Friday, November 4, 2016

A pair to draw to.


There’s a long list of pairs who displayed a certain chemistry on the silver screen. Bogie and Bacall. Hope and Crosby. Bert and Ernie. Brad and Angelina. Andy Griffith and Don Knotts. Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. Woody and Buzz Lightyear. Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance. Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin.
But for my money, the most enjoyable acting duo has to be Paul Newman and Robert Redford. Without them, I think Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid would be just another ordinary, everyday Western. But their rib-tickling repartee and witty quibbling made the characters come alive. They were likable, engaging, and altogether enjoyable. I suspect screenwriter William Goldman got a big kick out of seeing those two bring his words to life on the big screen.
I still watch Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid from time to time, and it’s as good today as it was back in 1969 when the world was a whole different place.
Newman and Redford did it again in The Sting—an altogether different kind of movie and every bit as remarkable. Too bad they didn’t make more movies together. As a pair, they can’t be beat.
Then again, there’s always Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones as Gus McCrae and Woodrow Call….


4 comments:

  1. You nailed some good ones, Rod. Newman and Redford were special together as were Duvall and Jones. I might give a slight nod to the latter as Lonesome Dove tops my list as a body of work, all-time ever.

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    1. Thanks, Paul. It's a close call and could go either way.

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  2. Gus McRae and Woodrow Call get my vote, but boy howdy, Redford and Newman in Butch Cassidy etc., and The Sting run a close second. Nice column, Rod.

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    1. Thanks, Carla. Gus and Woodrow are certainly all time, as are Butch and Sundance.

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