The Harder They Fall
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Movie Reviews of The Harder They Fall
Movie Review: The Lowdown on Pro Boxing Circa 1950. Hard-Hitting and Deliciously Hard-Boiled.
Summary: 5 Stars
"The Harder They Fall" was adapted from the 1947 novel by Budd Schulberg, a damning exposé of organized crime's role in professional boxing and its consequences. The film is reminiscent of both the social conscience films of the 1930s and the docudramas of the 1940s. The story was inspired by the career of 1933 World Heavyweight Champion Primo Carnera, whose victories are still hotly disputed among sports historians. Carnera's manager was Irish gangster Owney Madden, who may or may not have fixed his fights and then abandoned him to Max Baer, who won the 1934 World Heavyweight Championship. Max Baer has a role in this film, as a fictional defending heavyweight champ. In reality, Carnera was the defending champ, and both Baer and Carnera had killed a man in the ring. "The Harder They Fall" twists things a bit and changes the time frame to make a tight, dramatic, and hard-hitting film.
Eddie Willis (Humphrey Bogart) was a popular sportswriter until his newspaper folded and put his career on the skids. Now gangster Nick Benko (Rod Steiger) wants Eddie to promote his new investment, a boxer from Argentina named Toro Moreno (Mike Lane). Toro is a hulk , but he can't fight. Eddie's supposed to make it sound like he can, Benko will fix the fights, and they'll all make a lot of money. "No one gets hurt," Benko promises. Eddie takes the job. They go on tour, Eddie hyping Toro as boxing's next great champion. Opponent after opponent take a dive for $1,000 as Toro works his way toward the Championship fight against vicious defender Buddy Brannen (Max Baer).
"The Harder They Fall" was Humphrey Bogart's last film, and Eddie Willis was an archetypal role for Bogart. Eddie is a loner, a cynic, oblivious of the law but following his own moral code. He can be as brusque as the bad guys, but he has his principles. Rod Steiger is terrific as shrewd, amoral Nick Benko, who revels in the corrupt world of boxing and delivers most of the film's great lines. Max Baer is charismatic and convincingly ruthless as egotistical champion Brannen. "The Harder They Fall" has much in common with 1949's "The Set-Up", another terrific boxing film that criticizes the audience, managers, and fight promoters while sympathizing with the boxers. "The Harder They Fall" is beyond cynical, claiming that professional boxing was a scam on every level in which the fighters are the ultimately the victims. To this end, we get a lot of "insider" scenes of managers negotiating the fates of their boxers. "The Harder They Fall" may not have the social relevance that it did in 1956, but it's still a brilliant film with great performances, hard-boiled dialogue, and reverence for boxers.
The DVD (Columbia/ Tristar 2003): This is not a restored print of the film. It has some specks, but sound is good. There is a promotional spot for "The Bogart Collection" (4 min) and trailers for "On the Waterfront" (2 ½ min) and the Muhammed Ali biopic "The Greatest" (3 min). Subtitles are available in English, Japanese, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Korean. Dubbing is available in Portuguese.
Movie Review: Gus Dundee - Boxer (Pat Comiskey) was my father
Summary: 5 Stars
Of course this movie gets 5 stars from me. I was very fortunateto have Pat Comiskey as my father. He was a pro heavyweight boxer in real life. Fought Max Baer, also Joe Louis in an exhibition bout. Was Lou Costello's bodyguard in Los Angeles for awhile, and even had some great stories about Marilyn Monroe. He played a mobster in Some Like It Hot. He hailed from Paterson NJ. My dad had more class in one finger than most people have in their whole body (and we're not talking money here - just real "class". There is nothing so strong as real gentleness and that describes my dad. He passed on May 24, 1989 from Alzheimer's Disease. I still talk to him to this very day. I know someday we will be together. My mother left recently to join him. Ironically on May 22, 2004 - two days short of the 15th anniversary of his passing. They are dancing in the stars together. They loved to dance. Would love to hear from anyone who remembers him. He really enjoyed working with "Bogie" on his last movie. You can e-mail me @ Bugaleena4@aol.com. Please make the title of your e-mail something including Pat Comiskey as I get lots of spam and I wouldn't want to accidentally delete your e-mail. Warmly, Terri
Movie Review: A Knockout
Summary: 5 Stars
Whenever a new boxing film is being hyped, we inevitably get someone's list of great boxing films, yet The Harder They Fall never makes those lists. Screenwriter Philip Yordan and director Mark Robson took Budd Schulberg's tough but somewhat diffuse and repetitive novel and condensed it into an excellent film adaptation that is still a timely indictment of the corruption and brutality in the world of boxing. This was Bogart's last film, and actor's last films are generally terrible, but Bogie went out with a classic. The performances are generally excellent, and the scenes with Steiger and Bogart work beautifully, with Steiger's aggressive, fast-talking, almost lunging forward attack matched by Bogart's wary, laconic, reactive style of acting. Also excellent is the underrated Nehemiah Persoff, an Actors Studio alumnus, who himself resembles Steiger and who gave excellent support in numerous films and TV shows. Perhaps the film's only flaw is Bogart's 11th hour moral conversion, but it is acceptable enough and does lead to a final, excellent scene between Bogart and Steiger.Movie Review: Bogart's last film...
Summary: 5 Stars
Harder They Fall is Humphrey Bogart's last performance on the silver screen before he passed away in 1957. He plays the character Eddie Willis, a former sportswriter, who is hired by Nick Benko (Rod Steiger), a shady boxing manager, to promote an incompetent giant boxer by the name Toro. In the process of promoting Toro, Eddie faces several humorous situations where he has to make the wrong moral choice in order to reach his goal of making a lot of money. Eddie's greed causes him to lose friendships, lie, and hurt people; however, he convinces himself that he must do this in order to achieve wealth. The process of learning the value of human life and money is an emotionally painful journey for Eddie, since he becomes burdened with the heavy feelings of guilt. Harder They Fall is an interesting film about greed and betrayal that is set in the boxing world. As the story unfolds the audience is offered high class drama that is carried by a well prepared cast, which offers a first-rate cinematic experience.Movie Review: Bogie's last film may have been his best
Summary: 5 Stars
This bleak but realistic film about the netherworld of professional boxing is one of the best sports dramas that Hollywood ever produced. Humphrey Bogart, of course, is the centerpiece of the story and he's at his best as the cagey, jaded sports reporter who covers a heavyweight contender and knows he's a phony but nevertheless promotes him for box-office profits. The fighter, perhaps a take on Primo Carnera, is manipulated by a greedy manager and his underworld hoodlums who know full well that Toro Moreno has no business in a boxing ring. The camerawork is gritty and the picture has the look of grainy 1950s newsreels which add the the credibility of the movie. Rod Steiger and Nehemiah Persoff are great and Mark Robson's direction was excellent. Especially touching and tragic is an interview with a former boxer whose brains got scrambled from years of ring combat. A very powerful film and a great coda to Bogart's wonderful career.