Ooh, I'm glad TCOM is on blueray now. When The Hustler came out with a blueray edition, they interviewed a lot of pool peeps, including Mike Massey, about the shots in the movie. I loved it.
TCOM was a godsend to the American pool world. It was filmed in 1985, but it came out in 1986. I remember a bunch of us from our neighborhood pool room drove over to the Avalon movie theater, a real old-timey place, and sat in the back. We were giggling and lauging all the way through, as some of the scenes are a wee bit corny for real pool aficionados like us, but we loved every minute of it.
Pool enjoyed a surge of popularity after TCOM. Not so much the hustling aspect of it, but people wanted to learn how to play pool. Leagues became popular, and the social shooters grew in numbers. Pool was a social game where men and women, girls and boys could have fun together. It was a good way to meet people because you had to speak: "Do you have stripes or solids?" "Do you want to break?" "Let's play partners."
Tom Cruise couldn't play too well, but Paul Newman knew the game. Willie Mosconi, as most know, was the technical director to The Hustler, and Mike Sigel was the technical director for TCOM. Keith McCready did spend some time with Tom Cruise alone, helping him with his stroke a little bit. Keith still gets royalty checks from SAG (Screen Actors Guild), though they're pretty small these days. Maybe this new blueray edition will boost his checks a little.
Martin Scorsese hand-picked Keith to play Grady Seasons after seeing Keith in action. Keith was feeling no pain at the time, as usual, and was barking up a storm. Marty, et al., pullled Keith in the backroom and said they wanted him in the movie. Keith actually wanted the black cowboy part, but Martin Scorsese already knew what part Keith would play.
Months went by after that, and Keith went on being Keith, on the road like a rolling stone, never had a home. The film crew was trying to get in touch him to come to Chicago to sign up. They finally found Keith, and he arrived at the audition spot in Chicago. Rumor had it that they wanted real pool players in the background and were paying $50 a day for stand-ins. There were a line outside going around the building of pool players, hoping to get picked.
When Keith arrived in a limo, he stepped outside and looked at the line. He already had an appointment and was already chosen, so he did not have to stand in line. He looked at his fellow brethren of players and said, "How are you doing, boys?" and proceeded to walk right in ahead of everyone, gloating and chuckling the whole way.
To this day, everywhere Keith goes, people ask him to say his famous line: "It's like a nightmare, isn't it?"
Pool could use another good pool movie to put pool back on the map for mainstream America. I think the theme would be quite different, though. Gone are golden days of the road agents like Fast Eddie, Vincent, and Grady Seasons. Pool has taken on an international flavor.
Though today's young guns still travel the tournament trail around the world, it's like in their blood when it comes to competition in challenge matches; in other words, action. Witness Filler, Klenti, Bergman, and almost all of the Filipino new kids on the block at the Derby City Classic. You can take the pool player out of the action, but you'll never, ever take the action out of the pool player. Oh, the impossible dream!:wink:
"Rack 'em, Sausage" from The Hustler is my favorite line, and, of course, "It's like a nightmare, isn't it?" from TCOM.
Greatest post I've read in a long time! Thanks for sharing.
