REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT (1962) — friday night fights at the movies!
September 9th, 2011 by Mr. C
Director: Ralph Nelson
Stars: Anthony Quinn, Jackie Gleason, Mickey Rooney, Julie Harris
Genre: boxing drama
This movie had a heavy hitting hollywood cast and they would prove to not disappoint! The story revolves around an aging pro heavyweight boxer, Mountain Rivera (Anthony Quinn) and his supporting team in the ring: manager-Maish (Jackie Gleason) & trainer-Army (Mickey Rooney). The film starts out with the young Cassius Clay (yes, the real Cassius Clay before the name change to Muhammad Ali) beating the pulp out of Mountain before knocking him down & out in a match in NYC. He gets a severe beatdown which forces Rivera to retire due to a grotesque eye injury much to his dismay. This film really had little to do with boxing instead it delves into the struggle of a man’s 2nd life after 17 years of nothing but fisticuffs in the ring. As Rivera beats himself up mentally on the reality of his education and job skills, Maish the sleazy manager (Jackie Gleason) tries to scheme a way into convincing Mountain towards a professional wrestling career as an American Indian character known as the “Fighting Chief”. A monkey wrench would get tossed into the plot when Mountain meets Miss Miller (Julie Harris), a counselor at the unemployment agency. She encourages him to interview for a job at the summer camp for kids. A sort of beauty and the beast relationship will soon simmer in the hot pot. However, Jackie Gleason would have his own agenda and most definitely will have a few condescending words for this lady of goodwill. Mickey Rooney’s character despises the selfish manager for the mind games he plays in order to dupe the soft hearted brute.
This black & white film contains a lot of colorful performances led by Anthony Quinn, Jackie Gleason, Julie Harris, & Mickey Rooney. The characters they portrayed instantly hooked me into the story. I felt total sympathy for Mountain Rivera as the “beast” looking to find himself after a career in the fight game with the help of the “beauty” at the unemployment agency. The selfish & conniving character played by Gleason will make you want to 5 knuckle sandwich the tube! A whole host of closeup shots of Mountain at his emotional points will help to convey his feeling of despair & frustration to the viewer. This movie will appeal to all, NOT just boxing fans! Go see this, y’all!
Tags: boxing, movies, mr c
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