Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962)
Director: Ralph Nelson
Starring: Anthony Quinn, Jackie Gleason, Mickey Rooney
Synopsis:
A washed-up boxer looks for work while his unscrupulous promoter seeks to exploit him to pay off his gambling debts.
Impressions:
Man, this is a sad movie. Anthony Quinn delivers a strong performance as the pathetic Mountain Rivera, a generally decent man forced out of his element and unable to cope. Jackie Gleason is also great as the dirtbag promoter Maish, but as a testament to the nuanced writing, even he isn't without sympathy. There's also Mickey Rooney as cutman Army and Julie Harris as employment office worker/pseudo-love interest Grace Miller. Also worth pointing out that Muhammad Ali (back when he was Cassius Clay) makes a cameo as himself in the first fight, which is pretty cool. This is a very good movie, written by Rod Serling of The Twilight Zone fame. It can be a bit of a hard watch, but it's definitely worth seeing.
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