Más dura será la caída

Humphrey Bogart is truly brilliant in this, his last film. "The Harder They Fall" (1956) is a stunning indictment of the boxing profession. The film also marks Humphrey Bogart's final performance as a former sports writer turned publicist — and he's in good company. Bogie's scenes with Rod Steiger, Jan Sterling and Mike Lane (as the giant Argentinian boxer) are truly memorable.

In addition to Bogart's fantastic performance, Rod Steiger chews the scenery nicely as a corrupt manager. Their scenes together are really well done, and very well written. I particularly enjoyed the scene after the big fight where Bogart presses to find out how much their fighter will ultimately wind up for getting so badly beaten in the ring.

There are probably a good dozen very, very good fight films, and this belongs to their number. The tension in the film derives from the ultimate conflict between Bogart's inherent decency and Steiger's unmitigated exploitativeness. The two had great on screen chemistry in their scenes together. They employed very different acting styles, Steiger being one of the first Method actors to enjoy success in the movies. Bogart was strictly old school, but he not only held his own, he dominated their scenes together.

Humphrey Bogart's last movie was a triumph! His acting was terrific! Excellent movie!

Eddie Willis(Humphrey Bogart) is a down on his luck boxing critic who has just lost job when his newspaper goes bust. Nick Benko(Rod Steiger) a crooked boxing promoter hears of this and invites Eddie over to discuss some business,Benko wants him to use his press connections to promote his new boxer the Argentinian Toro Moreno,a brute of a man but with little or no talent for boxing.Eddie laughs off Moreno's chances in a ring with anyone, but as Benko later explains the fights are going to be fixed and Edie can have a percentage of the takings. A more hard hitting and gritty boxing drama you might find hard to find, the film really exposes the seedy under belly of the sport with all its corruption and vices. Its often been mooted that Bogart's last screen role was possibly his best and I can see why, there is a depth in his character that was not always there in some of his roles, Steiger too is phenomenal as in fact are the whole cast. Robson's direction is always assured and the pacing is nigh on perfect. A word too for Burnett Guffey's cinematography which captures the wonderful locations and fight scenes beautifully.A Swan song that delivers a fitting end for a legend.

I have seen "The Harder They Fall" and always enjoyed it but it's interesting seeing it with the short clips Turner Classic Movies was showing on corruption in boxing. This is a good example of the 1950's noir theme of examining corruption in politics, society, and in business. Here the gangsters that were involved with "standard" gangster activities such as robbery were replaced by ones that hid in the shadows of businesses - in this case boxing. It also touches on everyday people being drawn into doing corrupt things to " keep up with the Joneses". The shadowy effects used in the boxing ring, locker rooms, travel bus etc mirrors shady dealings that were happening throughout the movie while the realism approach added to it relevance. I love the great pivotal lines delivered by George ( Jersey Joe Walcott) "Some guys can sell that other guys just can't."

It's Humphrey Bogart's last movie so it's always a little hard to watch. But it is a great one. Rod Steiger always does such a wonderful job. It seems to me when he's trying to explain why he's doing corrupt things he has this underlying tone of saying "Why are you so upset that I'm taking advantage of you?!" Which makes his character even more despicable. It's also interesting to compare Steiger's and Bogart's style of acting since they came from two different schools.

Eddie Willis was once a top sports writer, but now he is down on his luck and searching for work. He gets a proposition from dodgy promoter Nick Benko, he is to write up sensationalist press for Benko's new discovery, the gigantic Toro Moreno. Trouble is is that Moreno is a poor boxer, powder puff punches and a glass jaw. But each fight is fixed by Benko and along with Eddie's press writings, this propels Moreno to being a household name, thus a crack at the heavyweight title is in the offering. However, Eddie starts to feel conflicted the more the story unfolds and just around the corner is a tragedy that will shape the destinies of everyone who is involved.

This was sadly to be the last film from the great Humphrey Bogart. He would pass away the following year, but thankfully this Mark Robson directed piece proves to be a fitting swansong. He puts depth to his portrayal of Willis and his face off scenes with Rod Steiger's Benko are a real acting joy to observe. The film itself {great scripting from Phillip Yordan} is a scathing and critical look at the boxing circuit, corruption, greed and a scant care for human life come bubbling to the surface, with Burnett Guffey's stark black & white photography adding grime to the nasty underbelly. Real life {and one time heavyweight champion of the world} boxer Primo Carnera sued {and lost} Columbia because The Harder They Fall's story was close enough to his own life story, that in itself makes this film's core story all the more interesting. 8/10

Here's a film that tries to deal with corruption, of how the fighting game is built around construction, of the ways results are fixed, all the lies and all the tricks, as the boxers follow mostly, their instructions. The performances of all is quite top drawer, Toro Moreno by Mike Lane makes quite a score, Rod Steiger's crooked Nick, is aggressive and so slick, but Humphrey Bogart is the one you just adore. So if you're looking for a film that works today, that's packed with cheats, and layered with foul play, that marks the ending of a story, an actor's sublime oratory, light a cigarette, but do find an ashtray.