paradisebuglady I saw this "movie" in Charlotte, NC in 1969 as a 1st run, special release. Just saw it again on an obscure cable network (AntenaTV) that specializes in older (1950's to 1970's) TV and film. This weekend was a "Newman's Own Weekend" and one of the films shown was "Winning". In 1969 it was a 1st Date Movie & Dinner with the man I would eventually marry. He hated it (except for the soundtrack)and I loved it. Just enough soap mixed with the right amount of macho to please most. Admittedly, this was obviously Paul Newman's reason to get behind the wheel; the story/screenplay was about mid-line, but the duo of Newman & Woodward was enough to please most and Robert Wagner being ROBERT WAGNER didn't hurt. Also John Boy got face time with the A-Team. Dave Grusin's soundtrack takes me back 45 years; armed with a box of buttered popcorn, large fountain cherry Coke, trying to be a nice cool girl and hoping for the 2nd date. Thank you Paul and Joanne and Robert and Dave Grusin. You all shares so many gifts with us.

tieman64 A number of films in the 1960s and early 70s challenged conventional notions of "victory", "success" and "winning" ("Smile", "Downhill Racer", "The Candidate", "Bad News Bears", "Slap Shot"). One of the more obscure ones was 1969's "Winning", directed by James Goldstone.The plot? Paul Newman plays Frank Capua, a professional race car driver whose obsession with being top dog isolates him from his wife (Joanne Woodward). As a response, she embarks on an affair which wrecks the couple's marriage. Sounds clichéd? Maybe. And yet virtually every sequence in Goldstone's film is approached from a fresh angle. Newman and Woodward, married in real life, are particularly good, the duo telling a story of shattered marriage with hushed whispers and naturalistic dialogue.7.9/10 - Worth one viewing.

morrison-dylan-fan Talking to a family friend about what movies he was planning to pick up after (hopefully) receiving some vouchers for the Christmas season,I was delightfully caught by surprise,when he mentioned the title of a Paul Newman film that my dad had recently picked up.With the UK being hit by the worst storms for 60 years,I felt that it was the perfect time to stay in,and head out on the racetrack.The plot:Walking past a "rent a car" store after winning his latest race,a race car driver Frank Capua finds himself quickly enchanted by the charms of the shops secretary,called Elora.Getting into a whirlwind romance with Elora,Capua soon takes Elora and her son Charlie on the road,and introduces them to the life of a race car driver.Despite Charlie catching the racing bug from Frank very quickly,Elora finds herself completely isolated in Capua's world,which leads to Frank fearing that he may be about to lose the most important race in his life.View on the film:Using a mix of archive and new footage,the editing of the racing scenes by Richard C Meyer (who also co-edited Butch and Sundance) and Edward A. Biery, (who would reunite with director James Goldstone and Newman for When Time Runs Out) sadly give the scenes an annoyingly "shaky" appearance,which along with not allowing the viewer to get a sense of what is taking place,also leads to the pertinaciously thrilling,set-piece scenes lacking any sense of excitement.Set against the racetracks,the screenplay by Howard Rodman gives each of the Capua family members a melodrama race track,which along with featuring some rather unexpected surprises, (such as Newman's reaction to rival driver Luther "Lou" Erding)also perfectly compliments the twilight atmosphere that director James Goldstone covers the movie in.Made just he was catching the racing bug himself,Paul Newman gives a very good performance as Frank Capua,with Newman showing the contrasting sides of Franks life,by having Capua's wide smile that he shows on the race track,fade away,as Frank begins to fear that his marriage is running out of fuel.Joining her real-life husband,Joanne Woodward gives the film a real heart & soul as Elora,with Woodward showing her love for Frank slowly fade away,as she begins to fear that they may be about to go off the race tracks.

agig This movie does not age well. Though Paul Newman's acting is very good, the same cannot be said of some supporting actors. Richard Thomas is unbearably bad as a kid who wants to emulate his dad—at one point he gets in the cockpit and just looks, well, retarded. Clu Gulager is a bad imitation of Smokey Yunick. The writers and director seem to have a vague idea what racing is about, but mostly they get it all wrong. This movie was made after John Frankenheimer's 1966 brilliant film Grand Prix. It utilizes many of the same camera and editing techniques and even the music is at times reminiscent of Maurice Jarre's utilizing a soft guitar for romantic moments, coupled with empty track shots, etc. etc. Winning saving grace is it's period racing shots and we can get a glimpse of how it was like at Indy in 1968. But the editing is really poor, some action shots are sped up (which just kills any serious car movie). In the sixties it was cool for a leading man to do a racing movie, then get into the real thing after the shooting wrapped. McQueen did it, James Gardner did it and Paul Newman did best by actually becoming a racing man's racer. All in all it's a pale imitation of Frankenheimer's Grand Prix, and I can't help thinking how the latter film might have been even better with Paul Newman starring.