The Hustler

The Hustler. 1961 20th Century Fox.
Starring: Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason, Piper Laurie, George C. Scott
Director: Robert Rossen
Buy The Hustler two-disc special edition at Amazon.

A film adaptation of the 1959 novel of the same name by Walter Tevis, adapted for the screen by Sidney Carroll and Robert Rossen.

A small time pool hustler called "Fast Eddie" Felson (Newman) is determined to prove that he's the best player in the country by beating the legendary "Minnesota Fats" (Gleason). At the time of the film's production, Minnesota Fats was simply a fictional character that professional billiards player Rudolf Wanderone claimed was based on him. Wanderone adopted the nickname "Minnesota Fats", parlaying the association with The Hustler into book deals and television appearances, and becoming a bonafide celebrity. Walter Tevis always denied basing the character on Wanderone.

Anyway...

Fast Eddie travels with his partner Charlie (Myron McCormick) to challenge Fats at his home pool hall. Fats arrives, and he agrees to play Eddie for $200 a game. Eddie stumbles out of the gate, but surges back to being a thousand dollars ahead of Fats, and proposes that they raise the stakes to $1000 a game, which Fats agrees to. The contest attracts the attention of gambler Bert Gordon (Scott). After 25 hours (!) of playing, Eddie, who was ahead by $18,000 at one point, loses all but his original $200 stake, half of which he leaves with Charlie at a nearby hotel.

Instead of moving onto the next town, Eddie stays where he's at, because he's determined to play Fats again. He meets an alcoholic "college girl" named Sarah (Laurie), and moves into a rooming house where he starts hustling for small stakes. After some reservations, Sarah allows Eddie to move in with her, and later, Eddie falls out with Charlie after realizing that he held out his percentage of the money, which Eddie believed that with that, he could've rebounded to beat Fats the first time.

Eddie runs across Bert again at a poker game, and Bert tells him that he has talent, but no character. He also figures that Eddie would need at least three grand to challenge Fats again, offering to back him up in exchange for 75 percent of his winnings. Eddie refuses, and gets his thumbs broken after hustling another local pool shark. While recuperating, Sarah tells him she loves him, but he can't bring himself to say the world. After healing, Eddie agrees to Bert's terms, since it's better than nothing.

In Louisville for the Kentucky Derby, Bert also arranges for Eddie to play a local socialte named Findley (Murray Hamilton), but the game is billiards, not pool. Eddie gets routed, and Bert refuses to keep staking him. Sarah wants Eddie to leave with her, saying his world and its inhabitants are "perverted, twisted and crippled", but Eddie won't hear it. Seeing how upset Eddie is, Bert agrees to let the match continue for $1000 a game, and Eddie ultimately wins $12,000, taking his share and walking back to the hotel. Bert sexually abuses Sarah at the hotel before Eddie makes it back there, scrawling the words "perverted", "twisted" and "crippled" in lipstick on the mirror before committing suicide.

Returning to Fats' home club, he challenges Fats again, putting up his entire share on a single game. Eddie wins game after game, beating Fats so badly that he is forced to resign from the contest. Bert demands a share of Eddie's winnings, but relents when Eddie reminds him of what he did to Sarah.

Great film! Highly, highly recommended.