Released in 1961, to critical acclaim, The Hustler is a drama based on the 1959 novel of the same name written by Walter Tevis. Filmed on location in NewYork City and directed by Robert Rossen, The Hustler stars Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason, George C. Scott and Piper Laurie.
‘Fast’ Eddie Felson (Newman), is a minor-league pool hustler, who travels the country with his equally immoral manager Charlie Burns ( Myron McCormick), but seeks to abandon his anonymity by challenging the legendary Minnesota Fats (Gleason). After boasting that he will win $10,000 from Fats, he is $1,000 ahead when he suggests raising the stakes and requests Preacher (Stefan Gierasch) to fetch him some bourbon. Preacher also notifies Fats’ backer, Bert Gordon (Scott), a cold, vicious gambler, who nonetheless quietly pays out as Felson keeps on winning.
However, having been $18,000 ahead at one stage, Felson conspires to lose all bar $200. Thereafter, Felson starts a relationship with Sarah Packard (Laurie), a vulnerable, crippled girl, whom he later discards with tragic consequences. Indeed, in the final scenes, he tells Gordon, ‘I loved her, Bert. I traded her in on a pool game.’
Felson returns to New York to face Minnesota Fats for a second time and wins easily. He tells Fats, ‘Fat man, you shoot a great game of pool’, and Fats replies, ‘So do you, Fast Eddie’. By now his manager, Gordon requests his 75% cut of his winnings and, when Felson refuses, begrudgingly agrees, but warns him never to set foot in a pool hall in the city again.
The late Robert of the Chicago-Sun Times wrote, ‘The Hustler is one of those films where scenes have such psychic weight that they grow in our memories.’ His sentiment was reflected by the fact that all four leading actors, Newman, Gleason, Scott and Laurie, received Academy Award nominations.