Palooka

Film: Body and Soul
Format: DVD from NetFlix on laptop.

The movies have always had a love affair with sports because sports are guaranteed drama. Stick a group of people against another group of people vying for the same thing and the script writes itself. It’s the same reason that the movies are obsessed with romance and war. There’s no single sport that better exemplifies this than boxing, which is why Oscar loves boxing movies. Rocky, Raging Bull, Million Dollar Baby…the list goes on. That obsession seems to have started with Body and Soul from 1947. In addition to being a good old sports drama, this is a film that dips into film noir and one that is crawling with metaphor like any good sports drama should.

Before we get started, let’s get this off the top: Body and Soul is going to go exactly where you think it’s going to go. Plenty of movies have followed the path outlined by Body and Soul, and not a small number of those involve a palooka who wants to be the champ. You know there will come a point where he probably is the champ. You know there will come a time when he realizes that his friends are just there for his money, a realization that will probably come after a raucous party. You know he’s going to be asked to throw a fight at some point, and the third act will undoubtedly come down to whether or not he decides to throw it and give up his soul or reclaim his soul in the end. This is exactly where we’re going here, but Body and Soul went there first in a lot of ways. It’s important to remember that.

Open Break

Film: The Hustler
Format: DVD from NetFlix on laptop.

Most of the first 45 minutes or so of The Hustler is a series of straight pool games between up-and-coming pool hustler Fast Eddie Felson (Paul Newman) and established legend Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason). Felson is young and brash and filled with a massive self-confidence as well as ridiculous skill on the pool table. Fats has the confidence of years of being unbeaten and the faux genteel habits of a gentleman. The play for more than 25 hours, with Felson up $18,000 (about $150,000 today) at one point and end only when Felson is all the way back down to his original $200. At the end of this marathon pool session, Felson is punch drunk and barely able to stand while Fats looks as fresh as he ever has. When Fats calls it a game, Felson collapses.

All of this takes up a third of the film, but its time well spent. It establishes just about everything we need to know about four of the five major players in the film. We learn that Fast Eddie Felson is that young, brash man who has a singular talent but almost nothing else. He drinks far too much, smokes too much, and is constantly in danger of crashing. We learn that Fats is as much smoke and mirrors as he is pool talent—that part of the reason he is capable of winning back everything he’s lost is simple endurance and an unwillingness to quit until he has.

Watching Oscar: All the King's Men

Film: All the King’s Men
Format: DVD from Northern Illinois University Founders Memorial Library on laptop.

There was a time when America was at least perceived as being pretty naïve. Films like Mr. Smith Goes to Washington played with this idea. So does All the King’s Men. The main difference is that some of that naivety survived Mr. Smith and it most definitely does not make it through All the King’s Men intact. This is the story of the rise and fall of a man. There are shades (but only shades) of MacBeth here, but that’s often the case when this is the base story. In truth, it’s more Citizen Kane than anything else.

Newspaper reporter Jack Burden (John Ireland) is ready for a vacation, but is instead sent to an out of the way corner of his state to report on a man named Willie Stark (Broderick Crawford). Stark is upset because he feels (rightfully) like his state is being run for the personal gain and pleasure of the few instead of for the good of the people. Burden is entranced by Stark and is disappointed when Stark runs for treasurer of his county and loses. Stark decides to concentrate on getting a law degree and fighting for the people as an attorney.