Best movie of this year hands down!

A Disappointing Continuation

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Which is your favourite Anthony Quinn film? (100 today) My candidate would be this one, a thorough debunking of the whole boxing business, with noteworthy appearances of the young Cassius Clay, Mickey Rooney and Jackie Gleason as his managers, one human and the other one seemingly corrupt but in fact the only realist, and Julie Harris as his one female friend, while Anthony Quinn as the wreck of a finished and humiliated boxer is one of the strongest characterizations ever made on film in almost unbearably straightforward realism. Note in the beginning and opening scene, that you never see his face until he himself sees it in the mirror. Add to this a fantastic music score by Laurence Rosenthal. The Swedish boxing champion at the time Ingo Johansson wanted every Swede to see this film, but this is not only for boxers. It's a universal study in humiliation, and no one is spared, humiliation is a fact of life, and there is nothing more difficult to handle. The film mercilessly displays all the ingredients, like shame, guilt, treason, failure, hypocrisy and defeat, and the chalice is emptied to the last drop. Still, in all his humiliation, ruin and disgrace, Anthony Quinn's failure of a boxing character in the end still stands on the floor as some kind of a victor by accepting his self-humiliation. It's a grotesque tragedy but an impressing abyssal dive and fall into fathomless humanity with infinite richness in spite of its extreme confinement in the small ugly corrupt world of the gladiator sport of boxing.

After months in the "long wait" list on Netflix, I finally got this DVD delivered to me yesterday. Rod Serling had originally written this for live television before adapting this for film but this was the first version I've seen of it so I won't make comparisons to that one. Anyway, Anthony Quinn is a washed-up boxer who's now decommissioned because of his health which doesn't make manager Jackie Gleason's job any easier since he owes lots of money to a loan shark. Mickey Rooney who helped train Quinn just wants what's best for him but gets overruled by Gleason every time. Julie Harris is the employment clerk who takes a liking to Quinn enough to pull some strings for him but she really...oh, watch the film if you're curious enough. I'll just now say that this was quite a compelling drama that got me riveted throughout especially during the score of Lawrence Rosenthal when playing. Nice cameo by boxer Muhammad Ali when he was still known as Cassius Clay. P.S. I dedicate this review in memory of the recent passings of Julie Harris and Mickey Rooney.

After seven grueling rounds with Muhammad Ali (as Cassius Clay), heavyweight boxer Anthony Quinn (as Louis "Mountain" Rivera) is knocked out. Told he with likely go blind if he fights again, due to optic nerve damage, Mr. Quinn must give up boxing. Displaying "punch drunk" behavior, Quinn is not exactly qualified to be anything other than a professional fighter. Pressured by gangsters, manager Jackie Gleason (as Maish Rennick) tries to get Quinn back in the ring, while trainer Mickey Rooney (as Army) encourages Quinn to try find another job. Thanks to kindly New York State employment worker Julie Harris (as Grace Miller), Quinn sets up an interview as summer camp counselor...The boxing profession takes another big hit, with this feature film version of writer Rod Serling's excellent 1956 "Playhouse 90" teleplay. Ironically, a couple of the profession's super-stars participate...This is essentially a four-person drama. All are re-cast from the original production, and all are outstanding. The "Film Daily" had Quinn finishing in the year's top five "Best Actor" performances, and Mr. Rooney was runner-up in the "Supporting Actor" category. Also award-worthy are Mr. Gleason and Ms. Harris. They are letter perfect in their supporting roles. TV director Ralph Nelson very successfully re-imagines the drama, enlarging the landscape while retaining intimacy. There is nothing new or original here, but that is only a minor deficiency. Interestingly, the "fight scenes" are memorable not for the fighting, but for the hideous spectators and the pathetic last impression of a boxer.******** Requiem for a Heavyweight (10/16/62) Ralph Nelson ~ Anthony Quinn, Jackie Gleason, Mickey Rooney, Julie Harris

Like so many others have already said, this is a great film, and one that I've watched many, many times since the late-1960's. Somewhere along the line, though, it was unceremoniously edited by someone who should've left it alone. The cut to which I refer involves an exchange between Maish Reynolds and Ma Greeney at the end of the film. Reynold's has narrowly escaped death at the hands of Greeney's goons, and in that moment, Reynold's vindictively intones to Greeney, "I wish you were a man." Greeney laughs out loud and replies, "Maishey darling, that's the nicest thing anyone ever said to me!" Maybe some of you remember it, but it has been many years since any version I've seen still has it.