The Hustler, one more time

Donny Lutz

Donny Lutz

Ferrule Cat
Silver Member
Watched "The Hustler" late last night for the umpteenth time.

Besides lack of any cue ball control by Newman and the silly shots that did not fit in a high power money match (must have been frustrating for Willie), I noticed a couple things that I don't remember noticing before.

When Eddie was playing 3-cushion it looked like the table was a worn-out 8-footer.

"Fats" laid his cigarette on the rail while shooting! I know pretty much everybody (but me) smoked back then, but I would think both guys would have had more respect for a table that was clearly reserved for big money games.

I've always said the movie was the epitome of great acting, but mediocre when it came to the pool details.
 
Donny Lutz said:
Watched "The Hustler" late last night for the umpteenth time.

Besides lack of any cue ball control by Newman and the silly shots that did not fit in a high power money match (must have been frustrating for Willie), I noticed a couple things that I don't remember noticing before.

When Eddie was playing 3-cushion it looked like the table was a worn-out 8-footer.

"Fats" laid his cigarette on the rail while shooting! I know pretty much everybody (but me) smoked back then, but I would think both guys would have had more respect for a table that was clearly reserved for big money games.

I've always said the movie was the epitome of great acting, but mediocre when it came to the pool details.
Click to expand...

I can speak for the part about laying the cigarette on the rail. It was authentic. They all did it. What would have been the exception was for one of them to put their lit cigarette in the ash tray before stepping up to the table.
 
Interesting thread here. I'm also a big fan of the movie and have watched it many times, but as I started taking to the sport more seriously, every viewing I get irked by something that isn't technically correct.

You pointed out some interesting parts. I always thought it was cool how fats sets the cigarette down (and on my gold crown that I bought from a local pool hall, the formica had little burn marks here and there, and I always thought it was from gents who saw movie one too many times).

That would be a good question for Danny Diliberto, on how the great oldtimers who smoked Boston shorty, Jersey red, joe balsis, etc and if they set down their cig like that.

Another annoyance is how Newman chalks his cue. Aggressive cork screw technique just makes a mess.
 
Cardigan Kid said:
Another annoyance is how Newman chalks his cue. Aggressive cork screw technique just makes a mess.
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I think chalk drilling is usually associated with beginners or bangers, right? Any chance Newman's character did this as a result of hustling and trying to pass himself off as a banger?
 
Floppage said:
I think chalk drilling is usually associated with beginners or bangers, right? Any chance Newman's character did this as a result of hustling and trying to pass himself off as a banger?
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Very interesting observation. I didnt think of that. So maybe Eddie made it part of his routine to look amateurish ha ha. Nice move by the professional hustler.
 
Donny Lutz said:
Watched "The Hustler" late last night for the umpteenth time.

Besides lack of any cue ball control by Newman and the silly shots that did not fit in a high power money match (must have been frustrating for Willie), I noticed a couple things that I don't remember noticing before.

When Eddie was playing 3-cushion it looked like the table was a worn-out 8-footer.

"Fats" laid his cigarette on the rail while shooting! I know pretty much everybody (but me) smoked back then, but I would think both guys would have had more respect for a table that was clearly reserved for big money games.

I've always said the movie was the epitome of great acting, but mediocre when it came to the pool details.
Click to expand...

+1 on Fran's cig comment. IMHO - this behavior had more to do with the change to
formica rail tops than any other consideration. In fact, the tendency to place
inappropriate objects, cigs, cigars, bottles and glasses filled with liquids, also led
to the sloping downward rail top.

ONCE again this was a movie about a pool hustler, not a documentary about Pool.

Dale(who still considers formica capped down sloping rails to be a hate crime)
 
Guys smoked while they were shooting so putting a lit butt on the rail was common. Taking a drag was part of most guys pre-shot routine. Not only was it done but it was acceptable behavior that was tolerated by room management. That is probably why when Brunswick came out with the GC1 they were available with corner castings with built-in ashtrays.
 
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Donny Lutz said:
Watched "The Hustler" late last night for the umpteenth time.

Besides lack of any cue ball control by Newman and the silly shots that did not fit in a high power money match (must have been frustrating for Willie), I noticed a couple things that I don't remember noticing before.

When Eddie was playing 3-cushion it looked like the table was a worn-out 8-footer.

"Fats" laid his cigarette on the rail while shooting! I know pretty much everybody (but me) smoked back then, but I would think both guys would have had more respect for a table that was clearly reserved for big money games.

I've always said the movie was the epitome of great acting, but mediocre when it came to the pool details.
Click to expand...



I remember most people putting their cigarettes on the rails unless they kept it in their mouth . There would be tar oils as a residue also . I'm talking 68.
 
The first time I walked into a a real pool hall was Julians in Manhattan, and practically all the tables had burn marks on the rails. I'm curious why Brunswick never offered anything other than formica covered rails.
 
If some of you guys think Paul Newman's shots didn't look too "authentic"...Tom Cruise made Paul Newman look like Jackie Gleason in the Color of Money (The Hustler Sequel)...lol.

Enjoy it for what it's worth...a good story and cool movie. They don't make them like that anymore.
 
tonyboy59 said:
If some of you guys think Paul Newman's shots didn't look too "authentic"...Tom Cruise made Paul Newman look like Jackie Gleason in the Color of Money (The Hustler Sequel)...lol.

Enjoy it for what it's worth...a good story and cool movie. They don't make them like that anymore.
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Yeah, before I ever played pool I thought Tom must be a pretty good player. The more I learn to play the further away he gets from that opinion. When I watch it now its almost funny.
 
cig on rail

Black-Balled said:
I can recall cigarettes on the rail fer sher.
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Yes, me too. Thousands of times. I just thought it might be unusual on a table that was kept covered and saved for big money games. It always bugged me because you could get sticky tar on your hands by bridging over those fresh burns.

.
 
newman and cruise

Floppage said:
Yeah, before I ever played pool I thought Tom must be a pretty good player. The more I learn to play the further away he gets from that opinion. When I watch it now its almost funny.
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I've always admired Newman, but his game wasn't a lot better than Cruise's, from what I saw. And I have my doubts about how "great" Gleason was. I heard that the pros back then said good things about his game so he'd continue losing money to them. Makes sense...he had a lot of dough to lose.

I played one of the guys in that pool room where Eddie got his thumbs broken. It was Charlie Dierkop, and he could play a little. He played in the original version, but it was cut before release. He was the guy by the door with the broken nose. Nice fella...I believe he was also one of the Butch Cassidy gang in that flick.
 
Smoking.

Just an additional bit of info/trivia.
In the film the Hustler
There was a pretty good player who played in the johnston city events back in the day. Very good straight pool game and solid 1p -
Any guesses as to what part he played. ? And his name.

Back at you later with the answer.
MCp
P.s. The cigarette thing on the rail -- it was commonplace done all the time.
 
lol They're actors, they cannot learn to play high level pool in a few months. It's like saying "Major League was a great movie but Rickie Vaughn's curveball didn't break like an elite pitcher". lol It's a movie!
 
My Dad & I got our Brunswick Sport King out of a bar that was selling 3 of them in 1968. I stripped & stained the skirts mahogany (They were beige) to match the formica rails that have 90* rounded 'edges' & has it's share of burn marks. I think they give the table "character" (get it) as it is a commercial table & they, the burn marks, remind me of my Dad as he was a 2 to 3 pack guy. I lost him when I was 25 in 1978. I never smoked.

Best 2 All,
Rick
 
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Rick, as a regular 'pool room bum' (and a regular smoker) my recall of the 40's, to the 70's, are very vivid !..Even when Brunswick started putting ashtrays on their Crown's, almost all us smoker's still used the rail out of habit.. Rarely, if ever, did any pool room have carpet, and the concrete or wooden floor, was where you flicked your ashes, or ground out your cigarette..hence, no real need for ashtray's..:embarrassed2:

Very few (if any) room owners would ever make an issue out of it, unless you were so careless, you burned the felt on the rail !..I know you non-smoker's, and younger guy's cannot imagine this, but thats the way it was, before health scares, and no-smoking laws became the norm. :sorry:

Almost EVERYBODY smoked...Even the judge would light up in a crowded courtroom, why not, everyone else was smoking ! (watch an old movie) Going into a smoked filled bar, or pool room, was no different than the same air in your house !..Even non-smokers tolerated smoking in their house, because 90% of their friends would be smokers...Not saying it was right, but thats just the way it was ! ;)
 
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