It's the late 1950s, and fresh off her Oscar win,
Joanne Woodward is the undeniable star of the couple, in addition to she considered in many circles as being one of if not the finest actress of her generation. While he is not without his movie successes by this time, Woodward uses whatever clout she has to get
Paul Newman movie roles alongside her so that they can translate what personal chemistry they have as a couple to the screen. In the process, Woodward creates what would become the Paul Newman persona of the bad boy with the cool underlying sexuality, a far cry from who he really was as a human being. With roles tailor made for that persona in the early 1960s such as in
The Hustler (1961) but more specifically
Hud (1963), in which he portrays one of the earliest roles of an anti-hero - a character with no redeeming qualities but for who the audience still roots - Newman would catapult into true movie stardom. Meanwhile, Woodward's career would somewhat stall due in part to one movie executive new to her career,
Darryl F. Zanuck, ruining by his decisions a movie with what she considered one of her finest roles in
The Stripper (1963), and she "relegated" to a new role in life, that of mother. Two aspects of the couple's personal life are also discussed. One is the perspective of Woodward from her high school sweetheart, Donald "Duck" Dobbins, which provides some insight to how she ended up in the movie business. And two is the not always smooth convergence of Newman's two sets of children.
—Huggo