REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT

REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT - 1962

RATED - NR but probably PG for some boxing violence & adult themes.

RATINGS - 25 AMAZON (4/5), 757 IMBD (7.8/10), 20,270 NETFLIX (3.8/5).

STARRING - Anthony Quinn, Jackie Gleason, Mickey Rooney, Julie Harris

THEMES - Loyalty, friendship, love, gambling, hustling.

STORY - The film begins in the ring with the aging heavyweight boxer Mountain Rivera (Quinn) getting pounded by the then real life Cassius Clay (later Muhammad Ali). Once ranked as high as 5th in the world, he has been reduced to a sure win for those on the way up and a payday for his manager. It's all he's ever done and he's not prepared to do anything else in life. The doc tells him this is it. Another blow to the head and his eyesight may not survive that one. His manager (Gleason) and trainer (Rooney) have other ideas. Mountain is their paycheck and besides, Gleason just bet (and lost) that Mountain wouldn't last 4 rounds against Clay. He needs to keep the franchise going because he isn't prepared for anything else, either. Mountain tries the unemployment office where the case worker (Harris) takes a personal, as well as professional, interest in helping this 'mountain' of a man who is lost outside the ring. The scene when he takes her to the bar where he always hangs out and tries to treat her like a 'lady' is a classic. Gleason, meanwhile, is being pursued by the mob to make good on his bet. Rivera is caught in the middle of this tragedy as friendship and loyalty are put to the test. This is NOT an uplifting, all ends well story. I can't imagine a better cast for this story written by Rod Serling (Twilight Zone) for TV six years earlier.

LINKS - AMAZON, IMBD