ESSENTIAL
SOMEBODY UP THERE LIKES ME (1956)

The title's suggestion of divine intervention is apt: Following his inauspicious movie debut in 1954's The Silver Chalice, Newman got his second chance at stardom when Warner loaned him out to MGM after the sudden death of James Dean, who had agreed to play middleweight champ Rocky Graziano. He never looked back. Even as he labors under a putty nose and a thick (and intermittent) Noo Yawk accent, Newman delivers an unmistakable star-is-born performance. Newman was always at his best playing guys who are struggling to be better men, and his assurance here is breathtaking.