Rent Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962)
3.9 of 5 from 60 ratings
1h 22min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- After 17 years in the ring, it's the final bell for Mountain Rivera (Anthony Quinn). A fight doctor confirms one more punch for the washed-up heavyweight and he could become permanently disabled. Reluctantly, but with the support of his faithful trainer (Mickey Rooney) and a kindly employment counsellor (Julie Harris), Rivera tries to land a job outside the ring. But his calculating manager Maish (Jackie Gleason) has other plans for Rivera. With the mob closing in on him for payment of a huge gambling debts, Maish coerces Rivera into returning to the ring for a lucrative, yet humiliating, career in staged wrestling matches.
- Actors:
- Anthony Quinn, Jackie Gleason, Mickey Rooney, Julie Harris, Stanley Adams, Madame Spivy, Val Avery, Herbie Faye, Jack Dempsey, Barney Ross, Alex Miteff, Rory Calhoun, Muhammad Ali, Gus Lesnevich, Willie Pep
- Directors:
- Ralph Nelson
- Producers:
- David Susskind
- Writers:
- Rod Serling
- Aka:
- Rekvijem za teskasa
- Studio:
- Columbia Tristar
- Genres:
- Classics, Drama, Sports & Sport Films
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Reviews (1) of Requiem for a Heavyweight
When the Final Bell Rings - Requiem for a Heavyweight review by griggs
This one floored me. Anthony Quinn shuffles through as Mountain Rivera, a boxer too beaten to fight yet too proud to quit. The ring is closed, the money dried up, and the world outside has little use for broken men. His manager (Jackie Gleason, all charm and self-interest) pulls one way, his cutman (Mickey Rooney, unexpectedly tender) another, but the real fight is with dignity. Rod Serling’s script throws sharp jabs—wry one minute, gutting the next. Quinn is all bruised nobility, a giant who suddenly realises he’s small. It’s about what happens when the cheering stops, when the gloves are hung up and the spotlight moves on. The story fades out not with triumph or tragedy, but with a weary dignity that’s somehow harder to shake.
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.