The Harder They Fall
| The Harder They Fall | |
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 Film poster |
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| Directed by | Mark Robson |
| Produced by | Philip Yordan |
| Written by | Budd Schulberg (story) 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 |
| Running time | 109 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Harder They Fall (1956) is a film noir directed by Mark Robson, featuring Humphrey Bogart in his last film before his death in 1957. The film was written by Philip Yordan and based on the 1947 novel by Budd Schulberg.
The drama tells a "thinly disguised à clef account of the Primo Carnera boxing scandal",[1] with the challenger based on Carnera and the champ based on Max Baer; previously both Baer and Carnera had starred in the 1933 movie The Prizefighter and the Lady, in which Carnera is the world champ and Baer is his challenger. Bogart's character, Eddie Willis, is based on the career of boxing writer and event promoter Harold Conrad.
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[edit] Plot
Sportswriter Eddie Willis is broke after the newspaper he works for goes under. He is hired by crooked boxing promoter Nick Benko to publicize his new boxer, a huge, but slow-witted and untalented Argentinian named Toro Moreno.
Unbeknownst to Toro and his friend and manager Luís Agrandi, all of his fights are fixed to make the public believe that he is for real. Eddie begins to feel guilty about his work, especially after he comes to like the good-natured giant. The unhappy boxer wants to quit and go home, but Eddie talks him out of it.
Finally Benko arranges for Toro to fight the heavyweight champ, Buddy Brannen. Knowing Toro has no chance, Benko places large bets secretly against his fighter as he had planned all along. Toro loses as expected and gets brutally beaten in the process.
Afterwards, Eddie discovers that Benko has rigged the accounting so that Toro ends up getting paid only a pittance. Ashamed, Eddie sends Toro home to Argentina with Eddie's own share of the proceeds. When confronted by Benko, Eddie defies him, then begins writing an exposé about corruption in the boxing world.
[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.[2]
The film was Bogart's last. At the time he was already ill with what would be diagnosed as esophageal cancer. Occasionally unable to be heard in some takes, some of his lines are reported to have been dubbed in post-production by Paul Frees, who also appears in the film as a priest.
[edit] Cast
- Humphrey Bogart as Eddie Willis
- Rod Steiger as Nick Benko
- Jan Sterling as Beth Willis
- Mike Lane as Toro Moreno
- Edward Andrews as Jim Weyerhause
- Harold J. Stone as Art Leavitt, TV sportscaster
- Carlos Montalbán as Luís Agrandi
- Nehemiah Persoff as Leo
- Felice Orlandi as Vince Fawcett
- Herbie Faye as Max
- Rusty Lane as Danny McKeogh
- Jack Albertson as Pop
- Tony Blankley as Nick Benko's son
Boxers appearing in the film:
[edit] Critical reception
The film was entered into the 1956 Cannes Film Festival.[3]
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?
- Franky: (as Toro is praying on his knees) That only works if you can fight!
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] Notes
- ^ Erickson, Hal. The Harder They Fall at AllRovi
- ^ Erickson, Hal. Ibid.
- ^ "Festival de Cannes: The Harder They Fall". festival-cannes.com. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/3643/year/1956.html. Retrieved 2009-02-03.
- ^ Crowther, Bosley. The New York Times, film review, May 10, 1956. Last accessed: January 27, 2008.
- ^ Schwartz, Dennis. Ozus' World Movie Reviews, film review, December 17, 2004. Last accessed: February 2, 2008.
[edit] External links
- The Harder They Fall at the Internet Movie Database
- The Harder They Fall at AllRovi
- The Harder They Fall at the TCM Movie Database
- The Harder They Fall at DVD Beaver (includes images)
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