Does anybody know the background of the following scene in the movie ???
When Newman and Cruise arrives at the pool room and newman stands next to the black guy. And the man says something to him mentioning his name Fast Eddie.
then Newman looks in surprise to him and says "you son of a *****".
Well it looks to me as this scene is not in the script and Newman is surprised in reality and they wanted to capture his surprised reaction.
Who is that Guy ??? Is he maybe from the Hustler Movie back then.
It looks like they knew each other from the past because Newmans reaction is definitely not acted but real.
It's not him. He didn't start acting till 10 years after the Hustler was made. He was I believe in the Air Force at the time they were making the Hustler.I'm not sure if it was scripted or not but I believe the black man was the guy who cleaned the tables at Ames in the Hustler.
P.S. I just checked on IMDb, ihe was not the same guy from the Hustler, just looks like him.
Does anybody know the background of the following scene in the movie ???
When Newman and Cruise arrives at the pool room and newman stands next to the black guy. And the man says something to him mentioning his name Fast Eddie.
then Newman looks in surprise to him and says "you son of a *****".
Well it looks to me as this scene is not in the script and Newman is surprised in reality and they wanted to capture his surprised reaction.
Who is that Guy ??? Is he maybe from the Hustler Movie back then.
It looks like they knew each other from the past because Newmans reaction is definitely not acted but real.
I was in Greensboro, NC, looking for Bakers, I think was the name, me and a road player named Geese.
Geese drove up to the joint, and when we opened the door, it was a sewing shop. We asked the locals where the pool room was, and it had moved down the street a mile or two in a new location.
Careful what you walk into lol, that was Earl's hangout back in the day...
We're about due for another fresh treatment of pool.
We may be getting a small one. I got an e-mail about a month ago from the producer of one of those reality shows, I think it was Wife Swap, looking for a family (parents and kids) who play pool to appear on the show. I've never watched the show, so I'm not sure how they plan to incorporate pool playing into the show, but at least someone is thinking about it.
Steve
At best they will depict them as bar flies and make pool look like something for degenerates.
I remember that time clearly... I was working in a pool hall at the time and there was quite a bit of talk about what we all thought it would be like.
Martin Scorsese was one of my favorite directors/producers, so I had originally had high hopes for it. So the night it comes out, about 10 of us players head on out to see it.
Now I'm the type of guy that loves movies that are realistic. Since pool was the most important thing in my life at the time, I was unrealistically thinking it might show what it was really like in the pool world.
Man, was I disappointed. I hated the Vince character, I hated Tom Cruise's acting, I thought Paul Newman was cheesy, I hated the pool scenes and I was knew what was going to happen after the mainstream public saw it.
Sure enough, it wasn't but a day or two before people starting coming into the pool room and doing the twirling of the cues, the yelping, the lining up a shot and then looking the other way when shooting it.
I understand that just about any movie, there has to be creative license taken, to make it appeal to the masses. I was just holding on to the hope it was going to be minimal. Everyone with me was very disappointed too.
I will be the first to say, that it sparked the creation of all the "strip mall pool halls". You could find one every few blocks it seemed. Brand new buildings with large floor plans... music blaring (werewolves of london being a staple) teens and 20 something's being the main crowd. Needless to say, alot of people made money from those establishments, for many years.
It did bring pool to the masses and take it out of the dark pool hall or the crappy table in the back of a bar. It made it popular again and made it "cool" to play pool.
On the flip side, I love The Hustler. Filmed in black and white, portrayed the old pool halls, Jackie Gleason was fantastic, Paul's character was very in depth, Piper was great. It's by far, the best pool movie out there.
I never understood why pool scenes always have to be some sort of trick shot. Some shot that's setup so 5 balls go in and as long as you make contact with the head ball, you can't miss. Or some jump shot or masse, where you have a ball hanging in the pocket or froze to a ball that's dead in a pocket.
I would think it would be more entertaining to watch someone cut a ball down the entire length of the table or watch the many stroke shots that have massive draw or force follow or loads of english to make the cueball dance and bend to a specific spot on the table.
Hey, but I understand I am in the minority, I am a PoolPhreak (one of my old nyms on the Net :grinI am a person desperate for the masses to see what is close to my heart, what real pool is like, what kind of shots deserve a "tap, tap, tap" and to give some insight into what would possess a grown man to watch a onepocket game for 20 hours straight and walk away with a feeling like he's just witnessed the Super Bowl, the NBA championships, the World Series and Live Aid/Live 8, all rolled into one.
Now that I'm all worked up, I think I will take my COM dvd and use it to shim up a table at SidePockets.... damn thing rolls bad to one side and it's the only way the COM dvd could contribute to my enjoyment of pool.:thumbup:
Recently I caught The Hustler on cable, and enjoyed it immensely for the first time in probably 20 years. Jackie Gleason is at minimum Paul Newman's equal as an actor, and he shoots a mean stick (or did then) in his own right.
That whetted my appetitie for the sequel. I'd seen Color of Money soon after it came out, and if I rememember correctly, I stalked out of the theater before it was over. I'd never seen a Tom Cruise movie before that -- I had no idea who Tom Cruise was -- but I was so offended by his character I couldn't stand to watch him.
But I've mellowed since then, and I was especially interested in seeing a young and skinny Keith, at a time when he was on top of his game. Also some good footage of some infamous pool halls, and other characters, such as the Miz, who jumped out at you.
But once again, I was revolted by Cruise. His character was just abysmal. And even Newman fell down, in my opinion. Without Gleason to guide him, he looked much less the player and more the banger. And let's not even get into Cruise and his clumsy technique.
Help me here. Am I being overly biased because I can't get past my revulsion for the Vince character, or am I being realistic? All I know is that any punk who walked into our poolroom in Denver and carried on like that, he wouldn't walk out. He'd be hobbled, or better. And there would be no witnesses.
And Newman. He gets ready for the pool hall by putting on a silk tie? You gotta be kidding me. A guy on his way home from work, sure, play in a silk tie, but to dress up for a game that way? Never seen such a thing, and I've known some dapper players.
Is this really a better movie than I give it credit for?