Die Faust im Gesicht

Rod Serling, of Twilight Zone fame, deserves kudos for this wonderful screenplay about an over the hill fighter played by Anthony Quinn, whose life and legend are at the behest of his corrupt and cynical manager, Jackie Gleason. Trainer Mickey Rooney is the only person in cinematic history who can call Gleason a "fink" and make it sound authentic. When Quinn's character can't cut it any longer, he tries to find meaningful work. However, he's taken one too many blows to the head, and has offered his allegiance to someone willing to betray him for a hint of the glory of the old days. Quinn's performance as the punch drunk fighter is full of pathos and extremely well done -- his finest hour in my opinion. Serling has much to say about the human spirit, love, and friendship gone awry. Beautifully photographed in black and white, this film deserves multiple viewings.

It's easy to pick out Jack Dempsey and Muhammed Ali, but there are many others in the cast. The movie fades in on a tracking shot running the length of a hotel bar, examining the faces of a bunch of retired boxers watching the Clay-Rivera fight on TV. In order of appearance: Alex Miteff (wearing a beret), Abe Simon (with an eyebrow bandage), Gus Lesnevich (holding a cigarette lighter), Steve Belloise (bald guy; he later plays the hotel bar desk clerk in a short exchange with Mickey Rooney), Rory Calhoun (black guy with a beer), Paolo Rossi (big Italian-looking guy with a beer), Willie Pep (wearing a fedora), and Barney Ross (the older guy in the suit, sweater, and tie).

******SPOILERS****** Getting knocked out by Cassius Clay in the seventh round proved to be the end of the line for former heavyweight contender Louis "Mountain" Rivera, Anthony Quinn. After the fight in Mountain's dressing room the fight doctor checking the damage to his left eye tells his manager and trainer Maish and Army, Jackie Gleason and Mickey Rooney, that he can't allow Mountain to fight anymore. The next punch to his head can very well bind or even kill him.

His brains scrambled his fists busted in danger of losing his eyesight 17 years in the fight game is all the battering that Mountain's body could take. Now after 17 years it was time for Mountain to hang up his boxing gloves and go into another line of work, but what kind of work could Mountain do? Unknown to Mountain and his trainer Army his manager Maish had given the Ma Greeny mob the word that his fighter won't last more then 4 rounds with the young and hard hitting Cassius Clay and they place a lot of money on the tip that Maish gave them. Mountain going more then 4 rounds with Clay cost the Greeny mob big and it was up to Maish to come up with the money by the end of the month or else Maish won't ever have any need for money again. Without Mountain being able to fight anymore the only way Maish can get the money for the Greeny mob is for Mountain to become a professional wrestler and thus making a joke of himself entertaining the public. This time instead of taking punches Mountain will be taking laughs.

Rod Serling's hard hitting screen-play about the fight game and how it chews up and spits out those who are in it like Louis "Mountain" Rivera when it no longer has any use for them. Touching performance by Anthony Quinn as the broken down Mountain who has to humiliate himself by being a clown in the ring as a wrestler after being a proud warrior in the ring as a boxer. Also very moving is Julie Harris as Grace Miller the social worker who does her best to get Mountain a job as a youth consular only to have him lose it by getting drunk celebrating getting it.

As hard hitting as the punches thrown in the ring and as powerful as those boxers in the ring taking them. Mountain makes a fool of himself to save his crooked managers, Maish, hide so he could have the money to pay back the mob that he owes them, but that ended his friendship with Maish. It also educated Maish about being honest and loyal to those who trust and depend on him which is something that he didn't know about up till then. The film ends with Mountain swallowing his pride and accepting what fate had in store for him.

I don't think I had ever seen this movie from beginning to end before but had the chance to do so when it came up recently on a cable channel. One feels, after watching it in its entirety, as one does after having listened to Mahler's 9th symphony - you are emotionally drained and devastated. The movie is Exhibit A in the prosecution's case that movies were better made in the past than today. It is impossible to imagine something this excellent being produced today. The movie makes no plays for cuteness or humor, and never seeks to soften its razor-sharp edges. It is grittily real from beginning to end. Actually, it surpasses reality, as all great art does, in letting us look starkly into the cruel realities of human existence. The acting is absolutely top-notch from all the leads. One is reminded that Jackie Gleason, after all the eye-popping excesses of "The Honetmooners" (as great as that series was, for what it was) was a truly superb actor. I cannot think of a movie in which Anthony Quinn surpassed himself in his role as Mountain Rivera - tough, beaten up, beaten down, loyal, honest and yet with a sensitive core deep within. Mickey Rooney shines just as brightly. The script is brilliant, economical, realistic, and revelatory of the characters; we forget just what a brilliant writer Rod Serling was. Of course one of the reasons the movie could not be made today is that it forgoes the obligatory happy ending (which was used, evidently, in the TV version); the movie follows its dark logic all the way to the final, devastating scene.

This is a golden oldie if there ever was one. Adapted from Rod Serling's earlier `Playhouse 90' TV drama, it improved greatly on the original by taking full advantage of the film medium, including moody film-noir lighting, an excellent music score, and superb direction. Anthony Quinn is excellent, getting all the pathos out of the role without overdoing it. Mickey Rooney and Jackie Gleason, neither of whom is renowned for subtlety and restraint, hit just the right note in their performances, as does Julie Harris. The ending of this film couldn't be more different than the `Playhouse 90' ending. One of the more bizarre elements of this film, which was not in the original TV play, is the character of Ma Greeney, a really frightening person and the only example I am aware of in film of a lesbian gangster (and in 1962, yet). I can still remember how startled I was to see this character when I first watched this film on TV back in the late 1960s.

The new DVD of `Requiem for a Heavyweight' offers both a full-screen and wide-screen presentation. The quality of the transfer is really outstanding. The liner notes indicate that it is mastered in high definition. While I don't have the hardware to watch it in high-def., I can say that on an ordinary monitor it looks outstanding. Perhaps the sharpest DVD picture I've ever seen. The sound is clear, and the subtitles are very helpful in picking out dialog that may be indistinct, or not easily understood because of Anthony Quinn's manner of delivering the lines while in character.

However. It seems to me that at least one whole scene and a part of another scene is missing. I distinctly remember Maish (Jackie Gleason) telling Ma Greeney what he would do to her if she weren't a lady. In response, she laughs and says `that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me.' This is part of the early scene where Maish is attacked in an abandoned boxing ring by Ma's thugs. There is another whole scene I can recall in which Mountain (Anthony Quinn) is practicing holds with a wrestler. He asks that the wrestler stay away from his injured eye, and when he purposely goes for the eye, Mountain punches his lights out. The cuts I recall seeing on TV years ago always included these scenes, and I've never seen this shortened cut of the film before. It's still a great film, but I really miss these two scenes.