đź‘˝ 2021 Marks the 60th Anniversary of "The HUSTLER"
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Your trying to make me feel old, aren't you? It worked.
It was not meant to be a pool movie. Pool was just the sideline. It is a Movie about a Hustler who comes to grips with himself. But it brought pool back to the forefront. A big surge in pool in the early 60’s thanks to this movie. Same thing happened when the Color of Money a big surge in the late 80’s in pool from the Movie. 9 ball was happening every where. I guess one could credit Walter Tevis for all he did to help pool. Maybe another good pool flic could help bring back pool to the forefront.
It was sure great to be a part of BOTH revitalizations of pool from those two movies- I feel blessed! One more time would be just fine with me - don't count out all the 60-70 year olds if that should happen again- just no long sets please
What's left of pool after covid will take waaaay more than a movie for any resurgence.
Could be. But it seems the movie if made right could spark some interest maybe. But you may be right. Pool seems to be at the end of the spectrum. Then again I seen were a Billiard store has installed it’s 63th table since November 1st so maybe with everybody staying in pool May make a comeback
Perhaps next time it is not a movie that brings some life back to pool. I'm thinking it may be some sort of realization / admission / awareness that internet speeds are doing some long term harm to people's mental health and pool may just be one of the remedies/therapies for our ever expanding world of ADD/and other related issues resulting from a society moving way too fast on a daily pace due to technology.
I am not talking 9 ball either- it is way too mindless a game - I know there are safeties, but going 1 to 9 in order is just not mentally challenging enough for the mind to reap some cognitive benefits. Perhaps some variation/ combination of existing pocket billiard games that is not as drawn out as 14.1, but not as defined as rotation games.
Let's just pray that Justin Bieber is not his young protege.Since Cruise is bringing back Top Gun, maybe he'll bring back TCOM
Seriously, if they did another pool movie who should have the big roles?
It would help if all the big name poker players that play pool started talking about/supporting pool. Negreanu, JRB, Hennigan, etc. Also Rogan. If those guys showed up for Derby, Mosconi, US Open it would put a lot of eyes on pool.Let's just pray that Justin Bieber is not his young protege.
At the time "The Hustler" was made, Paul Newman was an incredible box office draw.
The audience welcomed Tom Cruise.
So.... who today would be the new pool cue carrying James Bond , good question
JUSTIN BIERBER ?? (seriously)
This might actually be the best part of the movie for me. I have re-watched the Hustler Twice in the last two weeks..it was running early on FXM. They also have shown The French Connection 1 and 2 back to back recently.
One question I have never got an answer to..two actually:
Did Burt have sex with Sarah? Or did he just make her feel like such shit she killed herself?
This is one plot point I have always wondered about.
FWIW Pipper Laurie was a stone cold fox in that movie! Sweet, innocent, vulnerable, damaged and very sultry all mixed into one character.
Did Burt have sex with Sarah? Or did he just make her feel like such shit she killed herself?
This is one plot point I have always wondered about.
FWIW Pipper Laurie was a stone cold fox in that movie! Sweet, innocent, vulnerable, damaged and very sultry all mixed into one character.
MontyPyFly
King of inconsistency
Maybe we just need Bernie's mittens to bring it all back
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middleofnowhere
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Whats interesting, until cable or rental tapes many never saw that scene. When the Hustler was shown on regular tv that was always edited out I guess for time. To the tv guys I guess that scene was boring and worth cutting. It is actually one of the most reverent scenes in the movie.
I had one of the first VCR's on the market when they came out. I paid like $1500.00 for a machine that in a few years you could buy for around $200. I also got a b&w camera. I wanted it to tape pool in my pool room.
I was right, everybody wanted to tape themselves playing. Jimmy Reid went crazy over it. He was having himself taped from every angle playing. Heres the point of the story though. VCRs were so new that the tape rental business did not exist yet. One day I get a catalog in the mail for taped movies from the company I bought the equipment from. Not for tapes to rent but purchase. There was like 50 movies on the list and amazingly The Hustler was one of them.
I ordered it right away. It came in a two tape set because of the length. Tape two only had about 20 minutes on it. It also cost $149.00. From the moment I got the tape it ran like a loop in the pool room. People just kept asking to watch The Hustler. I once joked that I knew all the dialog to the movie The Hustler. I was not joking though, I had seen or at least heard the movie I am sure over a thousand times and could do the dialog with the actors.
The movie is not perfect like the push shot Eddie calls and Fats says "Nice shot". Or the way they are shooting the balls off playing straight pool. Banking balls when there are balls you could just shoot in. They hit everything too hard and lose the cue ball constantly. Eddies nineball match was a series of trick shots and hardly resembled any kind of actual game. I was surprised Mosconi didn't do a better job with the technical stuff. Having said all that, filmed in B&W and the music, the acting the story line was a master piece and easy to see why it is a classic.
I agree.
The pool shots in the movie, for the most part, were good for the uninitiated viewer.
For the player, they took the wrong shots sometimes.
The reason I put that particular scene up is that it goes to the heart of the young passionate pool player.
If you were a young player, in your teens and early twenties, before you got serious about life ie. education and family,
you probably know that feeling that Eddie is talking about in that scene.
What is also cool is that Jackie Gleason was doing all his own shooting in the movie. They say he was quite the player. Of Course Mosconi did all of Paul’s bigger shots there were you just see hands and not Paul’s face. I heard that after the Movie Paul and Jackie shot a game for $100. Jackie ran the table on Paul and the next day Paul came in and dumped a $100 in pennies on the table and said here is the $100 I owe you.
middleofnowhere
Registered
The Hustler is one of the most charcter driven movies I have ever seen. It doesn't matter how much screen time they get, you are interested in what they have to say and how they move the story forward. When the houseman at Ames says "This is Ames mister" you want to see what happens next. Even the most peripheral characters, Preacher, Sausage, Big John, Findley, Billy, The black guy limping around the pool room everyone is a brush stroke in the story being painted.