Requiem for a Heavyweight

This is a great movie that you should really check out if you haven't seen it. Anthony Quinn gives an outstanding performance in the lead role. The story is also great and all the supporting roles add to the picture.

Requiem for a Heavyweight is a rough gem, it's not the edgiest or most sophisticated film out there, but it's still a wonderful little tragedy. The characters are painted in few and gentle strokes, but every relationship is wholly convincing and the dialogues are affecting and moving. Photography and editing are flowing are tasteful. The whole cast is satisfying, but Anthony Quinn, while perhaps insufficiently musclebound, is absolutely phenomenal. Undoubtedly one of his greatest performances.

Beautifully observed gem of a film, spotlighting four great actors in four great performances; touching Quinn, loyal Rooney, baffled Harris, and Gleason's by turns shifty and sincere manager possibly his best ever supporting turn. Dark, grim and seedy atmosphere translated beautifully to the screen by Nelson, leading to a sad, pitiful (and in its way haunting) climax.

The TV one was better. Awfully heavy-handed and yakky (I mean, even for Serling).

The elements are there for a good film, but it stumbles not only into melodrama but (worse) inconsistent characterization. "Mountain" is conveniently smart when the story needs it and then dumb when it needs it. As a result, the film's impact is diminished. It also seems didactic about the dangers of alcohol and gambling, when neither was the true cause of Mountain's downfall; his fink manager was. Good acting on Rooney's part, but not Serling's best screenplay.

Great Rod Serling story about a washed up boxer's life after his fighting career comes to an end. A bit of a depressing character study.

Küçük ama etkileyici bir film. Küçük derken üslubunu değil anlattığı hikayeyi kastediyorum. "Büyük" olmanın eşiğinden dönmüş küçük insanların, küçük hesaplarına ve her şeye rağmen kirlenmemişliklerine dair bir film. Ayrıca, duygusallık seviyesinin en yükseldiği anda ekranda "son" kelimesini görmeyi seviyorum.

It's not exactly fair to compare Palance in the live production to Quinn here, as he obviously didn't have the benefit of time, retakes, or most techniques for emphasis and punctuation available for the feature, but Quinn's sadder, slower bearing and wrung-out delivery (modeled on Abie Bain, to the annoyance of Nelson and Gleason) fit the material better, as does the bleaker ending, in its way a more powerful statement on xenophobia than any of Serling's preachier Zone scripts on the subject.

It's just like "Rocky", but with only the sad parts.

A parade of great actors showing their prowess. Quinn makes us both pity and respect his memorable character.

So this is actually the movie, adapted from the teleplay a few years earlier. It's been on my list for years. Excellent film and performances. A modern version is The Wrester; both athletes/performers just after their prime and what direction their life goes.