Most famous pool cue in history?

I think the most famous cue of all time may be that crooked one W. C. Fields is eyeballing for warp in that poster. Even people who have never seen the hustler or tcom know of it. W. C. must have had the cue making gene...I mean he didn't just roll that cue on a table like many of us less educated folks, he sighted down it to form an informed opinion of its straightness.
 
Both of the cues in that W.C. Fields short, AND the table he "played" on are part of a permanent exhibit at The Magic Castle, in Hollywood, CA. They're in a big glass case. If you look close in the movie, you can see that the rails are curved right to the cloth (no nose on the cushion). This is what allowed Fields to easily bounce the CB back at him.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

matcase said:
I think the most famous cue of all time may be that crooked one W. C. Fields is eyeballing for warp in that poster. Even people who have never seen the hustler or tcom know of it. W. C. must have had the cue making gene...I mean he didn't just roll that cue on a table like many of us less educated folks, he sighted down it to form an informed opinion of its straightness.
Click to expand...
 
Dan Janes made three copies of the cue that was designed as the "Balabushka" used in COM. Scorcese wanted to make sure that if something happened to one of them, they would have ready replacements. Only one was used in the movie, and both Paul Newman and Tom Cruise autographed it, when it was sold at a charity auction. I don't know what happened to the other two cues. Joss later brought out a production cue that was similar, but not exactly like the COM cues.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

billbOK said:
Runnin8 talk about The Hustler, not the Color of the Money.... And I think that the cue Dan Janes made for the Color of the Money was not a production model. He surely make an one-of-a-kind. After the succes of the film, he certainly introduced the same design for a model in his production series...
Click to expand...
 
Movie Cues can be worth quite a bit if authenticated. The cue Johnny Cash used in "The Baron and The Kid" movie sold for about $6500. It was just a custom made Viking cue. Sosebys estimated it would bring $600 to $700 at his estate auction. I bet they were pleasantly surprised at the outcome.
 
I lusted after the Mosconi/Gleason cue for several years while it was listed at BilliardCue.com and still regret not buying it immediately ... Not so much for the Cue, but because I have been a HUGE Gleason fan since he aired his first show on TV in the 50's ... It may have been divine intervention that placed him in the role of "Minnesota Fats", as he was born to the part ...
 
For civilians the W.C. Fields cue, the COM cue or the Rambo's from the Hustler would be concidered the famous cues. For me its pretty simple;

Mizerak's Balabuska..."Birdland" is the most famous IMO.
 
RunoutalloverU said:
It is just a Joss production cue. I don't know about the particular one in the movie, which I kind of wonder about too. Good question....anybody....anybody.
Click to expand...

You're thinking about The Color of Money.

In The Hustler, they used a few different cue brands, IIRC. But Rambow cues would have been primary.

Fred
 
I'm Well Read

I think the most famous pool cue in history is the one used to shoot JFK.
Doug
( or the one that Hemingway used to catch that big marlin.... imo ) :)


.
 
I bought the Murray pool table that was used in the final scene of The Color Of Money. It had a plaque on the rail stating "This is the pool table used by Paul Newman and Tom Cruise in the final scene of the COM".

They had it on display at the "Wrap Party" thrown for the cast and crew and many Hollywood notables at Chasen's restaurant in Los Angeles. One of the producers hired me and Keith and Kim to entertain the guests with trick shots etc. And they had a "silent auction" to raffle off the table.

There wasn't a lot of interest in the auction and toward the end I looked at the sheet and saw the high bid was $1,000. So I bid $1,100 and lo and behold the next day someone called me and told me I won it. It was delivered to my home in West Los Angeles a few days later and set up in the living room (only room big enough) by the mechanics from Murray.

The COM became a big hit in Japan and started a pool boom in that country. An upscale chain of pool rooms opened up called the Los Angeles Clubs. A couple of months later, I get a call from Japan. A man is inquiring about the COM pool table. Do I really have it? Yes, I say. It is right here next to me. He tells me that he represents the Los Angeles Clubs and they would like to buy it. How much?

I ask him how much he would pay for it, and he says five thousand. Hmmm, they really want it. So we negotiate for the next few days and I finally sell it to them for ten thousand, plus they must send a crew to tear it down and ship it to Japan. He had wanted me to do that. Within days a cashiers check comes for $10,000. And a few days after that the same crew from Murray comes back and picks up the table.

I bought a Gold Crown for two grand and was a happy camper. A couple of years later I went to the International 9-Ball Open in Tokyo and saw my table on display there, behind stanchions. I was the guest at the private Los Angeles Club and they made me an honorary member. Somewhere I still have the little gold card saying that Jay Helfert is a lifetime member of the Los Angeles Club.

Too cool huh. All TRUE!
 
jay helfert said:
Within days a cashiers check comes for $10,000. And a few days after that the same crew from Murray comes back and picks up the table.

I bought a Gold Crown for two grand and was a happy camper. A couple of years later I went to the International 9-Ball Open in Tokyo and saw my table on display there, behind stanchions. I was the guest at the private Los Angeles Club and they made me an honorary member. Somewhere I still have the little gold card saying that Jay Helfert is a lifetime member of the Los Angeles Club.

Too cool huh. All TRUE!
Click to expand...

My god, you have the Midas touch!!!
 
jay helfert said:
As Efren would say, "I got lucky".
Click to expand...
Great story Jay.
Oh, I was at this private club one nitein Carson. Efren and Parica were playing poker.
One man had a copy of Efren running 9 racks on Bustamante.
He lent me the tape so I could watch it.
One nice dude who trusted a stranger.
Thanks.
 
jay helfert said:
I bought the Murray pool table that was used in the final scene of The Color Of Money. It had a plaque on the rail stating "This is the pool table used by Paul Newman and Tom Cruise in the final scene of the COM".

...

I ask him how much he would pay for it, and he says five thousand. Hmmm, they really want it. So we negotiate for the next few days and I finally sell it to them for ten thousand, plus they must send a crew to tear it down and ship it to Japan. He had wanted me to do that. Within days a cashiers check comes for $10,000. And a few days after that the same crew from Murray comes back and picks up the table.

I bought a Gold Crown for two grand and was a happy camper. A couple of years later I went to the International 9-Ball Open in Tokyo and saw my table on display there, behind stanchions. I was the guest at the private Los Angeles Club and they made me an honorary member. Somewhere I still have the little gold card saying that Jay Helfert is a lifetime member of the Los Angeles Club.

Too cool huh. All TRUE!
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing that Jay! Wise moves are most often rewarded.

Steve
 
JoeyInCali said:
Great story Jay.
Oh, I was at this private club one nitein Carson. Efren and Parica were playing poker.
One man had a copy of Efren running 9 racks on Bustamante.
He lent me the tape so I could watch it.
One nice dude who trusted a stranger.
Thanks.
Click to expand...

Hey, when do I get my tape back? :)
 
Rambow

I have a Rambow that looks just like Felson's cue from The Hustler. The most unique thing about it is that whoever comissioned it had Rambow leave the Brunswick decal on it.... a Carom King decal. The decal is almost perfect. Really unusual joint.... described the joint and the rest of the cue to Victor Stein and he agreed it's a Rambow but if you see it there's no doubt.... the decal being on there also shows it has not been monkeyed with. Newman has died, and since he was so charitable I wonder if his Rambow will come up for sale at auction.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top