Right film for Paul Newman fans by John Russell Taylor Film critic Astoria Cool Hand Luke Paul Newman's new film-it is reasonable to call it his, in that somehow of all the actors under 80 now at work in Hollywood he is the only one to mark every film he is in decisively with his own personality. Well, Paul Newman's new film is dedicated to develop- ing the sensible proposition that there is no percentage in being somebody else's hero. It is not exactly a new notion in the cinema. One episode of Munl's Eroica was based on exactly the same idea, that of a prisoner more or less compelled to act out the role of a hero so that others in the camp may take cour- age and inspiration from his example. High Noon made the point in a rural American con- text, with Gary Cooper as the sheriff who is required to shoulder all responsibilities for his cowardly charges and, having disposed of the bad men. tramples his star in the dust as he leaves. Cool Hand Luke combines the setting of the first with the ethical position of the second; and if Luke is an unregenerate member of a chain gang while the sheriff was, the representative of all that is right and proper in American life, that merely gives an extra edge of irony to the new film. Of course. Luke, being played by Paul Newman, inevitably trails clouds of glory from many another heroic film role. Even his crime-the retaliatory decapita- tion of a municipality's parking meters-is perfectly calculated to endear him to the most law- abiding audience. Stuart Rosen- berg directs the film so as to lose nothing of the man's (Paul New- man's as well as Luke's) magnetic attraction, which rapidly makes him the most popular character in prison. The manly high-jinks in the film's first half are engagingly bizarre -specially the big sequence in which Luke sets out to eat 50 eggs in an hour for a bet. The film loses momentum and conviction when it embarks on the demythification of Luke in the second half: Mr. Newman goes on looking remarkably like a myth, whatever he may try to do about it. And the religious angle (does misfortune overtake him becautse he challenges the existence of God?) is rather a tiresome red herring. But the film is handsome and oftert funny. And just the thing for Paul Newman fans. Carlton: The War Wagon Burt Kennedy's new western is just the thing for John Wayne fans. It bas a rather Hawksian chaffing relationship between two very dif- ferent men at its centre, plenty of ingenious action, and it does get a move on, with no moping over a faint incidental love interest or any of the other things which mnight distract us from the per- sonalities of the stars. The easy-going, slow-eyed fast draw is-but of course-John Wayne. The fancy-dressing gun- man who goes into partnership with him but also agrees to accept S12,000 for shooting him if he can is Kirk Douglas. Their aim is to steal a shipment of gold from mines which should by rights be- long to John Wayne (quite moral really, you see) and the film simply shows them setting up the robbery and carrying it out. Neat and amusing and in the classic style; you've seen it all before, but not often so well done. Paris-Pullman: La Marseillaise Never before shown complete in this country, Jean Renoir's film about the French Revolution, made in the shadow of the last war, finally puts in a proper appearance in a gleaming new print. It would be idle to pretend that it stands among the great man's great films. A lot of it has dated badly, not so much technically as in the expan- sive sentimentalism of its big pat- riotic and humanrtarian scenes, understandable though this is given the time the film was made. The action scenes, particularly towards the end, do a lot to make up for a slow and talky opening, and the care taken over historical detail is exemplary. It is good, anyway, to have yet another major work of a major film-maker available at last in more or less the shape he originally gave it. Let us hope the process con- tinues, to bring us perhaps a full version of Renoir's Madame Bovary. Meanwhile, La Marsei- llaise is an impressive earnest of good intentions. Academy Cinema Three: Hunger The most striking thing about Henning Carlsen's film version of Knut Hamsun's autobiographical novel is the performance of Per Oscarsson in the lead. The film it- self is very agreeable, and not at all so depressing as you might imag- ine from being told that it con- cerns a down-and-out writer nearly starving to death on the streets of Oslo in the 1890s. Largely it is his own fault: he is above all too proud and awkward to ask for help from those who would willingly help him, or even to accept it when it is freely offered. Also, as we fol- low him we experience with him the nightmarish alternation of pain and depression with light- headed elation, and sometimes the effect is very funny, with a tough, biting irony. Most of this is achieved by Per Oscarsson, whose presence as the shabby but un- bending hero is extraordinary, and whose mastery of pacing and variety within a very limited range of action prevents the film from ever being dulL Mr. Carlsen's eye for period detail is sharp, but mostly he concentrates on provid- ing a fit frame for his actor. And for once he is prefectly right. Scene from Hatnger with Per Oscarsson. Right film for Paul Newman fans