Slap Shot (Universal 1977, Paul Newman, Michael Ontkean)

Published

5 years ago

October 25, 2018

Great performance by Paul Newman as the coach of a minor-league hockey team whose owner plans to sell as the steel mill that supplies fans is on its last legs. Newman spurs his team to victory with dirty play, raising a conflict with clean-cut, college-boy player Ontkean. The team makes it to a climactic brawl of a championship game.

Paul Newman and Strother Martin, who appear together here, also co-starred in the 1967 classic Cool Hand Luke. Martin is best remembered for his famous line, ‘What we have here is a failure to communicate.’

production details
USA | Universal | 123 minutes | 1977

Director: George Roy Hill
ProducerStephen Friedman, Robert J. Wunsch
Cinematography: Victor J. Kemper
Editor: Dede Allen
Music: Elmer Bernstein
Script: Nancy Dowd
Art Direction: Henry Bumstead

cast
Lindsay Crouse as Lily Braden
Strother Martin as Joe McGrath
Melinda Dillon as Suzanne Hanrahan
Jerry Houser as Dave ‘Killer’ Carlson
Paul Newman as Reggie ‘Reg’ Dunlop
Michael Ontkean as Ned Braden
Jennifer Warren as Francine Dunlop
Jeff Carlson as Jeff Hanson
Steve Carlson as Steve Hanson
David Hanson as Jack Hanson
Yvon Barrette as Denis Lemieux
Allan F. Nicholls as Johnny Upton
Brad Sullivan as Morris ‘Mo’ Wanchuk
Stephen Mendillo as Jim Ahern
Yvan Ponton as Jean-Guy Drouin
M. Emmet Walsh as Dickie Dunn
Kathryn Walker as Anita McCambridge
Matthew Cowles as Charlie Kischel
Swoosie Kurtz as Shirley Upton