James Dean as Luke in 'Cool Hand Luke'

nothing could/can beat Paul's performance in that movie

"why are you married to him then if you can't work with him how do you live with him?"

No Paul Newman was perfect in those movies especially Hud.

with all due respect to James Dean who i think is a very very talented actor. i really dont think anyone could have done a better job in cool hand luke than paul newman.

i dont think James dean would have made a better luke or brick (cat on a hot tin roof) than paul newman. same with butch cassidy and the sundance kid.

i'm a big james dean fan, but paul newman really made those parts his own.

I don't think James Dean would have been better than Paul Newman in any number of roles that he might have played had he lived -- just different, as his uniqueness would have informed those roles just as Newman's uniqueness informed the same roles. A part that we know Dean was slated to play that went to Newman after Dean died is Rocky Graziano in Somebody Up There Likes Me, and that's a part that I think is much better suited to Paul Newman. However, there are several PN roles that might have gone to JD and would he would have given just as fine a performance, only different as I said above. These come to mind: Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, The Hustler, Hud, Sweet Bird Of Youth, and even the iconic Cool Hand Luke. They would have made a great team in Butch Cassidy. If Dean had lived and a film of On The Road had been made right after the book came out they would have been just barely young enough, and teriffic together, as Sal Paradise (Newman) and Dean Moriarty (Dean).

What if, what if, what if. Dean would have done a good job, but, c'mon. Newman DEFINED those characters and made those films his own in his special way. It's hard to even think about someone else playing those roles.


Is it okay if I do it for mom and not you? 'Cause I really like mom.