The Hustler

Fast Eddie Felson is a pool hustler with an abundance of talent and a destructive attitude. He makes his way around the country going from billiard parlour to billiard parlour to hustle the locals out of their hard-earned money. The endearing quality about Eddie, however, is that he hustles people, they know they have been hustled, and yet they still like him. Without doubt he is number one, this is of course apart from the other man that is number one. It has now become his main aim in life to challenge that man, the legendary Minnesota Fats and beat him, proving that he is the best there is.

"I'm shootin' pool, Fats. When I miss, you can shoot!"

Felson and Fats engage in a marathon session of pool, with the balance of power alternating between the two. The tension is so thick you could carve it with a knife, Fats remaining calm and Felson ever cool and endearing. The battle rages on for over a day with Fats becoming the ultimate winner, not only winning by technical skill but winning by maintaining his composure and his class, wearing down his younger opponent.

"I'm the best you ever seen Fats. I'm the best there is. Even if you beat me I'm still the best!"

Felson is now down and out, dumping his long time manager and struggling to make a dollar. Looking for someone to console him, he meets up with Sarah. Sarah is in a similar place to Eddie and the combination of the two is a fiery relationship. When Eddie hits rock bottom, he teams up with cutthroat manager Bert Gordon. Gordon takes Eddie on the road to teach him the right way to hustle. The price of success may be more than he is prepared to pay - it could cost him a lot more than money or his dignity.

What follows is an enthralling love story set around this young man and his struggle to become the best. The question is, will being the best be enough? Receiving ten Academy Awards nominations, including Best Actor and Best Film, The Hustler has gone on to become a classic amongst film fans. Sadly Newman did not win the Oscar that year, funnily enough his first win was for the sequel to this film, alongside Tom Cruise in The Colour Of Money.

Paul Newman is superb as Felson, showing his undoubted talent as an actor. Considering he had never even held a pool cue prior to signing up for this film, he is extremely convincing. The original actor in mind for this role was Frank Sinatra, but due to an illness to Elizabeth Taylor and a lack of leading actresses to replace her, Newman was available to take on the role. Although an established star in 1961 when The Hustler was released, this film catapulted Newman to the top in lead actor standing. Jackie Gleason is perfect as Fats as is Piper Laurie as Sarah. Both were reasonably established names prior to this and they show great versatility in their respective roles, along with bravery for taking them on in the first place.

Apart from the performance of Newman, the most notable aspect of this film is the work of Robert Rossen. The way he captures every scene is perfection in this character driven piece. The dialogue is excellent and this is delivered superbly by this incredible cast.

After the success of this film, billiard halls around the globe became more popular than ever. The sale of pool cues skyrocketed and Hollywood realised that it was OK to take a risk and make a film that wasn't considered safe.

Presented in its original Cinemascope aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and 16x9 enhanced, this film looks wonderful. Many may be put off by the fact that it is black and white, but shouldn’t be - it looks great. Picture is sharp at all times with hardly any noticeable film artefacts. Detail is great and aliasing is not really a problem. The lighting used to film inside a billiard hall in the middle of the day is wonderful. For a film of this age to come up this good is a very pleasant surprise, especially when it looks better than it ever did before. For a good example of the quality, simply watch one of the bonus trailers and compare the difference. There is a choice of subtitles for English for the hearing impaired, French, Italian and Dutch, and I can verify that the English ones are true to what occurs on screen. The layer change occurs at 62:29 between scenes and is not disruptive.

There is a choice of three types of audio for this film, Dolby Digital 2.0 English, French and Italian. Being unable to speak French or Italian the personal track of choice was the English. While being nothing spectacular, the audio suits the film perfectly. Dialogue is crystal clear at all times and the small amount of music used is well placed and easily audible. For a film of this age, there was an expectation of some hiss but this is not there. The sound on this film does justice to the vision and sounds as good as the day it was released.

There is a small selection of extras on offer.

How to Make the Shot
World Champion trick shot artist Mike Massey shows viewers how certain trick shots in the film were done. There are five shots to choose from and there is also an option to turn on a feature that will indicate when these occur in the film so the viewer can select them then. This feature may be of interest to pool fans, but there doesn’t seem a real need for it. Massey never explains how a shot is really made in an effort to teach, he simply sets up the balls and plays the shot.

Commentary
The commentary for this film is in the form of an interviewer asking questions of Paul Newman, Carol Rossen (daughter of the director), critic Richard Schickel, film editor Dede Allen, actor Stefan Gierasch, assistant director Ulu Grosbard and film historian Jeff Young. This seems to be placed in the category of commentary simply because there is nowhere else to put it. The dialogue rarely coincides with what is occurring on screen. This does contain some interesting information for fans on certain aspects of the film, but it is not something that needs to be listened to while watching the film.

Photo Gallery
Containing a few (and I do mean a few) photos taken during the making of this film. These are nice pictures but most can be seen in the featurette anyway.

Trailers
Two trailers are on offer here, both for the main feature. The first is the full original theatrical trailer, which runs for 3:13 in its original 2.35:1 ratio. The second is the same trailer, only this time in Spanish. Both are a nice bonus for fans.

The Hustler – The Inside Story
Possibly the best extra on offer is this featurette. Although none of the main cast is interviewed, there are several interviews with other people of interest. There are also a series of still shots and archival footage, making this an enjoyable watch. This featurette runs for 23:31 and is in full frame.

Paul Newman fans and fans of quality cinema should definitely add this one to the collection. The transfer is surprisingly good, allowing the viewer to relive this classic film. The fact that it is black and white should not put people off, if anything it really adds to the feel of the film. A must have for fans of classic cinema.