping away and back into black and white seemed my only
option.
What a great
call! I so much admire Joanne Woodward. The acting has always been grand but
the real story has always been the marriage to Paul Newman.
So many
times through the years I have marveled at their relationship a marriage than
endured fifty years absent scandal and one of profound love and respect until
his death.
Kristine and
I were captivated by Woodward’s Oscar winning performance – the moments she
switched between Georgia party girl, to mortally wounded, to Miss Common Sense.
Woodward was
born in Georgia and at age nine attended the premiere of Gone with the Wind in
Atlanta sitting in the lap of the star – Vivien Leigh for the showing.
She first
met Newman in 1953 and would marry after his divorce in 1958 a year after
winning the Oscar.
They would
appear in eleven films together – which brings me to my point.
We couldn’t
resist exploring YouTube for all things Woodward and Newman afterwards.
The two were
on What’s My Line – damn, were they a joyful delight. Movies .. watching them
seduce and toy with each other on set is a thousand times more powerful than today’s
stripped down bodies that offer tentative shock but deliver little passion.
These two had amassed so much electricity between to light cinema for decades
to come.
Kris and I
then watched the photo essays. My God, the moments together are extraordinary.
These are two of the most captured Hollywood types on record. You could argue Elizabeth
Taylor and Richard Burton but those aren’t images of burning long-term desire.
I was
looking through the insipid celebrity photos in the morning Star and thought
back to last night and the artful captures, the locations, the kisses, the
sweetness, playfulness – the respect and admiration.
A great marriage
has that to offer and the Newman’s understood what they had – protected and
remained loyal and committed. Now, get me a Kleenex!
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