Paul Newman, the American actor with the penetrating baby blues and a lifetime of talent, died a year ago at 82. He left behind an impressive legacy.

A new 17-disc box set of oldies, Paul Newman: The Tribute Collection, debuted last week. There are 13 titles, four in two-disc special editions. While some of these 20th Century Fox and MGM films are irrelevant, such as the Hemingway piece, the collection contains classics.

The roster: The Long, Hot Summer (1958), Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys! (1958), From the Terrace (1960), Exodus (1960), The Hustler (1961), Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man (1962), What a Way to Go! (1964), Hombre (1967), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), The Towering Inferno (1974), Buffalo Bill and the Indians or Sitting Bull's History Lesson (1976), Quintet (1979) and The Verdict (1982).

This cross-section demonstrates Newman's flexibility to jump genres, create unique characters and to play the movie star, when necessary.

A handsome, 132-page, soft-cover book is included, mostly photos with brief essays.

There are technical issues. Both Exodus and Buffalo Bill, the MGM titles, desperately needed remastering to improve mediocre visuals -- and to rectify the anamorphic widescreen problem (they play "postage stamp" style, filling only a minor part of the screen). This is appalling.

Contrast them to the superior Fox transfers, although there is room for upgrades here, too.

Then we have the packaging. The box is sturdy, the book is welcome, but you must slip the discs into cardboard slits. Discs arrive factory-scratched and fingerprinted. Fox needs to learn its lesson.

All that said, if you get a clean set, the Newman collection still succeeds in its noble mission. Assemble his body of work and Newman's extraordinary, yet subtle skill is illuminated.