Requiem For A Heavyweight

If everything you ever knew about Rod Serling came from The Twilight Zone or Night Gallery, I urge you to take a look at this film, which is an adaptation of Serling's Playhouse 90 script. Anthony Quinn plays The Mountain, a sweet natured palooka who's taken way too many in the head over a seventeen year career. When, after a fight with a young Cassius Clay (that's right, they got future heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali to make an appearance early on, and it's hard to believe he was ever that young), the doctors tell him he won't be allowed to box anymore, his promoter, the venal Maish Rennick (Jackie Gleason) cuts him loose. Unfortunately for Maish, the Mountain lasted too many rounds with Clay, so the mobsters who bet on the fight demand Maish's money or his hide. What follows is a competition for the Mountain's services as well as his soul, pitting Maish against the only two people in the world who give a damn about The Mountain: his trainer, Army (Mickey Rooney) and an agent for the unemployment office, Grace Miller (Julie Harris).

It is a treat to see this much acting talent on display in the service of a taut, moving tale. Though in some ways the outcome is predictable--The Mountain seems to have nowhere to go but down--his motives for acting as he does are surprisingly complex, so much so that I'm still processing them a day after seeing the movie. If you haven't seen this picture, I urge you to grab it from Netflix. It's worthy of your time.