Ranking the best Paul Newman films
With a film career spanning more than 50 years, Paul Newman is one of the most prolific actors of the past century. Prior to his death in 2008, Newman had 85 acting credits listed on IMDb, plus a handful of directing, producing, and writing credits. It's an impressive curriculum vitae for a man with humble beginnings in Shaker Heights, Ohio. Though he never finished drama school at Yale University, he landed his first big role in "Picnic" on Broadway. His performance garnered attention from Warner Bros., who gave Newman a film contract, and the rest is history.
More than a decade after his passing, Newman continues to make headlines. In November 2024, filmmaker Robert Zemeckis revealed that he offered the late actor a leading role in the 1988 animated-live action hybrid "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?", only for Newman to take offense and turn down the part. But Newman wasn't opposed to all animation roles—in his later years, he voiced Doc Hudson in Pixar's 2006 release "Cars."
To get a sense of just how enduring Newman's career was, Stacker compiled a list of all 55 films starring the actor, then ranked the list from lowest to highest, according to IMDb user ratings. The list is not all hits, though: Newman's first film was widely panned by critics and viewers alike. Keep reading for the full list of Newman's lead roles in feature films, from "Cars" to "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid."
#55. When Time Ran Out... (1980)
- Director: James Goldstone
- IMDb user rating: 4.5
- Metascore: data not available
- Runtime: 121 minutes
When a massive volcano erupts in this disaster film, the survivors inside a tropical resort must decide whether to follow oil rigger Hank Anderson (Newman) on a dangerous journey to the safe side of the island or hole up in the hotel with owner Shelby Gilmore (William Holden).
#54. The Silver Chalice (1954)
- Director: Victor Saville
- IMDb user rating: 4.7
- Metascore: data not available
- Runtime: 142 minutes
Newman's first film, "The Silver Chalice," didn't have the critical reception its filmmakers were hoping for. The biblical saga follows a young Greek artisan (Newman) who is sold into slavery and commissioned to create the cup Jesus used at the Last Supper.
#53. Quintet (1979)
- Director: Robert Altman
- IMDb user rating: 5.0
- Metascore: data not available
- Runtime: 118 minutes
This post-apocalyptic science fiction film takes place during an ice age where survivors play a game called Quintet to pass the time. Seal hunter Essex (Newman) joins a tournament of Quintet, only to discover that the group takes the rules of the game into real life by executing players who are killed in the game.
#52. Pocket Money (1972)
- Director: Stuart Rosenberg
- IMDb user rating: 5.4
- Metascore: 55
- Runtime: 102 minutes
This movie, based on the novel "Jim Kane," stars Newman as the book's titular character, a broke but honest cowboy. Desperate for a job, Kane agrees to escort 200 cattle from Mexico to Arizona in a shady business deal, but it turns out to be a little more complicated than he thought.
#51. Lady L (1965)
- Director: Peter Ustinov
- IMDb user rating: 5.5
- Metascore: data not available
- Runtime: 117 minutes
Sophia Loren plays the eponymous Lady L, a fascinating elderly woman who recounts her life story to a biographer. Paul Newman took the role of Armand, a thief and anarchist with whom Lady L fell in love while she worked in a brothel in Paris. Lady L eventually agrees to marry Lord Lendale, who, in turn, says he will ignore Armand's criminal activities. That's not how the love story ends, though: Armand hides in plain sight as the family's chauffeur and Lady L continues her affair with him throughout the years.
#50. WUSA (1970)
- Director: Stuart Rosenberg
- IMDb user rating: 5.5
- Metascore: data not available
- Runtime: 115 minutes
In this 1970 film, WUSA is the name of a right-wing radio station in New Orleans where drifter Rheinhardt (Newman) takes a job. Though he doesn't mind the station's extreme stance at first, he becomes disturbed by the way its owners are trying to influence the community after a white supremacist rally spirals out of control.
#49. A New Kind of Love (1963)
- Director: Melville Shavelson
- IMDb user rating: 5.8
- Metascore: data not available
- Runtime: 110 minutes
Following films like "The Long, Hot Summer" and "Paris Blues," Newman and Joanne Woodward reunite again as romantic interests in "A New Kind of Love," a comedy that takes place in Paris. Woodward plays Samantha, a fashion designer mistaken for a prostitute by womanizing journalist Steve (Newman). When Steve asks Samantha if he can interview her about her profession, she goes along with it to get revenge on him for snubbing her in the past.
#48. Harry & Son (1984)
- Director: Paul Newman
- IMDb user rating: 5.8
- Metascore: 30
- Runtime: 120 minutes
This 1984 film sees Newman playing widower and demolition crane operator Harry Keach. Tensions between Harry and his son Howard, an aspiring writer who doesn't have the gumption to chase his dreams, come to a head when Harry finds out his health issues will prevent him from going back to work.
#47. Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys! (1958)
- Director: Leo McCarey
- IMDb user rating: 5.9
- Metascore: data not available
- Runtime: 106 minutes
Residents of Putnam's Landing, a small Long Island town, are shocked to discover a secret Army plan to build a missile base in the community. Married couple Harry (Newman) and Grace Bannerman (Joanne Woodward) lead the opposition effort.
#46. Winning (1969)
- Director: James Goldstone
- IMDb user rating: 6.0
- Metascore: 70
- Runtime: 123 minutes
"Winning" is about racecar driver Frank Capua (Newman), who is fixated on winning the Indianapolis 500. But will his fixation on his career derail his new romance with divorcée Elora (Joanne Woodward)?
#45. Blaze (1989)
- Director: Ron Shelton
- IMDb user rating: 6.0
- Metascore: 67
- Runtime: 120 minutes
When Louisiana Gov. Earl K. Young (Newman) falls in love with a stripper, he worries for his political career. After the couple moves in together, Young's political opponents use the controversy to attack his radical beliefs.
#44. Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson (1976)
- Director: Robert Altman
- IMDb user rating: 6.1
- Metascore: 61
- Runtime: 123 minutes
Buffalo Bill (Newman) decides to put on a Wild West sideshow and hires Chief Sitting Bull (Frank Kaquitts) to appear in it. What the businessman doesn't realize is that Sitting Bull doesn't plan to go along with this exploitative plan—he hopes to expose the American expansion into the West as a murderous attack on Native Americans.
#43. The Outrage (1964)
- Director: Martin Ritt
- IMDb user rating: 6.2
- Metascore: data not available
- Runtime: 96 minutes
The premise of "The Outrage" sounds like the opening line of a joke: A preacher, a con man, and a prospector meet at a railroad station. All three were witnesses to the dramatic trial of Juan Carrasco (Newman) for the rape of a woman and murder of her husband, but all three accounts differ drastically. Who is telling the truth?
#42. Twilight (1998)
- Director: Robert Benton
- IMDb user rating: 6.2
- Metascore: data not available
- Runtime: 94 minutes
Not to be mistaken for the first film adaptation based on Stephenie Meyer's vampire series of the same name, the 1998 film "Twilight" focuses on a retired cop who stumbles into a 20-year-old cold case when a rich actor asks him to deliver blackmail money.
#41. Message in a Bottle (1999)
- Director: Luis Mandoki
- IMDb user rating: 6.2
- Metascore: 39
- Runtime: 126 minutes
This romantic drama begins when Theresa Osborne (Robin Wright) finds a mysterious love letter in a bottle on the beach in Cape Cod. She tracks down the writer, Garrett Blake (Kevin Costner), who lost his wife tragically early. Despite a rocky start, the pair can't deny their deep connection. Newman plays Garrett's father, Dodge.
#40. The Helen Morgan Story (1957)
- Director: Michael Curtiz
- IMDb user rating: 6.3
- Metascore: data not available
- Runtime: 118 minutes
Ann Blyth takes the role of Helen Morgan, a singer who gets her start at carnivals and eventually winds up on Broadway. Despite her initial success, Helen's involvement with gin-runner and con man Larry Maddux (Newman) and businessman Russell Wade (Richard Carlson) ultimately lead to her downfall.
#39. The Secret War of Harry Frigg (1968)
- Director: Jack Smight
- IMDb user rating: 6.3
- Metascore: data not available
- Runtime: 110 minutes
When five one-star generals are captured during World War II, their potential escape is thwarted by their egos: They can't agree on a plan and won't take orders from one another, since they're all the same rank. The military promotes escape artist Pvt. Harry Frigg (Newman) to the rank of major general—so he now outranks the others—and sends him in to plot their getaway. Hijinks ensue.
#38. The MacKintosh Man (1973)
- Director: John Huston
- IMDb user rating: 6.3
- Metascore: data not available
- Runtime: 98 minutes
In this thriller, British intelligence officer Joseph Rearden (Newman) pretends to be a criminal and allows himself to be caught and imprisoned in order to infiltrate a spy organization.
#37. Where the Money Is (2000)
- Director: Marek Kanievska
- IMDb user rating: 6.3
- Metascore: 49
- Runtime: 89 minutes
Carol (Linda Fiorentino), a nurse at a retirement home, notices something odd about one of her patients: Despite the fact that he has had a stroke, notorious bank robber Henry (Newman) is actually in far better condition than his doctors believe. After she threatens to expose his secret, Henry agrees to team up with Carol and her husband, Wayne (Dermot Mulroney), to plan one last great heist.
#36. Until They Sail (1957)
- Director: Robert Wise
- IMDb user rating: 6.5
- Metascore: data not available
- Runtime: 94 minutes
This black-and-white drama follows New Zealand women who become romantically involved with American servicemen fighting in World War II. Newman plays Capt. Jack Harding, the Marine tasked with reviewing the backgrounds of Kiwi women who want to marry American soldiers.
#35. The Left Handed Gun (1958)
- Director: Arthur Penn
- IMDb user rating: 6.5
- Metascore: data not available
- Runtime: 102 minutes
This Western hones in on Billy the Kid (Newman), a gunman who pledges to avenge the death of his boss, the Englishman (Colin Keith-Johnston), in the Lincoln County War. Billy the Kid becomes one of the most notorious criminals in the West and eventually, his former friend turned sheriff Pat Garrett (John Dehner) corners him for an epic showdown.
#34. The Drowning Pool (1975)
- Director: Stuart Rosenberg
- IMDb user rating: 6.5
- Metascore: 48
- Runtime: 108 minutes
Based on Ross MacDonald's novel of the same name, "The Drowning Pool" begins when private eye Lew Harper (Newman) travels to Louisiana to help his old flame Iris Devereaux (Joanne Woodward). Iris is worried her former chauffeur will reveal her affair to her husband, and Harper steps in to help keep her secret. Soon, he realizes the story is much more complicated than even she knew.
#33. Fat Man and Little Boy (1989)
- Director: Roland Joffé
- IMDb user rating: 6.5
- Metascore: 50
- Runtime: 127 minutes
This 1989 film tells the story of the Manhattan Project. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Col. Leslie Groves (Newman) heads up the ultra-secret operation with physicist Robert Oppenheimer (Dwight Schultz), nurse Kathleen Robinson (Laura Dern), and young scientist Michael Merriman (John Cusack).
#32. Mr. & Mrs. Bridge (1990)
- Director: James Ivory
- IMDb user rating: 6.6
- Metascore: 73
- Runtime: 126 minutes
The wealthy Bridge family lives in the country club district of Kansas City, Missouri, in the 1930s. Mr. Bridge (Newman) is a deeply conservative lawyer who resists his children's attempts to modernize their lives while his wife (Joanne Woodward) tries desperately to hold the family together.
#31. Torn Curtain (1966)
- Director: Alfred Hitchcock
- IMDb user rating: 6.6
- Metascore: 55
- Runtime: 128 minutes
In this Alfred Hitchcock film, Newman plays physicist Michael Armstrong. After attending a conference in Copenhagen, Armstrong informs his assistant and fiance Sarah Sherman (Julie Andrews) that she should go home without him since he plans to defect to East Germany. Though he publicly states his decision was based on getting funding for a research project, Armstrong is actually there to obtain a secret formula from a professor in Leipzig.
#30. From the Terrace (1960)
- Director: Mark Robson
- IMDb user rating: 6.7
- Metascore: data not available
- Runtime: 149 minutes
This romantic drama hinges on the personal life and professional career of David Alfred Eaton (Newman). Though he marries the beautiful Mary St. John (Joanne Woodward), family feuds, business failures, and multiple affairs threaten to derail his life.
#29. Paris Blues (1961)
- Director: Martin Ritt
- IMDb user rating: 6.7
- Metascore: 61
- Runtime: 98 minutes
Two jazz musician expatriates living in Paris (Newman and Sidney Poitier) meet two young Americans on holiday (Joanne Woodward and Diahann Carroll). The musicians must weigh the pros and cons of moving back to the United States with their new lovers, or give up romantic happiness for France's more tolerant and forward-thinking culture.
#28. Fort Apache the Bronx (1981)
- Director: Daniel Petrie
- IMDb user rating: 6.7
- Metascore: 49
- Runtime: 125 minutes
The New York Police Department officers who work in the 41st Precinct in the film call it "Fort Apache," since working in the high-crime South Bronx neighborhood often feels like working in a foreign territory surrounded by opponents. Newman plays Officer Murphy, who becomes entangled in the murder case of two rookie cops and must wrestle with his loyalty to the force in order to do what's right.
#27. Exodus (1960)
- Director: Otto Preminger
- IMDb user rating: 6.7
- Metascore: data not available
- Runtime: 208 minutes
This historical epic centers on the founding of Israel in 1948. Newman plays Ari Ben Canaan, the former British Army captain who smuggles 611 Jewish refugees onto a cargo ship and tries to take them to Palestine. Twists and turns ensue in their quest to form a Jewish state.
#26. The Rack (1956)
- Director: Arnold Laven
- IMDb user rating: 6.8
- Metascore: data not available
- Runtime: 100 minutes
Newman takes the role of Capt. Edward Worthington Hall Jr., a Korean War hero who was brainwashed into cooperating with the enemy during his time in a prison camp. When he returns home, he is court-martialed and must try to get the military to see his side of the story.
#25. The Prize (1963)
- Director: Mark Robson
- IMDb user rating: 6.8
- Metascore: data not available
- Runtime: 134 minutes
Based on the novel of the same name, this 1963 film begins when Nobel Laureates—including literature prize winner Andrew Craig (Newman)—arrive in Stockholm to accept their awards. After Craig makes an offhand suggestion that the chemistry prize winner might be an imposter, he is shocked to realize he might actually be right—and might have found the subject of his next novel.
#24. What a Way to Go! (1964)
- Director: J. Lee Thompson
- IMDb user rating: 6.9
- Metascore: data not available
- Runtime: 111 minutes
Four-time widow Louisa May Foster (Shirley MacLaine) spills the story of her husbands' untimely deaths on her therapist's couch in this dark comedy. Newman plays Larry Flint, an artist, inventor, and Foster's second husband who literally works himself to death.
#23. The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972)
- Director: John Huston
- IMDb user rating: 6.9
- Metascore: data not available
- Runtime: 120 minutes
In this film, Paul Newman plays the title character Judge Roy Bean, a former outlaw who appoints himself judge of Vinegaroon, Texas. Instead of the gavel, Bean uses his pistols to dispense justice.
#22. Harper (1966)
- Director: Jack Smight
- IMDb user rating: 6.9
- Metascore: 51
- Runtime: 121 minutes
Wealthy California matron Mrs. Sampson (Lauren Bacall) hires private investigator Lew Harper (Newman) to find her missing husband. As Harper tracks down Mr. Sampson, he finds himself immersed in the dark criminal underbelly of Los Angeles.
#21. Absence of Malice (1981)
- Director: Sydney Pollack
- IMDb user rating: 6.9
- Metascore: 64
- Runtime: 116 minutes
This courtroom drama about a false newspaper article about liquor wholesaler Michael Gallagher (Newman) written by journalist Megan Carter (Sally Field) is often used to teach libel law in journalism classes. Since Carter believed her information to be true and received it from a source who intentionally deceived her, she has an "absence of malice" and is therefore not guilty of libel.
#20. Sometimes a Great Notion (1971)
- Director: Paul Newman
- IMDb user rating: 7.0
- Metascore: data not available
- Runtime: 114 minutes
Based on Ken Kesey's novel, "Sometimes a Great Notion" follows a family of Oregon loggers who decide to keep operating during a strike in order to get business from the local mill. The drama explores everything leading up to the decision, from the historical background to their relationships.
#19. The Towering Inferno (1974)
- Director: John Guillermin
- IMDb user rating: 7.0
- Metascore: 69
- Runtime: 165 minutes
Architect Doug Roberts (Newman) arrives at the unveiling party for his latest skyscraper only to discover that his specifications haven't been followed and the building is short-circuiting. Sparks soon turn to fire, and he must work with fire Chief Michael O'Halleran (Steve McQueen) to save the crowd of revelers.
#18. The Color of Money (1986)
- Director: Martin Scorsese
- IMDb user rating: 7.0
- Metascore: 77
- Runtime: 119 minutes
Fast Eddie Felson (Newman) is a former pool hustler who made a more legitimate career as a liquor salesman. Vincent Lauria (Tom Cruise) is a pool player, video gamer, and toy store clerk. Felson teaches Lauria his ways, but the two eventually play each other in a high-stakes tournament in Atlantic City.
#17. Sweet Bird of Youth (1962)
- Director: Richard Brooks
- IMDb user rating: 7.2
- Metascore: data not available
- Runtime: 120 minutes
Chance Wayne (Newman) returns to his hometown of St. Cloud, Florida, after years away with the once-great movie actress Alexandra Del Lago (Geraldine Page), who is now something of a drunk. Despite their pairing, Wayne really wants to get back together with his ex-girlfriend Heavenly Finley (Shirley Knight), who is the daughter of a corrupt local politician.
#16. The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)
- Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
- IMDb user rating: 7.2
- Metascore: 53
- Runtime: 111 minutes
In this comedy, a shrewd, maniacal member of Hudsucker Industries' board of directors (played by Newman) attempts to tank the company's stock by installing an inexperienced business school graduate as the president.
#15. Cars (2006)
- Directors: John Lasseter, Joe Ranft
- IMDb user rating: 7.2
- Metascore: 73
- Runtime: 117 minutes
The first animated film on this list, "Cars" saw Newman take a voice acting role as Doc Hudson, a retired race car who finds a second career as a local judge. Will young upstart Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) go all the way in the Piston Cup championship?
#14. The Long, Hot Summer (1958)
- Director: Martin Ritt
- IMDb user rating: 7.3
- Metascore: data not available
- Runtime: 115 minutes
Three works by William Faulkner—"Spotted Horses," "Barn Burning," and "The Hamlet"—form the basis of this film starring Newman as con man Ben Quick. Plantation owner Will Varner (Orson Welles) soon takes a liking to the hot-headed upstart and attempts to set him up with daughter, Clara (Joanne Woodward).
#13. Nobody's Fool (1994)
- Director: Robert Benton
- IMDb user rating: 7.3
- Metascore: 86
- Runtime: 110 minutes
Sully (Newman) is an aging hustler who now makes a living working construction in the sleepy town of North Bath, New York. He's often at odds with his employer, Carl (Bruce Willis), and frequently steals his snowblower and sues him for unpaid wages. Everything changes when Sully's estranged son Peter (Dylan Walsh) and grandson Will (Alexander Goodwin) come to town.
#12. Slap Shot (1977)
- Director: George Roy Hill
- IMDb user rating: 7.3
- Metascore: 61
- Runtime: 123 minutes
This sports comedy stars Newman as Reggie, a player and coach on the local hockey team. When the decline of the town's mill threatens the team's existence, Reggie puts an interesting new theory in place: allowing the violent Hanson brothers (Steve Carlson and David Hanson) to whale on their opponents on the ice.
#11. The Young Philadelphians (1959)
- Director: Vincent Sherman
- IMDb user rating: 7.4
- Metascore: data not available
- Runtime: 136 minutes
In this two-hour drama, Newman takes the role of Anthony Judson Lawrence, a young lawyer who becomes one of Philadelphia's elite businessmen after countless trials and tribulations. His parentage, middle-class upbringing, romantic affairs, and quite a few lucky breaks all help him get there.
#10. Hombre (1967)
- Director: Martin Ritt
- IMDb user rating: 7.4
- Metascore: 80
- Runtime: 111 minutes
His fellow stagecoach passengers snub John Russell (Newman) when they learn that he was raised by Apaches, but they change their tune as soon as they're robbed. Russell must weigh his good-natured desire to help the group with his disdain for Professor Alexander Favor (Fredric March), the snobby aristocrat who was the target of the raid.
#9. Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956)
- Director: Robert Wise
- IMDb user rating: 7.5
- Metascore: data not available
- Runtime: 113 minutes
Newman plays boxer Rocky Graziano in "Somebody Up There Likes Me," a biopic based on his autobiography. The film follows his turbulent upbringing, amateur career, professional success, and eventual downfall.
#8. The Verdict (1982)
- Director: Sidney Lumet
- IMDb user rating: 7.7
- Metascore: 77
- Runtime: 129 minutes
After prominent attorney Frank Galvin (Newman) is framed with jury tampering, he's lost his former esteem and must resort to lurking around disaster sites to find cases. When his friend and fellow attorney Mickey Morrissey (Jack Warden) tosses him a medical malpractice case as a favor, Galvin sees an opportunity to resurrect his career.
#7. Road to Perdition (2002)
- Director: Sam Mendes
- IMDb user rating: 7.7
- Metascore: 72
- Runtime: 117 minutes
This crime film hones in on the relationship between mob enforcer Michael Sullivan (Tom Hanks) and his son Michael Jr. (Tyler Hoechlin) after the latter finds out what his father does for a living. Newman plays Irish mob boss John Rooney in this movie set in 1930s Chicago.
#6. Hud (1963)
- Director: Martin Ritt
- IMDb user rating: 7.8
- Metascore: 62
- Runtime: 112 minutes
In this drama, Newman plays Hud, the arrogant son of Texas rancher Homer Bannon (Melvyn Douglas). The father and son duo are so different—Hud is hot-headed and bitter while Homer is strict and principled—that they find conflict in almost every conversation.
#5. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)
- Director: Richard Brooks
- IMDb user rating: 8.0
- Metascore: 84
- Runtime: 108 minutes
Based on the Pulitzer Prize–winning play by Tennessee Williams, "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" also received plenty of critical acclaim. In the film, alcoholic former football player Brick (Newman) finds himself reminiscing when he learns that his father Big Daddy Pollitt (Burl Ives) is dying of cancer.
#4. The Hustler (1961)
- Director: Robert Rossen
- IMDb user rating: 8.0
- Metascore: 90
- Runtime: 134 minutes
"The Hustler" created the pool hustler character Eddie Felson that Newman would later resurrect in "The Color of Money." In the original film, audiences see Felson travel across the country with his small-time hustling partner to challenge legendary player Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason).
#3. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
- Director: George Roy Hill
- IMDb user rating: 8.0
- Metascore: 66
- Runtime: 110 minutes
Butch Cassidy (Newman) and the Sundance Kid (Robert Redford) lead a band of outlaws in Wyoming in the early 20th century. When their plan to rob a train goes awry, they turn to plan B: escape to Bolivia. But can they evade their enemies long enough to leave the country?
#2. Cool Hand Luke (1967)
- Director: Stuart Rosenberg
- IMDb user rating: 8.1
- Metascore: 92
- Runtime: 127 minutes
Newman plays the title character in this 1967 prison drama. After Luke is caught cutting parking meters off their poles, he is sentenced to two years in a Florida prison run with an iron fist by the Captain (Strother Martin) and Boss Godfrey (Morgan Woodward). The only problem is, Luke refuses to follow the rules.
#1. The Sting (1973)
- Director: George Roy Hill
- IMDb user rating: 8.3
- Metascore: 83
- Runtime: 129 minutes
Newman's top-rated film on IMDb is "The Sting," a crime drama starring Newman and Robert Redford as con men Henry Gondorff and Johnny Hooker, respectively. After Hooker runs afoul of New York crime boss Doyle Lonnegan (Robert Shaw), he flees to Chicago to ask for Gondorff's help in evading his enemies and pulling off one last big con.
