The Hustler (1961)
is a gritty, unsettling drama set in the seedy underbelly of the American
Dream. Produced, directed, and co-written by Robert Rossen, and starring Paul
Newman in one of his best performances, the film is a hard-edged gem in which
all the elements—writing, directing, acting, cinematography, set design,
editing, and music—are superb, and all the players are at the top of their
game.
On the Page — Origins
The Hustler began
as a short story, “The Best in the Country,†written by Walter Tevis and
published in Esquire in 1953. Tevis drew from his own experiences as a
pool hustler knocking around the dingy bars and pool halls of Lexington,
Kentucky. Later, he expanded the story into a novel—The Hustler—published
in 1959.
The book centers around Eddie
Felson, a small-time pool hustler with dreams of beating the best player in the
country, Minnesota Fats. He challenges Fats to a pool match and loses, then
dumps his longtime friend and manager, Charlie. In a desolate bus station he
meets Sarah, a crippled, alcoholic woman. Eddie and Sarah begin a relationship,
but it’s clear that she wants more from him than he wants to give. He also encounters
Bert, a gambler who recognizes Eddie’s talent, but calls him a “born loser.†Bert
offers to manage Eddie, teach him how to become a winner, and stake him to a
big-time pool hustle. Eddie turns down the deal because Bert’s percentage of
his winnings would be too high. Desperate for money, he goes to a bar in a rough
area of town to make some money hustling pool, but gets his thumbs broken by
some guys who don’t like being hustled. As Sarah nurses him back to heath,
their relationship deepens. After Eddie recovers, he accepts Bert’s offer and
they head out to the Kentucky Derby where he successfully hustles a rich
southern billiards player. He then beats Minnesota Fats in a re-match. At the
end of the book, Eddie’s fate is left in limbo: Will he continue his
relationship with Sarah? Or will his life be loveless like Bert’s, dedicated
only to winning at any cost?
Tevis’s novel was a popular success…and
Hollywood came calling. The property made its way around the movie industry; at
one point Frank Sinatra was attached, but that deal eventually dissolved. Then writer/director
Robert Rossen optioned the book.
Robert Rossen — Regret and
Redemption
Robert Rossen had a lot to
prove. His life, and especially his relationship to Hollywood, was complex and
troubled.
Rossen was raised on New
York’s Lower Eastside, the son of impoverished Russian-Jewish immigrants. As a
youth, he hustled pool and pinochle to get by. Eventually, he attended college
and became involved with radical-left theater during the Depression of the
1930s. Like thousand of other artists and progressives at that time, he also
joined the Communist Party.
Rossen broke into the movie
business as a writer. Under contract to Warner Brothers, his screenplays,
including Marked Woman and Dust Be My Destiny, were about tough
characters in a tough world. His depictions of gangsters, slums, and political
corruption were hard-hitting and street-wise, epitomizing the socially
conscious Warner Brothers’ style of the 1930s and 40s.
When the U.S. entered World
War II, Rossen helped mobilize Hollywood to assist in the war effort and fight
against the Nazis. After the war, he joined a picket line in front of Warner Brothers
Studio where laborers in the Conference of Studio Workers were striking. His
relationship with Warner’s was over. But his directing career, and the
gut-wrenching ethical dilemma that would shape the rest of his life and career,
was about to begin.
In 1947, the U.S.
Congressional House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), subpoenaed 19 Hollywood
writers, directors and producers, to testify about their political affiliations,
including their involvement in the Communist Party. Robert Rossen was among
them. The first ten to testify, including screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, stood on
their First Amendment right to freedom of association, and refused to answer
the Committee’s questions. All ten were sent to prison for Contempt of
Congress. They became known as The Hollywood 10. The eleventh person called to
testify was world-renowned poet and playwright Bertolt Brecht. Brecht sparred
with the Committee during a morning session, then boarded a plane for Europe
never to return to the United States again.
Hollywood luminaries,
including Humphrey Bogart, Judy Garland, and Lauren Bacall, rallied in support
of the Hollywood Ten. The HUAC hearings became a media circus, and the
Committee decided not to call the remaining eight to testify. Robert Rossen
went home.
The Hollywood 10, plus
several hundred others named as “subversives,†were blacklisted out of the
entertainment industry. Careers and lives were ruined. For the moment, Rossen
was spared. Right before the HUAC hearings, he had directed the noirish boxing
drama, Body and Soul. Now he went on to direct All the King’s Men
about corrupt Louisiana political boss, Huey Long. The movie won the Oscar for
Best Picture of 1949. By this time, Rossen had left the U.S. Communist Party,
unhappy with its connection to the repression and terror of Stalin’s Soviet
Union. But HUAC had not finished its work. In 1951, Rossen was again subpoenaed
to testify. He was questioned not only about his own political affiliations,
but was also asked to “name namesâ€â€”to snitch out other people. He refused to
name names and was blacklisted. His career came to a screeching halt.
Two years later, Rossen was once
again called to testify before HUAC. This time his desire to work trumped his
desire to do what he knew was right. He cooperated with the Committee, naming
57 people as Communists. Thanks to his cooperation with HUAC, Rossen revived
his career. But he spent the rest of his life justifying, defending, and being
eaten up inside by his decision to name names.
The Hustler is
one of only a handful of movies Rossen made following his HUAC testimony. In
it, he explores the themes closest to his heart—and his heartache: the
corrupting forces of capitalist society; human weakness; the emotional cost of selling
out.
While Rossen’s screenplay
for The Hustler remains essentially true to the novel’s plot and themes,
one major change darkens the mood, and drills down into its ultimate meaning:
In the movie, Sarah kills herself. Anguished by Bert’s cruelty towards her, her
self-destructive impulses win out. Right before her suicide, she writes in
lipstick on a bathroom wall: Twisted Perverted Crippled. Eddie is devastated by
her death. He continues on to defeat Minnesota Fats in their re-match, but it
has taken Sarah’s suicide for him to break free of Bert. To break free from the
win-at-any-cost mentality. He’s done selling out. He’s finally acquired
“character.â€
Rack ‘Em Up — Assembling the
Cast
As producer, director and
co-writer (with Sidney Carroll), Robert Rossen had control over all creative aspects
of The Hustler. He knew, however, that in order to obtain funding and
distribution for the movie, he would need a star.
At the time, Paul Newman was
coming up in the ranks of Hollywood actors. He had studied at the Actors’
Studio in New York and had the reputation as a kind of pretty-boy Brando. He
had acted on Broadway and television, and co-starred with Elizabeth Taylor in
the film version of Tennessee Williams’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Then he
made Exodus. This big-budget production was not a great movie, and it
was widely recognized that Newman’s appeal was what made it a box-office
success. Paul Newman was now a top, bankable star.
Rossen believed that Newman
had just the right qualities to play cocky, good-looking, loser Fast Eddie
Felson. But the actor wasn’t available, already scheduled to star opposite Elizabeth
Taylor in Two for the Seesaw. Others were considered for the part,
including Bobby Darrin. Then Rossen got lucky. Taylor became sick and plans for
Two for the Seesaw fell apart. Rossen sent Newman his script for The
Hustler. “I read half of it,†the actor recalled, “and called my New York
agent at six o’clock in the morning and said, ‘Get me this film.’ And he did.â€
With Paul Newman on board,
Twentieth Century Fox agreed to put up the money and distribute. The movie was
a go.
Rossen’s casting of the
supporting roles is crucial to The Hustler’s quirky, dark vibe. The talent
and chemistry of the terrific cast is key to why it’s become a classic.
Piper Laurie was chosen to
play self-hating, alcoholic Sarah. She brings to the role a fragility and a yearning
to be loved that is painful to witness. She portrays Sarah as heartbreakingly vulnerable,
but also as someone with reserves of inner strength. When she limps, we see her
pride attempt to triumph over her self-loathing.
George C. Scott was cast as Bert,
the vicious gambler who vies with Sarah over Eddie’s soul. Like Newman, Scott
had cut his acting teeth on stage and television, transitioning to film in the
1950s. While he doesn’t possess Newman’s romantic-lead good looks, he radiates
power in all his roles. In The Hustler, Scott plays Bert as a man who
has sold his soul for money and wants Fast Eddie to follow down the same path. He’s
cruel and cunning; an astute judge of character and a master manipulator. As critic
Pauline Kael comments, “George C. Scott in The Hustler suggests the
personification of the power of money.â€
And finally there’s Jackie
Gleason. What inspired casting! Known primarily as a comedian, and especially
for his loudmouth bus driver Ralph Kramden on The Honeymooners, Gleason was
not an obvious choice. But he was the perfect choice.
Gleason’s Minnesota Fats is gracious
and regal. He’s an elegant dresser, ruling his shabby pool hall kingdom with a
fresh carnation in his lapel. He moves with the grace and fluid precision of a
dancer. He’s a man in control of his game. Unlike Fast Eddie, he knows when to
quit and cut his losses. Forty hours into their marathon pool match, with Eddie
slumped in a chair, drunk and exhausted, Gleason’s Fats genteelly freshens up
in the loo. There’s also a sadness in his eyes; he holds no illusions about the
life he’s chosen.
* Fun Fact: Minnesota Fats
was a wholly fictional character created by novelist Walter Tevis. After the
success of the film, an overweight New York pool hustler, Rudolf Walderone,
renamed himself Minnesota Fats. Walderone cashed in on his new identity with
book and TV deals, including a series of widely televised matches with
top-ranked pool professional, Willie Mosconi.
As important as the supporting
cast is, The Hustler is still Paul Newman’s movie. He has said in
interviews that he viewed Fast Eddie as a man trying to find himself, to
express his talents, to be a somebody instead of a nobody. Newman identified
strongly with Eddie’s struggle: “I spent the first thirty years of my life
looking for a way to explode. For me, apparently acting is that way.â€
Break ‘Em — Roll Camera
At a time when most Hollywood
movies were still shot on studio sets, or on location in and around Los
Angeles, The Hustler was shot and edited in New York. Locations in New
York City included dive bars on Eighth Avenue, the Greyhound Bus Terminal next
to Penn Station, and Ames Billiard Academy (playing itself) on West 44th Street.
Sarah’s neighborhood is in Hell’s Kitchen, her apartment on West 56th
Street. The interiors of Kentucky millionaire Findley’s mansion were shot in a
townhouse on Manhattan’s East 82nd Street.
Fox sent representatives to
check on the production’s progress now and then, but for the most part Rossen
and his company were left alone to work their magic. “It’s one of those
movies,†said Paul Newman, “where you woke up every day and could hardly wait
to get to work, because you knew it was so good and nobody was going to be able
to louse it up.â€
But that didn’t mean the
shoot was easy. Quite the contrary.
The first Fast Eddie vs
Minnesota Fats pool match for instance, is a long, complex sequence with
complicated screen direction, double exposures, and lots of intricate moving
parts. In the final film, the scene runs for 23 intense minutes. Rossen chose
to shoot this scene first. Gleason had been a pool shark in his youth, so he shot
most of his own pool. Newman moved a billiards table into his New York
apartment where top pro Willie Mosconi, as technical advisor on the film, tutored
him in the game. By the time the cameras rolled, Newman was proficient enough
to execute some of his own shots. Mosconi performed Newman’s close-up shots,
and set up balls on the table to make the difficult-looking trick shots easier
for both actors to accomplish.
*Fun Facts: Look closely and
you can also see a poster on the wall at Ames announcing a match featuring
Willie Mosconi. Mosconi also has a bit part in the film, holding a wad of cash
during the match. Boxer Jake LaMotta cameos as a bartender.
To enhance the movie’s feel
of grim, untidy realism, Rossen hired non-professionals—grizzled toughs from
around the neighborhood—to populate the pool hall scenes. This added another
challenging element to the production.
Rossen decided to shoot The
Hustler in black and white—another inspired choice. Eugen Shüfftan’s stark
and moody cinematography helps define the film’s hard-edged, neo-realist
atmosphere. The film is shot in wide-screen Cinemascope which is a perfect
format for the scenes where players move around the vast pool table. Just as importantly,
the wide aspect ratio emphasizes the shifting psychic spaces between the
characters throughout the film as they bluff, hide, expose, betray, love, violate,
and maneuver around each other.
The overwhelming majority of
the movie takes place indoors, where the set design—dingy interiors with low
ceilings, chipped wall paint—amplifies the sense of external reality weighing
down on and enclosing human choices.
Only one scene takes place outside
in nature. During Eddie’s broken-thumb convalescence, he and Sarah have a picnic
in a park. Here, Eddie opens up to Sarah about his deepest feelings, his
passion for his craft. “I mean when I’m going, when I’m really going, I feel
like what a jockey must feel…he’s got everything working for him, timing,
touch. It’s a great feeling, boy, it’s a great feeling when you’re right…Like
all of a sudden I got oil in my arm.†Still, he cannot tell Sarah that he loves
her, and the story heads towards tragedy.
After ten weeks of shooting,
production wrapped. Dede Allen, who later became one of the most celebrated
editors of American film (Bonnie and Clyde, Dog Day Afternoon, Slap
Shot, Reds, Wonder Boys) was hired to edit. The Hustler
was just her second feature film. A jazz score by Kenyon Hopkins was added and
the film was launched into the world.
And the Winner Is…
The Hustler was
both a critical and box-office success. But upon first release it received
nowhere near the accolades it would accumulate over the decades. At Oscar time,
it was nominated for Best Picture and Best Director, but the Motion Picture
Academy, true to form, passed over The Hustler in favor of the safe,
sentimental, big-budget choice: Westside Story. Paul Newman, Piper
Laurie, Jackie Gleason, and George C. Scott were all nominated in their
respective acting categories. They all lost. However, Eugen Shüfftan won for Best
Black and White Cinematography. And Harry Horner and Gene Callahan won for Best
Black and White Art Direction and Set Decoration. (Lucky for them, Westside
Story was shot in color.)
Over the years, The
Hustler has become recognized as a cinematic masterpiece, with all the
actors turning in career-defining work. Among Newman’s many unforgettable roles—in
Hud, Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid,
and The Sting, among others—Fast Eddie Felson may be his most iconic.
Author Walter Tevis went on
to write five more novels, three of which were adapted for the screen: The
Man Who Fell to Earth, The Color of Money (a sequel to The
Hustler), and The Queen’s Gambit.
As for Robert Rossen, between
naming names in 1953 and his death in 1966 at age 57, his only unqualified film
success was The Hustler.
With The Hustler, Rossen
created a pool room drama in which the most intimate human drama unfurls. As Rossen
explains, “The film is really about the obstacles [Eddie] encounters in
attempting to fulfill himself as human being. He attains self-awareness only
after a terrible personal tragedy which he has caused.â€
At the end of the movie, when
Eddie finally cuts loose from Bert, the gambler warns him: “Don’t ever walk
into a big-time pool hall again.†Eddie understands that his dream of being the
top pool player is over. But he accepts the consequences of his actions. He has
finally chosen human feeling and integrity over winning at any cost. He walks
out of the pool hall to an unknown future.
(Eve Goldberg is a writer and filmmaker.
Her articles have appeared in Hippocampus, The Gay & Lesbian Review,
The Reading Room and AmericanPopularCulture.com. Her film and television
credits include Emmy-nominated Legacy of the Hollywood Blacklist, and Cover Up:
Behind the Iran-Contra Affair. Her first book, Hollywood Hang Ten, is a
mystery novel set in 1963 Los Angeles. See a sampling of her short films on her
web site at
https://eve-goldberg.com/ )