In 1986, Tom Cruise was on prime of the world. Prime Gun had come out and change into the largest film of the yr, minting him as a bonafide celebrity. Nonetheless, Cruise had larger ambitions past being an motion hero or heartthrob. He wished to be a legit, revered actor; so earlier than Prime Gun ever hit theaters, he had already wrapped a task the place he’d play reverse one of many greatest motion pictures stars of all time – Paul Newman – whose profession Cruise would probably need to emulate because the older actor was capable of finding the proper steadiness between artwork and commerce, whereas by no means sacrificing his model as a star. Their film collectively – The Colour of Cash – would go on to be a spotlight of each’s filmographies, and a notable gritty effort that paired them each, for the one time, with the nice Martin Scorsese.
Flashback to 1961. Paul Newman was one of many greatest stars on the planet, however his appearing expertise was by no means given its correct due. He was a heartthrob, however the nice performances he’d change into identified for had been in his future. Up up to now, his most acclaimed efficiency had been within the watered-down Tennesse Williams adaptation Cat on a Sizzling Tin Roof. To many, he lacked depth as an actor, which was explored within the current Ethan Hawke documentary The Final Film Stars. He was good-looking, however was he an incredible actor? Any doubts can be put apart as soon as audiences bought a load of him as Quick Eddie Felson in Robert Rossen’s movie The Hustler. In it, he’d play a pool hustler whose ambitions and pleasure get him into severe bother, culminating in an intergenerational showdown with the nice pool shark Minnesota Fat, performed by the nice one himself – Jackie Gleason. Ultimately, Felson is the victor, however the legal factor warns him that his days’ hustling pool are over or else. It’s a down-and-dirty film for 1961, with Newman not at all times sympathetic because the impulsive, usually merciless Quick Eddie. It was based mostly on a novel by Walter Tevis, who additionally wrote The Queen’s Gambit, and over 20 years later, the creator revisited the character in his ebook The Colour of Cash.
The notion of revisiting his most well-known character should have appealed to Newman on the time, who was using a renewed wave of recognition within the wake of delivering maybe his best efficiency ever – in Sidney Lumet’s The Verdict. It was the primary time Newman appeared to embrace center age, and certainly he appeared loads completely different within the mid-eighties than he did within the early sixties. The notion of revisiting Quick Eddie in his center age led to Newman pursuing Martin Scorsese as a director, with the star impressed by Raging Bull.
To notice, Scorsese’s profession was at a low ebb in 1986. Whereas Raging Bull was Oscar-nominated, it hadn’t made any cash, and the Me decade in Hollywood was all about producing money and being commercially viable. Scorsese movies didn’t match the invoice. The King of Comedy was one other crucial hit that didn’t make a dime, and his follow-up, After Hours was additionally a flop. Scorsese had ambitions to make large-scale motion pictures like The Final Temptation of Christ, however to take action, he wanted to show to the studios that he might keep on schedule, on finances and ship a success as a employed gun.
Nonetheless, even when The Colour of Cash wouldn’t be a ardour venture for Scorsese, the director was bent on making it pretty much as good as he might, which led to him ditching the Tevis novel in favour of an authentic screenplay by the nice Richard Worth.
We’d meet Quick Eddie deep into center age on this new movie. He hasn’t touched a pool cue in years, with him as a substitute peddling knockoff manufacturers of whisky to bars – which feels like a comedown had been it not for the truth that Quick Eddie’s allure has made him extremely proficient at his job and earned him a snug dwelling. He appears to have a stable life labored out for himself, even romancing a fairly bartender at one of many locations he frequents, however someday he spies a younger pool participant with a shotgun break. That play is Tom Cruise’s Vince, who’s bought the uncooked expertise Quick Eddie used to have on the pool desk. In it he spies the chance to make some cash, exploiting Vince the identical approach he was as soon as managed in The Hustler. To his shock, although, their con video games reawaken his love of the sport, resulting in Quick Eddie once more pinking up the pool cue, solely to comprehend he’s not fairly so quick and that Vince is loads much less naive than he appears.
What makes The Colour of Cash particularly fascinating is how filmmaking modified within the 25-year interval between 1961 and 1986. Lately Cruise had a large hit together with his legacy sequel Prime Gun: Mavericokay, which was made at an excellent longer break, however Prime Gun and Prime Gun: Maverick really feel nearer in age than The Hustler and The Colour of Cash. A lot had modified, and to his credit score, Newman gave Scorsese (and cinematographer Michael Ballhaus) free reign to make a correct “Martin Scorsese Movie,” giving the movie a real, modern vibe. The world of pool hustling has modified, with the pool halls not managed by the mob. They’ve larger fish to fry within the eighties, making the world much less harmful bodily. Quick Eddie is irritated by many issues in his world, notably how wannabes like John Turturro’s character dabble with cocaine, with even Eddie at one level saying how completely different the vibe was from the sixties when the massive vice was booze. Scorsese’s selection of music is great on this, with him working together with his ordinary music supervisor Robbie Robertson for a rock soundtrack that lends itself to some signature moments, together with Vincent showboating to Warren Zevon’s “Werewolf of London”.
This brings me to the Cruise of all of it. Prime Gun hadn’t come out when Colour of Cash was forged, so folks didn’t know the best way to peg Cruise. Would he be a flash-in-the-pan heartthrob like Christopher Atkins, or was he as legit as somebody like Sean Penn? Scorsese took a threat on him that paid off, with the film turning into a smash hit because of Cruise’s wave of megastardom following Prime Gun. Cruise is great as Vince, evoking an incredible transition from being a smart-mouthed sheltered child to a protege who learns the best way to pull one over on his mentor. He’s the film’s villain slightly than its hero, however it by no means judges him harshly. For many of the movie, he’s getting used, not solely by Eddie but in addition by his trophy girlfriend (performed by Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), who we be taught was a thief that helped burgle Vince’s upper-class residence earlier than worming her approach into his life. Vince begins off as a headstrong teen however finally turns into a slick participant, very a lot within the Tom Cruise film star mode. It might be fascinating to see a legacy sequel to this film get made – with Scorsese, in fact – the place Vince is now the older participant mentoring somebody youthful. I’m wondering if Cruise can nonetheless play pool like he used to within the eighties, with him famously pulling off many of the trick photographs featured within the film.
Finally, the movie was a significant hit. The Colour of Cash earned over $52 million on the field workplace, an honest quantity for 1986. That was solely a couple of third of what Prime Gun made, however all concerned had been probably glad. It might assist Scorsese get the funding for Final Temptation of Christ, whereas it will pave the best way for Cruise to broaden as a dramatic actor in Rain Man and Born on the Fourth of July. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio’s profession would get a giant enhance, along with her co-starring with Kevin Costner a couple of years later in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Of everybody, although, the one who bought essentially the most out of this film was Quick Eddie Felson, Paul Newman, who famously received an elusive Greatest Actor trophy on the Academy Awards, regardless of infamously shedding for Cat on a Sizzling Tin Roof, The Hustler, Hud, Cool Hand Luke, Absence of Malice and – most inexplicably – The Verdict. Newman was so positive he’d lose he didn’t even attend the ceremony. He would at all times be grateful to Scorsese, mentioning one of the best piece of appearing recommendation he ever bought got here from him when Scorsese informed him to “stop trying to be funny.” The admiration went two methods, with Scorsese producing and showing in Ethan Hawke’s current The Final Film Stars. Cruise wouldn’t work with Scorsese once more, given how completely different the genres they sometimes work in are – however by no means say by no means. Give us a sequel, guys!
Have you ever seen Paul Newman and Tom Cruise on this superior movie directed by Martin Scorsese? Share your ideas on The Colour of Cash by leaving a remark beneath.
For extra on Paul Newman’s legacy – take a look at our interview with The Final Film Stars director Ethan Hawke beneath:
