Requiem for a Heavyweight: Amazon.ca: Anthony Quinn, Jackie Gleason, Mickey Rooney, Julie Harris, Stanley Adams, Madame Spivy, Val Avery, Herbie Faye, Jack Dempsey, Barney Ross, Alex Miteff, Rory Calhoun, Arthur J. Ornitz, Ralph Nelson, Carl Lerner, David Susskind, Jack Grossberg, Rod Serling: DVD

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This feature version of Rod Serling's memorable teleplay, theatrically released in 1962, was previously produced in 1956 for live television. The grim tale stars Anthony Quinn as a brain-damaged fighter suffering from too many years in the ring yet pushed into another and yet another punishing round by his corrupt manager (Jackie Gleason). Yearning for a life of his own, Quinn's burned-out hitter falls for a shy social worker (Julie Harris), while Gleason's small-timer tries fending off the pressures of truly bad guys who want the money he owes them. Directed by Ralph Nelson (who also made the TV version), this Requiem opens up into a powerful piece of social realism with the undercurrent of a cautionary fable. The characters are almost archetypal, the story never stops moving, the acting is superb (Mickey Rooney is very good as Quinn's reluctant trainer), and the ending is nightmarishly apt. --Tom Keogh

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Customer Reviews

18 Reviews

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4.0 out of 5 stars (18 customer reviews)

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An acting tour de force!, Mar 21 2004

By

Candace Scott (Lake Arrowhead, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Requiem for a Heavyweight (VHS Tape)

I am reviewing the VHS version of this film because the DVD is edited and omits several key scenes. I was bitterly disappointed in the DVD and would not recommend it. However, I enthusiastically recommend the VHS version.

This film is one of the great forgotten masterpieces. Rarely do you see such depth of emotion as displayed by the three leading characters: Anthony Quinn, Mickey Rooney and Jackie Gleason. This is undoubtedly Quinn's greatest and most poignant performance, he delivers a knock out interpretation of the brain-damaged Mountain Rivera. Make-up and a false nose disguises Quinn's good looks and he resembles a drunken Victor MacLagen here. Mickey Rooney, always seriously underrated, is magnificent as Mountain's assistant. And Jackie Gleason is perfection as the greasy, sleazy manager. The scene of him on the stairwell with Julie Harris is one of the great moments in cinema history. What a movie!

I'm at a loss to explain why this brilliant film is not universally recognized as one of the great movies ever made. The acting is superb, the screenplay gripping and the ending will mesmerize you. A thinking man's flick, to be sure. This is definitely a keeper.

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars A Great Movie assembled by a butcher !!, Oct 25 2003

By

Don Cheeseman (Hockley, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Requiem for a Heavyweight (VHS Tape)

(DVD) I agree with Mr. Rapchak. In addition to the missing scenes he outlines, there are other missing scenes near the beginning of the movie. The bar scene after Gleason is worked over by mob muscle; Quinn wandering the street, meeting a down-and-out ex-fighter/boozer and tussling with his boss, broken up by Gleason and Rooney. Quinn trying to get a moving van job...etc. There's no warning on the DVD cover that it does NOT contain the movie Requiem For A Heavyweight but rather selected scenes from the real movie. On the back of the DVD case however there are two pictures from scenes in the movie...they are among the scenes that are NOT included on the DVD. That strikes me as deceptive. I have seen the entire movie on satellite TV and the Columbia/Tri-Star version is a rip off. If you want to see the real Requiem For A Heavyweight then you'll be very disappointed with this butchered version of the movie. Maybe the VHS version will have the complete movie; I don't know.

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars requirem for a heavyweight and a neighborhood, Mar 15 2004

By

Susan Cazanave "Claude Cazanave" (Downingtown, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Requiem for a Heavyweight (DVD)

This is a remarkable film. Remarkable because it is the death of a man's life style. It teaches that many people's lives are cut short without being killed. A person's life is more than their physical life. It is their way of life that attributes to their life. Cut a man's reason for living and you might as well kill him physically. Ironically, the film was filmed on location in the Washington Market Area of lower manhattan. Any area that was in it's own dying days which can be seen from the decay of the neighbor hood. And area that would be totally destroyed to make way for the World Trade Center some 5 years later, another tragitic story in it's own right.My father actually watched some of the filming of this fim on Murray Street. The film crew actually brought the old Susquehanna Hotel back to life for most of this film. The dreary sceens are real, filmed in the dead Susquehanna Hotel. Sadly, the most depressing thing about this film is the fact that the Jerks who put the movie on DVD used an edited version. Why? I will never know. Rod Serling must be spinning in his grave!!! The producers of this DVD owe each of us that purchased this film and updated UNEDITED VERSION!!!!!!!!!

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Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A Powerful Indictment
REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT serves as a powerful indictment of the sport of professional boxing. The film is marked by strong performances from some of the best actors available at... Read more

Published on Mar 21 2004 by Peter Kenney

1.0 out of 5 stars An excellent film that should be COMPLETE!
C'mon, guys!!! This is the age of DVD "extra-mania" with every sort of outtake, alternate scene, missing scene, lost scene, director's cut,, etc etc being an ESSENTIAL... Read more

Published on Oct 23 2003 by Lawrence Rapchak