I first saw it in the 70’s
The Hustler / What age? Influence?
- Thread starter Michael Andros
- Start date
I was 15 years old that summer it was released. Pool playing was intermittent until then.
In NYC, you had to be at least 16 yrs old to be in the pool room unaccompanied by a adult.
Needless to say, that following summer I became a pool addict when I could go by myself.
It literally changed my youth and my step dad, Eddie Santucci, knew Willie from the 30,s
when they both were playing pool in NYC’s Bowery District. So the film had added meaning
for me & lead to my fascination & addiction to pool, cues & endless pursuit tp understand it.
Matt B.
In NYC, you had to be at least 16 yrs old to be in the pool room unaccompanied by a adult.
Needless to say, that following summer I became a pool addict when I could go by myself.
It literally changed my youth and my step dad, Eddie Santucci, knew Willie from the 30,s
when they both were playing pool in NYC’s Bowery District. So the film had added meaning
for me & lead to my fascination & addiction to pool, cues & endless pursuit tp understand it.
Matt B.
Probably in junior high. Remember buying Willie Mosconi's little paperback on pool and tried some 14.1 on my own at my grandpa's and at home, but nobody really played it (we played 8 ball and rotation) and later in high school and all through college played in a lot of bars and all bar table 8 ball, same for when we played on the big tables in a couple of pool rooms. Heck nobody I knew really had any idea what 9 ball was until we saw it on TV and the game in the bars was still 8 ball. Can't say the movie had a lot of pool influence on me - loved old movies, my favorite Jackie Gleason role, George C. Scott with another cool role (my favorite of his still the prosecutor in Anatomy Of A Murder - watch that if you want to see a great movie, with lots of familiar bit players and a lot going on). May seem like heresy to many, but as much as I like The Hustler, I've never really liked Newman in it all that much - can't say why and never given a lot of thought to who I thought would have been as good or better, and don't get me wrong, he was really good in it.
I was 16 and still find the movie terribly slow and just O.K. If it wasn't for the quality acting I'd find the movie to be a complete waste.
As the movie puts it in your face, the movie is about the lifestyle of loser gambling addicts and how that affects the people around them. The fact that the monkey's name was Pool is mostly irrelevant. That said, The Color of Money portraying a former loser who's finally getting his shit together makes The Hustler a good, if not a great and unique prequel.
As the movie puts it in your face, the movie is about the lifestyle of loser gambling addicts and how that affects the people around them. The fact that the monkey's name was Pool is mostly irrelevant. That said, The Color of Money portraying a former loser who's finally getting his shit together makes The Hustler a good, if not a great and unique prequel.
It had a huge influence on me! I was 17 and already loved to play pool, but had trouble getting into the poolrooms around Dayton since I was still underage and looked it. I loved that movie somehow and related to the outcast character played by Newman. The opening scene in the bar where he hustles the bartender got my attention right away. I wanted to outsmart some greedy guy just like he did.
I really got into playing when I went away to Oklahoma U. at age 18, a very late start. But I was always a good athlete and learned most sports pretty fast. But not pool. It was the hardest sport I ever tried to play. I was challenged by this game and wanted to be good like some of the players I had already seen in Dayton and at O.U. It must have taken me a year to learn how to make balls and another year to learn something about the cue ball. After three years I was a competent low level player and could win gambling at pool for the first time (after three years of getting beat on).
For the next eight years no matter where I was and what I was doing in life, I played pool, pool and more pool. I hit the jackpot when I bought my first poolroom at age 27 in 1972. I had arrived! :thumbup:
I really got into playing when I went away to Oklahoma U. at age 18, a very late start. But I was always a good athlete and learned most sports pretty fast. But not pool. It was the hardest sport I ever tried to play. I was challenged by this game and wanted to be good like some of the players I had already seen in Dayton and at O.U. It must have taken me a year to learn how to make balls and another year to learn something about the cue ball. After three years I was a competent low level player and could win gambling at pool for the first time (after three years of getting beat on).
For the next eight years no matter where I was and what I was doing in life, I played pool, pool and more pool. I hit the jackpot when I bought my first poolroom at age 27 in 1972. I had arrived! :thumbup:
Were you at OU when D. Lane was there?
Seems I caught part or parts of it when I was around 12. It had no effect on me.
My long time neighbor friends had a slate table and we had played on that for as long as I can think back. I probably first had a cue in hand by the time I was 5 or 6.
I watched the whole movie about 5 years ago. I wasn't that impressed. It's kind if a dark movie in terms of tone.
My long time neighbor friends had a slate table and we had played on that for as long as I can think back. I probably first had a cue in hand by the time I was 5 or 6.
I watched the whole movie about 5 years ago. I wasn't that impressed. It's kind if a dark movie in terms of tone.
Yes, for a minute.
He was the best Straight Pool player but Tommy Fisher was the best gambler and Don Owen played pretty sporty then as well. Norman Hitchcock crushed everybody in Oklahoma back then. Even the road men ducked him.
Norman's still a legend around here.Yes, for a minute.
He was the best Straight Pool player but Tommy Fisher was the best gambler and Don Owen played pretty sporty then as well. Norman Hitchcock crushed everybody in Oklahoma back then. Even the road men ducked him.
my travels took me to trueloves in oklahoma city
buddy was giving grady the 8 ball on one table
while norman hitchcock gave me the 5 and the break'
maybe the 5 though it was 40 years ago
I lost pronto and was afraid to try and adjust
i think hitchcock won at johnson city one year
my games didn't always end up with me winning the money
most of the time but oh so painful when i thought i had the nuts and didn't
buddy was giving grady the 8 ball on one table
while norman hitchcock gave me the 5 and the break'
maybe the 5 though it was 40 years ago
I lost pronto and was afraid to try and adjust
i think hitchcock won at johnson city one year
my games didn't always end up with me winning the money
most of the time but oh so painful when i thought i had the nuts and didn't
In 2004 I was 18, fresh out of high school. The Hustler happened to come on TV just as I sat down in my living room before work. I was spellbound. Watched the first hour or so before I had to leave for work (didn’t see the depressing ending). After that, I couldn’t get pool out of my head. I needed to go play. I knew a pool room had just opened down the street from my house, about a 5 minute drive away. The next day I went over to Dunham’s sporting goods store to look at their cues, as I remembered they had a selection. I bought a $50 all black Minnesota Fats cue with a black titanium shaft. Thought it was so cool that there was a Minnesota Fats line of cues. Took it straight to the pool hall and started learning. The guys there quickly suggested I ditch the titanium cue, so I picked up a Lucasi with a wooden shaft, but I still have the Fats cue in its case, great memory.
Howdy All;
Summer of '61 ( I was 12), two friends and myself were screwin' around down town and ducked into
the Bowling Alley. It was a 2 story deal, 6 lanes counter office ect. downstairs, 6 lanes,
shoeshine chair (2 seater), and lo & behold 2 Brunswick 9 footers. We start slammin' the
balls around on the table and then there was a voice tellin' us we'd "best not be
disrespectin' the tables like that." Was the shoeshine guy. My 2 "friends" took off like a
shot. Being as I always had a boxcar load of questions to ask I asked him what he meant.
He went on to explain some of the basics of the Game and asked me if I'd like to learn
a bit about it. So, some basic lessons began. How to hold a cue, Stance, alignment Stroke, ...
Couldn't let on at home, Mom was the daughter of a Social Climber (her Mom), and
would have skinned me alive if she'd known as "Pool was something we don't do in this family".
Well, a few months later the Movie shows up in 1 of the 2 local movie houses ... all she wrote after that ...
Having recently completed my 70th orbit around the Sun I'm happy to report that I still enjoy the game immensely.
hank
Summer of '61 ( I was 12), two friends and myself were screwin' around down town and ducked into
the Bowling Alley. It was a 2 story deal, 6 lanes counter office ect. downstairs, 6 lanes,
shoeshine chair (2 seater), and lo & behold 2 Brunswick 9 footers. We start slammin' the
balls around on the table and then there was a voice tellin' us we'd "best not be
disrespectin' the tables like that." Was the shoeshine guy. My 2 "friends" took off like a
shot. Being as I always had a boxcar load of questions to ask I asked him what he meant.
He went on to explain some of the basics of the Game and asked me if I'd like to learn
a bit about it. So, some basic lessons began. How to hold a cue, Stance, alignment Stroke, ...
Couldn't let on at home, Mom was the daughter of a Social Climber (her Mom), and
would have skinned me alive if she'd known as "Pool was something we don't do in this family".
Well, a few months later the Movie shows up in 1 of the 2 local movie houses ... all she wrote after that ...
Having recently completed my 70th orbit around the Sun I'm happy to report that I still enjoy the game immensely.
hank
Didn't watch it till I was almost 50 (memory sucks so, may be off a little).
It had absolutely no impact on me in pool.
To me, it was / is just another good movie.
Jeff
I never knew that. Thanks for pointing it out.
Good example of artistic license used in a beneficial manner. The tragic loss of his girl made the price Eddie paid for his lifestyle even more tangible.
The first time I saw “The Hustler" I was a teenager in high school back in the late 60’s.
By that time I’d already been playing pool for a bit after a friend, Jim, and I had killed a few hours at a bowling alley in Redwood City north of San Francisco, while his parents bowled. It was a common set up back then for Brunswick lanes to also have a pool room and we batted around the balls an extra big table with 15 red balls and some numbered balls and had no idea what we were doing.
But we were hooked, or at least one of us was. A few weeks later we both bought personal cues and began to play on a regular basis at the Billiard Palacade on the corner of Mission and Geneva a few blocks from both of our houses. It was an old vaudeville theatre turned pool room that soon became my second home. But, as in so many things in life, inevitably one of us excelled awhile the other faltered. I began to deliver consistent beatings on Jim and after a while Jim could no longer make our match up dates with some regularity. I then began to play Guido, an older Italian gentleman with a huge white mustache and mane of hair who was a regular at the room. Soon I began to administer regular beat downs on Guido (but for unknown reasons he appeared to take some kind of crazy, fatherly pride in it all).
So like I said, I was in high school. One night in the downstairs room that my parents had carved out for me in our garage, for the first time on my 15” TV, I watched “The Hustler.”
Oh. My. God. Talk about hitting where you lived; right in the old solar plexus; and grabbing you by the vitals. I was in — all in. I don’t think I can accurately describe how hard it hit me. Eddie, the road hustler with his manger in tow, walking into the big city, big money room where the pool tables were "the slabs they lay the stiffs on."
And then the match with Fats.
It just ate me up: the rail birds pulling up their seats for what they knew would be an epic battle, the placing of the bets, the ritualized racking of the balls, the calling out of very ball, the tapping of cues on the floor to acknowledge a great shot.
I was consumed.
Many, many years later I was channel surfing and Robert Osborne (RIP), TMC host, appeared seated in his chair taking about… “The Hustler.” How it was made, who was consider for the role of Fast Eddie (Tony Curtis, Cliff Robertson, Jack Lemmon, and Bobby Darin, while Kim Novak turned down the role of Sarah) and what Robert Rossen, the director, eventually decided to do. So I decide to watch for old times sake and came to discover they were broadcasting it in letter box.
I’d never seen it in letterbox, having become accustomed to the square pan-and-scan version I’d watched many times before. And let me tell you: the letterbox version of “The Hustler" is a revelation. The wide screen shots in the pool room are fabulous — absolutely amazing. And in all their black and whiteness they take on the appearance of a classical Greek tableau. It’s almost like something by Da Vinci. Or at least good enough to win a couple of Academy Awards for cinematography and art direction.
“The Hustler” was huge for me and to this day remains a touchstone. I own two original movie posters, one for the original release and then the re-release a few years later, and I display them in our loft from time-to-time. And I also own a first edition of Tevis’ novel.
If you haven’t viewed the letterbox version I urge you to do so. And even if you have, give it another viewing. It’s amazing.
Lou Figueroa
By that time I’d already been playing pool for a bit after a friend, Jim, and I had killed a few hours at a bowling alley in Redwood City north of San Francisco, while his parents bowled. It was a common set up back then for Brunswick lanes to also have a pool room and we batted around the balls an extra big table with 15 red balls and some numbered balls and had no idea what we were doing.
But we were hooked, or at least one of us was. A few weeks later we both bought personal cues and began to play on a regular basis at the Billiard Palacade on the corner of Mission and Geneva a few blocks from both of our houses. It was an old vaudeville theatre turned pool room that soon became my second home. But, as in so many things in life, inevitably one of us excelled awhile the other faltered. I began to deliver consistent beatings on Jim and after a while Jim could no longer make our match up dates with some regularity. I then began to play Guido, an older Italian gentleman with a huge white mustache and mane of hair who was a regular at the room. Soon I began to administer regular beat downs on Guido (but for unknown reasons he appeared to take some kind of crazy, fatherly pride in it all).
So like I said, I was in high school. One night in the downstairs room that my parents had carved out for me in our garage, for the first time on my 15” TV, I watched “The Hustler.”
Oh. My. God. Talk about hitting where you lived; right in the old solar plexus; and grabbing you by the vitals. I was in — all in. I don’t think I can accurately describe how hard it hit me. Eddie, the road hustler with his manger in tow, walking into the big city, big money room where the pool tables were "the slabs they lay the stiffs on."
And then the match with Fats.
It just ate me up: the rail birds pulling up their seats for what they knew would be an epic battle, the placing of the bets, the ritualized racking of the balls, the calling out of very ball, the tapping of cues on the floor to acknowledge a great shot.
I was consumed.
Many, many years later I was channel surfing and Robert Osborne (RIP), TMC host, appeared seated in his chair taking about… “The Hustler.” How it was made, who was consider for the role of Fast Eddie (Tony Curtis, Cliff Robertson, Jack Lemmon, and Bobby Darin, while Kim Novak turned down the role of Sarah) and what Robert Rossen, the director, eventually decided to do. So I decide to watch for old times sake and came to discover they were broadcasting it in letter box.
I’d never seen it in letterbox, having become accustomed to the square pan-and-scan version I’d watched many times before. And let me tell you: the letterbox version of “The Hustler" is a revelation. The wide screen shots in the pool room are fabulous — absolutely amazing. And in all their black and whiteness they take on the appearance of a classical Greek tableau. It’s almost like something by Da Vinci. Or at least good enough to win a couple of Academy Awards for cinematography and art direction.
“The Hustler” was huge for me and to this day remains a touchstone. I own two original movie posters, one for the original release and then the re-release a few years later, and I display them in our loft from time-to-time. And I also own a first edition of Tevis’ novel.
If you haven’t viewed the letterbox version I urge you to do so. And even if you have, give it another viewing. It’s amazing.
Lou Figueroa
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I didn't watch it until after I met Jackie Gleason when I was a freshman in college. I went out and rented the video and then went to Abe Rich on Miami Beach and bought a cue. I was hooked. About a month later, Nick Varner came into town and all I could do was play pool all the time.