40 Years Ago Today: Paul Newman Starred In One Of The Best Sports Movies Ever Made

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When "The Color of Money" opened in theaters on October 17, 1986, Martin Scorsese was coming off a filmmaking heater, having delivered "Raging Bull," "The King of Comedy," and "After Hours" back to back. Hollywood, however, was losing patience with him since "Raging Bull" was the only movie in that run that could be considered a marginal success. The other two bombed, which placed Scorsese's passion project, "The Last Temptation of Christ," out of reach. He wasn't in directors' jail, but he was probably one strike away from landing there. In other words, he needed a hit.

Paul Newman, meanwhile, was still very much Paul Newman in the mid-1980s, but, despite having received several Oscar nominations for Best Actor up to that point (starting with 1959's "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"), he'd never won. His most recent loss, for 1982's would-be Robert Redford vehicle "The Verdict," was especially galling because it was the best work of his career. (He lost to Ben Kingsley, who was a beneficiary of the "Gandhi" fever that swept the Academy Awards that year.) This was all very strange because Newman was beloved in Hollywood. What else did he have to do to win one of those gold suckers?

Why not revisit an iconic character 25 years later?

Based on Walter Tevis' 1959 novel, 1961's "The Hustler" found Newman at his cocksure best as pool shark "Fast Eddie" Felson. Tevis completed his sequel, "The Color of Money," prior to his death in 1984. What had become of Felson? It was an intriguing enough question that Scorsese decided to adapt Tevis' book as his first for-hire film since "Boxcar Bertha." He paired a silver-haired Newman with the newly minted superstar Tom Cruise and came away with a classic oozing with boozy, cigarette-stale pool hall authenticity.

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Martin Scorsese is such a virtuoso that he can make one of the best sports movies ever, and it won't even crack his personal top 10. Did he top "The Hustler?" No. He made a radically different film set in a gritty urban environment (Chicago) that he captured like he was born there. Ever the cinephile, he understood the assignment: let two of the most incandescent movie stars ever to set foot in front of a camera duel.

After his harrowing portrayal of an alcoholic ambulance chaser in "The Verdict," Paul Newman allowed an aging Felson to retain a patina of charm. He knows Tom Cruise's Vincent Lauria and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio's Carmen have potential as a one-two hustle and cannily draws them into a web that he's instinctually spinning. And once he realizes his old reflexes are still there, he knows he can take this kid just like he destroyed Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason) in "The Hustler."

Most of "The Color of Money" is about the art of separating marks from their money. But, eventually, it's about an old lion who's still got his roar, and once his pride is activated, he can't let Vince do him like he did Fats. Factor in Michael Ballhaus' cinematography, Thelma Schoonmaker's editing, and an unerring ear for dive bar jukebox standards (Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London" is a standout), and you've got Scorsese's version of an underdog sports drama. True to form, he ends it on his own ambiguous terms. Who cares who wins? Surviving is winning. And Scorsese, who had previously dealt with cocaine addiction, understands coming out clean on the other side with swagger to spare.

And Newman won Best Actor. It's in the way that you use it.