ICONOCLASTS: ROBERT REDFORD ON PAUL NEWMAN {FIRST SEASON FINALE} (TV)
Summary
The first season finale in this documentary series in which two noteworthy artistic figures interview and profile one another. This episode focuses on longtime friends and famous co-stars Paul Newman and Robert Redford.
Redford drives up to Newman's Connecticut home, commenting on their early careers in television and theater. Redford recalls that Newman, the far more famous of the two in the 1960s, argued in favor of casting him in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (1969), the first of their two iconic films together. Redford explains that Newman, who originally considered becoming a schoolteacher, has a shrewd understanding of how to use his fame for good, as demonstrated through the SeriousFun Children's Network (his organization providing ill children around the world with free summer camp programs) rather than "abusing the platform." Redford reunites with his friend for the first time in over a year, and they drive around Connecticut, chatting about how Westport has changed over the decades, during the almost 50 years of his marriage to actress Joanne Woodward. They visit the Westport Country Playhouse, the non-profit theater that Newman and Woodward are working to renovate, and the actors chat about their many memories of performing there.
Newman recalls making his Broadway debut in "Picnic" in 1953, in which Woodward was an understudy, and then appeared in "The Silver Chalice" (1954). Redford and Newman joke about the experience of getting bad reviews, and then comment on each other's largely successful careers. Newman comments on his salad-dressing company, Newman's Own, which donates 100 percent of its profits to charity and got its start from Newman's habit of delivering homemade dressings to his neighbors as holiday gifts. Redford is shown honoring his friend at the 1992 Kennedy Center Honors; Newman discusses taking up car racing at the age of 47 and founding Newman/Haas Racing in 1983. Noting that he does not feel that actors can truly "compete" with one another, he cites his racing victories as being among his life's proudest moments. In 1981, Redford founded the Sundance Institute, named for his famous character, leading to the Sundance Film Festival and other outlets intended to support independent filmmakers; he notes that he considers Utah a good place to escape the hectic celebrity life of Hollywood and New York.
Both men acknowledge the late George Roy Hill, director of both "Sundance" and their second film, "The Sting" (1973), as being "the third part of the trio," praising his knack for crafting compelling stories with unusual details. Redford admits that he initially hated the inclusion of the song "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," which earned "Sundance" a Best Original Song Academy Award. They admit that they are reluctant to reteam for a third film without an equally strong director at the helm; the two close the program by reflecting on their long friendship. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: Sundance Channel
- DATE: 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:39:44
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 124383
- GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: Public affairs/Documentaries; Talk/Interview; Actors and actresses
- SERIES RUN: Sundance Channel - TV series, 2005-2012
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Laura Michalchyshyn … Executive Producer
- Michael Davies … Executive Producer
- Jon Kamen … Executive Producer
- Frank Scherma … Executive Producer
- Greg Schultz … Executive Producer
- Adam Pincus … Executive Producer
- Kirk Iwanowski … Executive Producer
- Erica Forstadt … Producer
- Tennaly Fortier … Senior Associate Producer
- Andrew Fried … Senior Associate Producer
- Marcella Steingart … Senior Associate Producer
- Lindsey Lefkow … Associate Producer
- Melissa Haggerty … Associate Producer
- Michael Hilliard … Line Producer
- Joe Berlinger … Director
- Andrew Barker … Music by
- Peter Nashel … Theme Music by
- Paul Newman … Interviewee
- Robert Redford … Interviewee
- George Roy Hill
- Joanne Woodward