Paul Newman Called This Disastrous '50s Flop His Worst Movie Ever

Paul Newman's first professional screen credit was for playing a worried soldier in the sci-fi anthology series "Tales of Tomorrow." He was in a 1952 episode of the series called "Ice from Space," which was about, well, ice from space; a mysterious frozen cube returned to Earth on one of its experimental shuttles and was seemingly indestructible. It kept growing and growing, clearly a threat to all life on Earth. Paul Newman didn't do much in the episode, but every career has to start somewhere. 

Indeed, Newman's handsome visage and talents were evident enough to land him his first major film role only two years later. In 1954, Newman played the role of Basil in the historical/Biblical epic "The Silver Chalice." The gimmick of the film was that it was an historical epic in the vein of 1951's "Quo Vadis" or 1953's "The Robe," but with a more expressionistic design; the colors and sets were wilder and more abstract than in real life. It was a giant, outsize production, and even got a little bit of Oscar attention. Well, the legendary Franz Waxman was nominated for his score. 

"The Silver Chalice," based on the historical novel by Thomas B. Costain, was about a wealthy Greek aristocrat named Ignatius (E.G. Marshall) who adopted a young boy named Basil and raised him as his own. Basil grows up to be a sculptor. When Ignatius dies, Basil's wicked uncle (Herbert Rudley) takes over the house and sells Basil into slavery. He is purchased by Luke (Alexander Scourby). Yes, that Luke. Of the Gospels. "The Silver Chalice" begins in AD 20, so Jesus' Disciples are all over it. Lorne Greene plays Peter, for instance.

Paul Newman hates "The Silver Chalice" and even once, in a 1963 interview (reprinted by The Film Stage), called it "the worst film ever made in America." 

"The Silver Chalice" also concerns the fate of the Holy Grail, which was already being hidden as a holy relic. Simon the Magician (Jack Palance) aims to find and smash the Holy Grail in front of Peter. The titular Silver Chalice is a sculpture that Basil is commissioned to make to hold the Holy Grail safely. The film involves a lot of running around the ancient world, Deborra (Pier Angeli), the granddaughter of Joseph of Arimathea (Walter Hampden), and a performance for Nero (Jacques Aubuchon). 

Paul Newman recalled "The Silver Chalice" when talking about the early end of his career in the 1963 interview. He mentioned that he had no intention of being an actor when he was in school, preferring to play football. When he was busted by an adult for drinking beer, however, he was forbidden from playing football, and kind of decided to go into theater as a random second chance. 

But, he pointed out, it was hardly fate that led him to the stage. After "The Silver Chalice," it was a sign that hard work would be needed instead. He said: 

"If I think that my first film was 'The Silver Chalice' — the worst film ever made in America. Can you imagine surviving it? Success didn't come easily ... but that's better. Sudden success is horrible; it ruins people. It's very hard to separate yourself from the character that the popularity has created, and refusing to separate is immoral. You have to keep studying. I keep studying, you know? I keep going to the Actors Studio, and this is what makes my profession honorable."

Start with a bomb. Weird advice, but it worked for Newman.

According to an essay in the AFI Catalog, the book that "The Silver Chalice" was based on drew inspiration from a real-life silver relic unearthed in Antioch in the early years of the 20th century. The chalice was decorated with the faces of Christ and the Disciples, and the movie is a speculative origin story for it. The film was shot partly in Rome, although the deserts of the Middle East were played by Palm Springs, California. The color-coded sets were the idea of Rolf Gerard, who worked for the New York Metropolitan Opera. If the sets look like outsize stage sets, that would be the reason why. 

Paul Newman hated the film right away, and has apologized for it incessantly over the years. According to the AFI essay, when "The Silver Chalice" started making the rounds on Los Angeles TV schedules, Newman took out ads in the local trade papers reading that "Paul Newman apologizes every night this week — Channel 9." It's worth noting that "The Silver Chalice" was a pretty big bomb, making only $3.2 million on a $4.5 million budget. In modern dollars, that's a $56 million movie making less than $40 million. It's easier for an actor to lambaste one of their worst movies if it was a bomb; Tom Holland isn't about to step out and say that he was embarrassed by his performance in "Spider-Man: Brand New Day," even if he was, because the film made almost a billion dollars over a weekend. 

This is just anecdotal, but stories have circulated through Hollywood about how Newman used to host screenings of "The Silver Chalice" at his home, inviting guests to razz the flick and make as much noise as possible. Funny if true.