The Hustler

Director: Robert Rossen (1961)

Cast: Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason, Piper Laurie, George C. Scott

Some movies are transcendent of their time period and live on, The Hustler is one of those films. It really put Paul Newman on the map as a serious actor and also displayed the immense talents of comedian Jackie Gleason as a serious actor.

Newman plays Fast Eddie Felson, a young ambitious pool hustler from California who believes, “if you want to be the best, you must beat the best, and the best is Minnesota Fats, played by television icon Jackie Gleason, who takes him on and sees his vast talent, and immaturity and beats him. Fats manager, Bert Gordon, played by George C, Scott also saw the match and was impressed and took him on and introduced him to Sarah Packard, a beautiful woman whose job is to keep Eddie happy and report everything back to Gordon. Eddie starts winning matches with other players, making good money for himself and even more for Bert Gordon. Eventually Eddie wants another shot against Fats. Gordon doesn’t want to do it and leans on Sarah to keep Eddie in line. When Eddie insists on the rematch, Bert takes his vengeance on Sarah who kills herself. Fats agrees to the rematch. He wins. But in the end loses, because Gordon holds all the cards and all the power and influence and makes sure blacked balled for life.  What will become of him?

Fun Facts: Jackie Gleason had been a pool hustler since he was a little boy and did all his own pool tricks with ease.