Requiem for a Heavyweight
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Requiem for a Heavyweight was originally a 1956 American teleplay written by Rod Serling and produced for the live television show Playhouse 90 in 1957, then was filmed as a movie with a different cast five years later.
The teleplay won a Peabody Award, the first given to an individual script, and helped establish Serling's reputation. The broadcast was directed by Ralph Nelson and is generally considered the single most famous example of live television drama in the United States,[citation needed] as well as Serling's personal favorite of his own work.
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[edit] Plot synopsis
Jack Palance portrays Harlan 'Mountain' McClintock, a once-promising but now washed-up boxer who faces the end of his career after he is savagely defeated by a younger boxer. Keenan Wynn portrays McClintock's manager Maish; Keenan's father Ed plays McClintock's cut man, Army.
McClintock is suffering from Dementia pugilistica or "punch drunk syndrome" -- brain damage caused by his career. A fight doctor refuses to certify McClintock for further boxing, saying that another rough match could blind or even kill him. Boxing is all McClintock has ever known, and he's both terrified of trying something new, and intensely loyal to Maish, who has nurtured him from his youth. Maish has troubles of his own, however: he owes money to the Mafia, and tried to raise funds by betting against McClintock.
Kim Hunter plays Grace Carney, an employment agency worker who tries to help the boxer make a transition to a new career. Maish persuades the boxer to turn to professional wrestling, though McClintock is proud that he never had a fixed fight, and is uncomfortable with the staged, predetermined wrestling match.
Army disaproves of Maish's plans, and refuses to be a part of them. Just before he's scheduled to go into the wrestling ring in a humiliating mountain man costume, McClintock learns of Maish's betting against him, and parts ways with his manager and mentor. Though he feels that boxing can ruin men's lives, Maish finds another promising young boxer to train. McClintock takes a chance on working with children at summer camp.
Serling and Palance were both experienced boxers, which might help explain why Requiem was so authentic and effective, although there was very little boxing depicted in the broadcast.
[edit] British version
BBC Television in the United Kingdom screened a version of the play in their regular Sunday Night Theatre anthology strand on March 31, 1957. Sean Connery starred as McClintock,[1] while Alvin Rakoff directed and, with Serling's approval, also wrote some new material to cover costume changes that took place during commercial breaks on US television, but could not do so on the non-commercial BBC.[2] Co-starring with Connery were Warren Mitchell and Rakoff's future wife Jacqueline Hill, who had recommended Connery for the leading part.[2] Michael Caine featured in a small role in a new scene written by Rakoff.[2]
This production was reviewed in The Times newspaper the following day, which gave it a generally positive assessment, with some reservations. "It is unfortunate that Mr. Serling has allowed a saccharine romance to intrude into this self-sufficient and wholly masculine situation. Otherwise his touch is sure. Although physically miscast as the fighter, Mr. Sean Connery played with a shambling and inarticulate charm that almost made the love affair credible."[3]
[edit] The Movie Version
Ralph Nelson also directed a movie version in 1962 with Anthony Quinn in the role originated by Jack Palance and Jackie Gleason and Mickey Rooney in the parts portrayed on television by Keenan Wynn and his father Ed Wynn. Muhammad Ali, then still using his birth name, Cassius Clay, appears as Quinn's opponent in a boxing match at the beginning of the movie, a memorable sequence filmed with the camera providing Quinn's point of view as the unstoppable Clay rapidly punches directly at the movie audience.
[edit] The Man in the Funny Suit
In 1960, Ralph Nelson wrote and directed The Man in the Funny Suit, a dramatic account of Keenan Wynn's travails in helping his father, legendary comedian Ed Wynn, play such a serious role on live television in Requiem for a Heavyweight. The Man in the Funny Suit was telecast as an installment of the Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse, with Rod Serling and Red Skelton playing themselves. The Man in the Funny Suit is available for public viewing at the Museum of Television and Radio in New York City and Los Angeles.
[edit] References
- ^ Gallagher, William (March 31–April 6, 2007). "On This Day... 50 Years ago, 31 March 1957". Radio Times 332 (4329): p. 85.
- ^ a b c Lloyd, Spencer. Requiem for Two Heavyweights. RodSerling.com. Retrieved on 2007-03-27.
- ^ "BBC Television: "Requiem for a Heavyweight" by Rod Serling", The Times, 1957-04-01, p. 5.
