Did Brett Gordon break Eddies thumbs?

[Baby Huey]

I don't think Bert would have had Eddie robbed if Eddie had beaten Fats on the the first play. Bert had a reputation to maintain. If that type of stain had been placed on Bert, he might have been ostracized in the gambling world.

 

[lfigueroa]

But there’s always more money.
She seemed awfully comfortable bringing Eddie back to her place after knowing him for such a short time.

Also 1960s values may have had the writers tip toe around the prostitution angle?

IDK.

She was waiting for the bar down the street to open at 6am -- that was the "bus" she was waiting for.

Also, in the book, she turns Eddie down the first time they meet and don't go to her place until like maybe the third time they meet. She had insomnia and was an alcoholic drinking so she could sleep. She was going to college studying economics.

Lou Figueroa

 

[Tennesseejoe]

When Gleason freshened up, do you think he took some uppers?

 

[Mr Machine]

She was waiting for the bar down the street to open at 6am -- that was the "bus" she was waiting for.

Also, in the book, she turns Eddie down the first time they meet and don't go to her place until like maybe the third time they meet. She had insomnia and was an alcoholic drinking so she could sleep. She was going to college studying economics.

Lou Figueroa

I realize that she was waiting for the Bar to open and that she was going to college.

But couldn’t help but wonder if they were implying something more by using the port authority bus station instead of an all night diner.

Idle curiousity

 

[lfigueroa]

I realize that she was waiting for the Bar to open and that she was going to college.

But couldn’t help but wonder if they were implying something more by using the port authority bus station instead of an all night diner.

Idle curiousity

No idea how you could infer that.

Lou Figueroa

 

[stevelomako]

I don't think so. After the first pool match with fats they all just walked out and left Eddie on the floor. I doubt Burt gave him another thought. When Sarah said that on the stairs she was speaking metaphorically about the world Eddie had chosen to live in.

There is a lot wrong with the movie. Why didn't Burt know Finley played billiards? Why would Fats go off to Eddie in the end knowing he only had one barrel? The straight pool as depicted is terrible. They fire everything 100 mph, banking balls with an open table, and forget about the cross corner bank combo Eddie calls. What was that all about?
Pool players love the movie but it is really pretty bad from a pool standpoint. I never understood the opening scene where Eddie wins the money on the trick shot. They spent all day in there hoping for something like that? Eddie supposedly plays so good he would just see if they have anyone around who wants to play.

As a side note, the actor who played Charlie would be dead of cancer in about a year of making the movie.

Why?

Cigarettes were healthy back then.

More doctors smoked Camels than any other cigarette.

 

[Mr Machine]

No idea how you could infer that.

Lou Figueroa

 

[DynoDan]

When Gleason freshened up, do you think he took some uppers?

No indication in that scene, but benzedrine inhalers WERE sold over the counter though in those days.
BTW: I could never fathom Eddie’s attitude re: his insisting Fats should ‘give up’. Walking out with a ton of his money (enough to buy the average upper-class house in ‘61) after playing all day & all night should likely have proven his point (?). Otherwise, it’s merely a contest of endurance, not skill.

 

[Bob Jewett]

... Also not universally known was that Mosconi was under contract at the time with Brunswick and had to get their permission to take part in this film. Brunswick at the time was trying trying put a 'cleaner' image of pool because pool was really in the doldrums but nothing seemed to work for them. I think that Brunswick just threw up their hands and said 'go ahead and do it Willie nothing we're doing seems to helping this game out anyway. The result as it turned out was a smash hit success and it was The Hustler that brought pool back in this country, for a while anyway!

Here is Brunswicks take -- in their official book on the history of Brunswick by Rick Kogan -- on that revival: