Slap Shot / Harper

SLAP SHOT, 1977, Universal, 122 min. George Roy Hill (BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID) directed this funny and foul-mouthed saga of a has-been hockey team. Paul Newman is both the team's coach and a player who strives for a winning strategy. When violence erupts in the rink, it mushrooms into a spike in the team's popularity, and Newman suddenly has a guaranteed approach to bring in the fans. Co-starring Michael Ontkean.

HARPER, 1966, Warner Bros., 121 min. Dir. Jack Smight (NO WAY TO TREAT A LADY). In this private eye opus adapted from Ross Macdonald's The Moving Target, gumshoe Paul Newman tries to find wealthy ice queen Lauren Bacall’s kidnapped husband. The rich man's daughter Pamela Tiffin, playboy Robert Wagner, bar-hopping Shelley Winters and her homicidal husband Robert Webber, pianist Julie Harris, cult leader Strother Martin, as well as Harper's ex-wife Janet Leigh and lawyer pal Arthur Hill, get thrown into the mix.