I agree..I liked the book better....Walter understood a lot about pool playing.
The Color of Money (film 1986)
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I agree..I liked the book better....Walter understood a lot about pool playing.
I agree. It would've been nice to see Walter Tevis's sequel to the Hustler make it to the big screen. I wonder how many people thought The Color of Money (movie) was the actual sequel to The Hustler, and because of this never read the book?
Lol... yes, the book is a much slower story, but it's also a deeper, more real story. And it's the actual sequel to The Hustler. I liked the movie and the fact that it brought new life into the pool world, but I also liked Walter Tevis's book, the continuation of Fast Eddie's struggles and how Eddie and Fats become friends. It's a great story, though not exactly fitting for a Tom Cruise blockbuster hit.
In the book, Eddie shows up at a 9-ball tournament...nobody knows him...
...they can see he’s no stranger to a pool table as he warms up....
...he wins the lag for his first match.....he cream-puffs the break....
...one of the spectators says “Straight pool player.”
That’s why I like reading Tevis...he’s been there
There were a few more big names in that movie. Mike Sigel, Steve Mizerak, Grady Matthews and Howard Vickery to name a few.
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One of my favorite lines in the Hustler when Fats says to Fast Eddie "shoot pool Fast Eddie". Newman replies "I'm shooting Fats, when I'm done shooting, you can shoot". It's been my tagline for years on AZ.
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I knew Walter quite well. And so did my mom, lol (I have an interesting story about the two of them in my second book). We spent several days together at the Dayton tournament in 1974. Walter was doing a piece for Sports Illustrated. He definitely knew his way around the poolroom, spending a good deal of his youth roaming the rooms in Louisville and skipping classes at college.
In case you didn't know he also wrote The Man Who Fell to Earth, another great novel. He was considered a world class writer. I think Walter was more influenced by watching Eddie Taylor play than anyone else. Taylor was always the well dressed gentleman that Minnesota Fats was portrayed to be in the movie. Too much of a gentleman to try to take advantage of the character and use that name as his nickname. No such problem for Rudolf Wanderone, aka New York Fats.
Walter enjoyed hanging around with the hustlers and listening to their banter. He preferred to be a fly on the wall and just observe from a distance. He always had a slightly bemused look on his face. Alcoholism was his downfall and brought about an early death.
He gave me the best advice I ever got as a writer. He said to me, "The hardest part of writing is putting the marks on paper!"
For more Walter Tevis reading, here's a good read on an old AzB thread: Fertile Ground for Fiction: Walter Tevis.
OK, here he is. I'm telling you, the guy is a genius. I just sat there last night listening to people get so infuriated when he would beat them. I think he won $50 or $60 last night.
People played him all night based solely on the way he looked.
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Is it just me or do you have to stand on a ramp on that side of the table?
Minnesota Fats: Shoot pool, Fast Eddie.
Eddie: I'm shootin' pool, Fats. When I miss, you can shoot.
One of my favorite lines from one of my favorite movies
It's not just you...it is a small ramp
LOL, that would be fun. Back in the 90's we plaid at a shithole bar in South Omaha that a floor about as flat as the ocean during a hurricane, was a good time :thumbup:
EmilAndersen
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Completely agree, every time I watch the hustler I find something new that I hadn't thought about before. Beautiful movie; one of my all time favorites.
LMAO!!! His antics are a great hustle. People line up to play him and then have a hard time playing against him because he is such a flakey acting guy:grin:
Exactly! No one gets it in the room and I just look at this guy and say to myself..."this guy is awesome and he doesn't even know it"
The other night, that song from "Say Anything" came on the juke box "In your eyes" by Peter Gabriel. This dude lifts his stick in the air like John Cusack did with his boom box and closed his eyes and started swaying. Freaking brilliant!
Hahaha!! Great movie!!