Fat City (1972)

Director:

John Huston

Writer:

Leonard Gardner (novel)

Release Date:

26 July 1972 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Sport

Plot:

Two brothers, working as professional boxers, come to blows when their careers each begin to take opposite momentum.

Plot Keywords:

Boxer | Title Fight | Money | Loneliness | Comeback

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 wins

Cast

Stacy Keach	...	Tully
Jeff Bridges	...	Ernie
Susan Tyrrell	...	Oma
Candy Clark	...	Faye
Nicholas Colasanto	...	Ruben
Art Aragon	...	Babe
Curtis Cokes	...	Earl
Sixto Rodriguez	...	Lucero
Billy Walker	...	Wes
Wayne Mahan	...	Buford
Ruben Navarro	...	Fuentes
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Álvaro López	...	Rosales (uncredited)
Carl D. Parker	...	Paymaster (uncredited)
Al Silvani	...	Referee at Tully-Lucero Fight (uncredited)

Directed by
John Huston

Writing credits
Leonard Gardner		(novel "Fat City")

Produced by
David Dworski	....	associate producer
John Huston	....	producer
Ray Stark	....	producer

Cinematography by
Conrad L. Hall		(as Conrad Hall)

Film Editing by
Walter Thompson

Casting by
Fred Roos
Jennifer Shull

Production Design by
Richard Sylbert

Set Decoration by
Morris Hoffman

Costume Design by
Dorothy Jeakins

Makeup Department
Virginia Jones	....	hair stylist
Jack H. Young	....	makeup artist (as Jack Young)

Production Management
Russell Saunders	....	unit production manager (as Russ Saunders)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Russell Saunders	....	assistant director (as Russ Saunders)
Terry Carr	....	second assistant director (uncredited)
Al Silvani	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Richard M. Rubin	....	property master
Charles Gay	....	leadman (uncredited)
Bob Lawless	....	painter (uncredited)
George Luxemberg	....	props (uncredited)
Bill Parks	....	construction coordinator (uncredited)
Hank Stonecipher	....	construction coordinator (uncredited)

Sound Department
Tom Overton	....	sound
Arthur Piantadosi	....	sound
Dennis Jones	....	boom operator (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Paul Stewart	....	special effects

Stunts
Nick Bullom	....	stunts (uncredited)
Rachel Schedler	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Howard Boyles	....	grip (uncredited)
James Dean	....	grip (uncredited)
Thomas Del Ruth	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Jack Gereghty	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Danny Gordon	....	grip (uncredited)
Keith McClintock	....	electrician (uncredited)
Richard Moore	....	additional photographer (uncredited)
Martin Rhode	....	camera assistant (uncredited)
Larry Ricketts	....	best boy (uncredited)
Larry Stott	....	electrician (uncredited)
Harry Sundby	....	gaffer (uncredited)
Don Vervase	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
John A. Anderson	....	wardrobe (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Margaret Booth	....	supervising editor
Abe Lincoln Jr.	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Kenneth Hall	....	music editor (as Ken Hall)
Marvin Hamlisch	....	music supervisor

Transportation Department
Bob Fish	....	driver: Hollywood (uncredited)
Bob Fish	....	driver: honeywagon (uncredited)
Vern Jacobs	....	driver: generator (uncredited)
Vern Jacobs	....	driver: trailer (uncredited)
Vern Jacobs	....	transportation gaffer (uncredited)
Duke Robbins	....	driver: Hollywood (uncredited)
Duke Robbins	....	driver: mobile equipment truck (uncredited)

Other crew
Wayne Fitzgerald	....	title designer
Gladys Hill	....	assistant: John Huston
Marshall Schlom	....	script supervisor
Denny Shanahan	....	unit publicist
Art 'Klondike' Jones	....	craft serviceman (uncredited)
Vince Martinez	....	auditor (uncredited)
Lorry McCauley	....	secretary to producer (uncredited)
Chuck Mierkey	....	police contact (uncredited)
Edwin Perlstein	....	business affairs (uncredited)
Al Silvani	....	fight consultant (uncredited)
Brad Siniard	....	first aid (uncredited)
Bob Wood	....	location manager (uncredited)
Bob Ziegler	....	location manager (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation
• Rastar Pictures

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1972) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner-Columbia Filmverleih (1973) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1978) (USA) (TV)
• RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video (1988) (USA) (VHS)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2009) (Germany) (DVD)
• Columbia Pictures (Spain)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | USA:PG | Canada:PG | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Stockton Memorial Civic Auditorium, Stockton, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

In an October 30, 1984 taping of the Family Feud, Richard Dawson comments that Fat City is his favorite movie, but he is disappointed that it hadn't been re-released.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the bar scene, the barrette in Susan Tyrrell's hair moves all over the place from shot to shot.

Quotes:

Tully:[first lines]
Tully:Hey kid. You want to spar a little?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in John Huston: The Man, the Movies, the Maverick (1989)

Soundtrack:

The Look of Love

Overlooked masterpiece

I had deliberately overlooked Fat City in the past believing it to be yet another twist on the formulaic and Hollywoodization of boxing stories. Was I wrong! I'm so glad that I unexpectedly caught this and was riveted from the get go. Fat City is an amazing film, made even more stellar by the casting of Stacy Keach, Jeff Bridges, Candy Clark and Nick Colasanto. It is hard to distinguish between these marvelous actors as their performances, under the hands of the maestro John Huston, are incredible. Stacy Keach is the focus however, and he carries the film with the able performances of the aforementioned. I believe this to be one of the most overlooked films of all time.

The characters are a bunch of losers, but they don't know they're losers and keep reiterating their dreams. They operate on a level that is below average and live in impoverished surroundings, always believing that something good is around the corner. There is no big win in this, the wins remain around the corner.

There's basically no beginning, middle and end. It is a study of the underbelly of a town in California, the seedy bars, the dirty restaurants, life in the one room with kitchen-in-a-corner of a walk-up fleabag hotel. Stacy Keach pulls you into this world, he lives and breathes the character he plays down to the last few minutes of screen time when he takes a look around the rathole of a restaurant he's in, surrounded by people like himself and the film freezes for about a minute before it moves on.

You catch his stark awareness at that moment. And all of his life, past, present and future becomes crystal clear to him. You don't think he's going to do much with this newfound insight. It doesn't matter. And that's the point. Bleak and beautiful. All in the same minute of time. 9 out of 10. Thanks once again, Mr. Huston.