Down-on-his-luck ex-sportswriter Eddie Willis is hired by shady fight promoter Nick Benko to promote his latest find, an unknown but easily exploitable phenom from Argentina.
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A religious fanatic marries a gullible widow whose young children are reluctant to tell him where their real daddy hid $10,000 he'd stolen in a robbery.
Director:
Charles Laughton
Stars:
Robert Mitchum,
Shelley Winters,
Lillian Gish
A private eye escapes his past to run a gas station in a small town, but his past catches up with him. Now he must return to the big city world of danger, corruption, double crosses and duplicitous dames.
A writer meets a young socialite on board a train. The two fall in love and are married soon after, but her obsessive love for him threatens to be the undoing of both them and everyone else around them.
Charley Davis wins an amateur boxing match and is taken on by promoter Quinn. Charley's mother doesn't want him to fight, but when Charley's father is accidentally killed, Charley sets up a... See full summary »
Sherry Conley, a street tough and cynical woman with an unhappy family background, is taken from prison to a hotel, where the DA tries to convince her to testify against a mobster. Sherry ... See full summary »
Director:
Phil Karlson
Stars:
Ginger Rogers,
Edward G. Robinson,
Brian Keith
To avoid the heat of a sweltering summer night a 9 year old Manhattan boy decides to sleep on the fire escape and witnesses a murder, no one will believe him.
A dazed woman walks the streets of Los Angeles looking for a man named David. After collapsing in a diner, she's taken to the psychiatric ward of a nearby hospital. Flashbacks reveal her ... See full summary »
After 17 years as a recognized and respected sports journalist in New York City, Eddie Willis finds himself out of a job when his newspaper folds. He's approached by a major fight promoter, Nick Benko, to act as a public relations man for his new heavyweight fighter Toro Moreno. Eddie knows the how the fight game works and after watching Toro in the ring, realizes Toro is nothing but a stiff who has no hope of succeeding. Benko offers him a sizable salary and an unlimited expense account and given his financial situation, he agrees. Benko's strategy to make money is one that has been used time again. Starting in California and moving east, they arrange a series of fights for Toro with stiffs and has-beens. All of the fights are rigged to build up his record and get him a fight with the heavyweight champion, Buddy Brannen, where they will make a sizable profit at the gate. Along the way, one boxer gets killed in the ring and Eddie begins to have serious doubts about what he is doing. Written by
garykmcd
According to Hollywood urban legend, Bogart was so sick during filming that his voice had to be re-dubbed by an impersonator. In truth, though, the voice heard in the film is indeed Humphrey Bogart's own voice. See more »
Goofs
In the opening when Eddie hires a cab, initially it's a '55 Plymouth, in the next scene as they're driving off it's a '54 Ford. See more »
Quotes
Toro Moreno:
I know they are thieves. But you are a smart man, Eddie. They cannot fool you. How much money did you get for me? How much money, Eddie?
See more »
The seamy side of the boxing world is the subject of this interesting film. A third-rate amateur boxer (Mike Lane) is brought from South America to New York and exploited by a corrupt promoter (Rod Steiger).
Steiger hires out-of-work columnist Bogart as a press agent for a big publicity build-up, fixing fights across the country and making a profit for Steiger and his "boxing club." The name of the game is money, and Bogart struggles with his conscience, ethics and the disapproval of his wife (Jan Sterling) as he promotes the young fighter, who is duped into thinking he is invincible.
Eventually, the fighter faces the match that can't be fixed in New York with (real-life) boxing champ Max Baer. Lane is told about the previous fixed fights and knows he'll be decimated, but decides to fight Baer anyway to save face. Out of guilt and in sympathy, Bogart gives Lane his share of the purse (after he finds out that Lane has been fleeced out of his winnings), then puts him on a plane back to South America.
Sadly, Bogart was diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus during filming; reportedly, some of his lines had to be dubbed by others in post-production.
Despite his illness, he gave an impressive performance, together with some wonderful character actors such as Edward Andrews, Nehemiah Persoff and Herbie Faye.
Rod Steiger's versatility is well demonstrated here, as his role as the corrupt promoter sharply contrasts the gentle soul he portrayed in the TV version of "Marty" two years earlier.
The fight scenes with Max Baer are also very well done, and the on-location shots of 1955 Manhattan and downtown Chicago add stark realism.
The Harder They Fall is a film definitely worth viewing.
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The seamy side of the boxing world is the subject of this interesting film. A third-rate amateur boxer (Mike Lane) is brought from South America to New York and exploited by a corrupt promoter (Rod Steiger).
Steiger hires out-of-work columnist Bogart as a press agent for a big publicity build-up, fixing fights across the country and making a profit for Steiger and his "boxing club." The name of the game is money, and Bogart struggles with his conscience, ethics and the disapproval of his wife (Jan Sterling) as he promotes the young fighter, who is duped into thinking he is invincible.
Eventually, the fighter faces the match that can't be fixed in New York with (real-life) boxing champ Max Baer. Lane is told about the previous fixed fights and knows he'll be decimated, but decides to fight Baer anyway to save face. Out of guilt and in sympathy, Bogart gives Lane his share of the purse (after he finds out that Lane has been fleeced out of his winnings), then puts him on a plane back to South America.
Sadly, Bogart was diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus during filming; reportedly, some of his lines had to be dubbed by others in post-production.
Despite his illness, he gave an impressive performance, together with some wonderful character actors such as Edward Andrews, Nehemiah Persoff and Herbie Faye.
Rod Steiger's versatility is well demonstrated here, as his role as the corrupt promoter sharply contrasts the gentle soul he portrayed in the TV version of "Marty" two years earlier.
The fight scenes with Max Baer are also very well done, and the on-location shots of 1955 Manhattan and downtown Chicago add stark realism.
The Harder They Fall is a film definitely worth viewing.