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€