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English
Region 2
Region 2
Product Description
Adapted by Rod Serling for the big screen from his own Emmy-winning Tv production, this is a highly acclaimed, hard-hitting boxing drama, filmed in 1962 in black & white and featuring a stunning performance from Anthony Quinn (Lust for Life; Lawrence of Arabia; Zorba the Greek) as Mountain Riviera, a washed-up boxer who after 17 years in the ring is warned that one more blow could lead him to be permanently disabled.
Jackie Gleason (The Hustler; Smokey and the Bandit) co-stars as his manager who wants him to return to the ring for some lucrative, but humiliating staged wrestling matches, just so he can pay off some his own gambling debts to the mob.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
"There are only eight champions and everybody else is a loser."
If there had never been an earlier TV production of Requiem for A Heavyweight, this might possibly seem an even better film, but while it's a good look at the seamy underside of boxing it lacks the punch of the original. While Rod Serling is best remembered today for The Twilight Zone, he also wrote several great TV dramas in the age of live television, and Requiem for a Heavyweight, the first 90-minute live drama to air on US TV, was one of the best, with a truly incredible lead performance from Jack Palance that was one of the most talked about of its day. Unfortunately Palance didn't return for this big-screen version - and nor did Kim Hunter and Keenan Wynn - with original director Ralph Nelson getting a starrier cast in the form of Anthony Quinn, Jackie Gleason, Mickey Rooney and Julie Harris (as well as Cassius Clay and Jack Dempsey) for this belated remake six years later. They're all good and this tale of a boxer's journey to the bottom thanks to an exploitative manager works well despite Quinn seeming like he's been around a little too long to be quite that naïve, but it's well worth seeking out the original on Criterion's Region 1 The Golden Age of Television set: this is very good, but that is great.
To make matters worse, the DVD release is also heavily cut by some 16 minutes from the original theatrical release version (as well as including a slightly different ending), and the scenes cut are anything but padding. No extras at all on the UK or US DVDs either.
If there had never been an earlier TV production of Requiem for A Heavyweight, this might possibly seem an even better film, but while it's a good look at the seamy underside of boxing it lacks the punch of the original. While Rod Serling is best remembered today for The Twilight Zone, he also wrote several great TV dramas in the age of live television, and Requiem for a Heavyweight, the first 90-minute live drama to air on US TV, was one of the best, with a truly incredible lead performance from Jack Palance that was one of the most talked about of its day. Unfortunately Palance didn't return for this big-screen version - and nor did Kim Hunter and Keenan Wynn - with original director Ralph Nelson getting a starrier cast in the form of Anthony Quinn, Jackie Gleason, Mickey Rooney and Julie Harris (as well as Cassius Clay and Jack Dempsey) for this belated remake six years later. They're all good and this tale of a boxer's journey to the bottom thanks to an exploitative manager works well despite Quinn seeming like he's been around a little too long to be quite that naïve, but it's well worth seeking out the original on Criterion's Region 1 The Golden Age of Television set: this is very good, but that is great.
To make matters worse, the DVD release is also heavily cut by some 16 minutes from the original theatrical release version (as well as including a slightly different ending), and the scenes cut are anything but padding. No extras at all on the UK or US DVDs either.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
anthony quinn ,makes you believe he really was a boxer,now that really is acting,and mickey rooney deserves as much praise for his side kick role, very very good dvd,and to see cassius clay(mohamond ali) at 20 year,s of age in this 1962 film just two year,s after he won his olympic boxing gold medal in rome 1960 all adds to the greatness of this wonderful film
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
In his autobiography, Anthony Quinn stated that this was one of his best films to date. I have to agree.
A deeply moving film, it quite honestly bought me to tears. Anthony's portrayal was not like many boxing movies. It was honest and told the story of a man who grew up doing what he loved best and knew nothing else. It showed how he put his trust in someone (Jackie Gleeson) only to have that trust thrown back in his face.
It always makes me wonder that if he had listened to what his heart told him. Would the sad outcome have been different?
For those that are, like me, a fan of Anthony's work and for those that have read his life story. It's astonishing just how the movies he made were very similair to the life he led. You'll see what I mean at the end.
A deeply moving film, it quite honestly bought me to tears. Anthony's portrayal was not like many boxing movies. It was honest and told the story of a man who grew up doing what he loved best and knew nothing else. It showed how he put his trust in someone (Jackie Gleeson) only to have that trust thrown back in his face.
It always makes me wonder that if he had listened to what his heart told him. Would the sad outcome have been different?
For those that are, like me, a fan of Anthony's work and for those that have read his life story. It's astonishing just how the movies he made were very similair to the life he led. You'll see what I mean at the end.
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