The Harder They Fall

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The Harder They Fall

DVD cover
Directed by Mark Robson
Produced by Philip Yordan
Written by Story:
Budd Schulberg
Screenplay:
Philip Yordan
Starring Humphrey Bogart
Rod Steiger
Jan Sterling
Music by Hugo Friedhofer
Cinematography Burnett Guffey
Editing by Jerome Thoms
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date(s) May 9, 1956
(U.S.A.)
Running time 109 minutes
Language English
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

The Harder They Fall (1956) is a film noir directed by Mark Robson. It features Humphrey Bogart in his final movie role. The character Eddie Willis (Bogart) is based on the career of boxing writer and event promoter Harold Conrad. The film was writen by Philip Yordan and based on the 1947 novel by Budd Schulberg.[1]

The drama tells a "thinly disguised a clef account of the Primo Carnera boxing scandal."[2]

Contents

[edit] Plot

Sportswriter Eddie Willis is broke after the newspaper he works for goes under. He's hired by boxing promoter Nick Benko to act as publicist for his new boxer, a giant, slow-witted, and untalented Argentinian named Toro Moreno.

Eddie knows Benko to be corrupt and unethical, but accepts the job because the money's good. Unbeknownst to Toro, all of his fights are fixed to make the public believe that the boxer is for real. Eddie promotes the fights, but begins to feel guilty about his work. The film climaxes when Benko arranges for Toro to fight a vengeful heavyweight champ, a fight that can't be fixed.

[edit] Background

The film originally went out with two different endings: in one, Eddie Willis demanded that boxing be banned altogether, while in the other, Willis merely insisted that there be a federal investigation of the prizefighting business. The video version contains the "harder" ending, while most television prints end with the "softer" message.[3]

[edit] Cast

Boxers appearing in the film:

[edit] Critical reception

Film critic Bosley Crowther liked the film, writing, "It's a brutal and disagreeable story, probably a little far-fetched, and without Mr. Schulberg's warmest character—the wistful widow who bestowed her favors on busted pugs. But with all the arcana of the fight game that Mr. Yordan and Mr. Robson have put into it—along with their bruising, brutish fight scenes—it makes for a lively, stinging film."[4]

Critic Dennis Schwartz wrote, "The unwell Bogie's last film is not a knockout, but his hard-hitting performance is terrific as a has-been sports journalist out of desperation taking a job as a publicist for a fight fixer in order to get a bank account...The social conscience film is realistic, but fails to be shocking or for that matter convincing."[5]

[edit] Notable quotes

  • Nick Benko: The people, Eddie, the people! Don't tell me about the people, Eddie. The people sit in front of their little TVs with their bellies full of beer and fall asleep. What do the people know, Eddie? Don't tell me about the people, Eddie!
  • Willis to Benko: That man lies in the hospital with a broken jaw! He took the worst beating I ever saw in my life! You want me to go back there and tell him that all he gets is a lousy $49.07 for a broken jaw? How much would YOU take?

[edit] References

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ The Harder They Fall at the Internet Movie Database.
  2. ^ Erickson, Hal. The Harder They Fall at Allmovie.
  3. ^ Erickson, Hal. Ibid.
  4. ^ Crowther, Bosley. The New York Times, film review, May 10, 1956. Last accessed: January 27, 2008.
  5. ^ Schwartz, Dennis. Ozus' World Movie Reviews, film review, December 17, 2004. Last accessed: February 2, 2008.

[edit] External links


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