I'll tell you what will kick start the pool industry all over again.......look at history and look at how the millennial generation relate to film media......and then young teenagers........
Okay .......after WWII, G.I.'s returned to America and we witnessed a boom in pool.......soldiers that played pool & ping pong at the UFO and pool played in pubs while stationed in England, these guys returned home itching to play.
Brunswick still hadn't spotted the possibilities and it wasn't until the post wartime economy boomed whereby disposable income increased for most families, and there was the the GI bill, low mortgage homes, etc. Pool parlors started to blossom in the 50's and early 60's. Brunswick came out with the 9" table and crazy crayon color cloths.....pool rooms were like neon or so it seemed with the newer pool rooms. Long established parlors still were wooden tables and green felt but young folks didn't go those locations.
The stage was set for the first big explosion.....1960/61......"The Hustler" came out and what a great movie it was....tremendous stars....strong story....Academy Award nominations......Paul Newman at his best......and a tremendous pool story to boot......I was 14 years old and it suckered me in.....started playing at confraternity at the local schools....couldn't wait to turn 16 so I could walk in the front doors of a pool hall unescorted by someone over 18 yrs. old. As soon as I turned 16 yrs old, I started going to Balabushka's joint in Bay Ridge......and Ames in NYC on Sat nights......Wow, pool was glorious at that time.
Pool went crazy nationwide and continued that way for awhile but towards the late 70's and early 80's, the duldrums were setting in and then in 1986, The Color of Money came out......and crazy old Vincent caught the attention of America's youth.....everyone wanted to be Tom Cruise........and Balabushka cues jumped up in price fast........and the pool industry witnessed a rebirth of sorts......pool bounced back as an industry.
Voila ....here we are today....basically at rock bottom.....did anyone see the movie "Lawless"? It was about moonshining back in '31 when prohibition was around. America is in love with the first Godfather movie........same goes for the series on HBO...."Boardwalk Empire"......well, I have a idea that should be a sure fire hit.
You probably already figured out that I was going to write we need a movie about pool......not some crap like Pool Hall Junkies, or any reality shows....Nope, we need a "good" film.......and surprisingly I am not recommending Willie Mosconi's life story. Although he's undoubtedly the best to ever play the game, his life story wasn't exciting or that interesting aside from the great pool he played.
The film needs to be set in the Prohibition period and there needs to be talent behind the film.......Shia LaBeouf actually played a good part in the movie Lawless......I mention him because of the need to appeal to the millennial market and he seems like a likely candidate but there are always others to consider. The film needs someone like a Matt Damon creative type as the producer....maybe even a Tom Hardy bad guy character......and I have the story to go with this idea.....I've given this a lot of thought.
If a film was made about Cornbread Red's life story, with some editorial freedom to create some storied matches, and with today's camera technology to film pool shots, and the right cast........America would fall in love with pool all over again.......Cornbread's story coincides with Prohibition........he was a gambler extraordinaire.....and the right actor could make him come to life on the silver screen......and remember how much America loves stories involving the Prohibition era.
Jeez, you could have some gangster characters in the film too since pool was everyone's thing back then......Myer Lansky could be the money behind some guy Cornbread had to play.....Lucky Lucianno character might fit in too.......think about it......I can see the background of the old cars, the attire, round collared shirts, striped suits and the seedy aspect of pool as well like was preached in the film Music Man by Robert Preston. This is just a time in America lore that has enormous appeal and I'd love to hear your opinions.
Anyway, that's my panacea for igniting the spark again and I'm sure it would be a hit....just needs the right cast of actors......the storyline awaits.
Matt B.
