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The hustler by walter tevis5/31/2023 ![]() ![]() ![]() He has the absolute authority we would see again and again: the air of a man serenely himself. Scott, as the cold, vicious gambler and manager Bert Gordon, was appearing in only his third movie. ![]() The real contest in "The Hustler" is not between Fast Eddie and Minnesota Fats, but between Eddie's love for Sarah and his self-destructive impulses. The test of Newman's character comes not so much at a pool table as in his relationship with Sarah Packard ( Piper Laurie), whose story is told as fully as Felson's own this is not one of the macho 1990s movies in which the filmmakers are unable to see a woman except in the simplest terms. ![]() The film provided Paul Newman's breakthrough into the first rank of Hollywood actors, but it is instructive to see how important the other actors are how "The Hustler" benefited by being made before the big-money star was required to appear in almost every shot. You will eventually reveal what you are made of, and pool is a game where skill can carry you only so far. The world of pool halls, flophouses, bars and bus stations provides no hiding place. The film could be about any seedy game depending on bluff, self-confidence, money management and psychology: It was remade as "The Cincinnati Kid," about poker. The players are contesting each others' inner strength. Billiards is the arena for the movie's contests, but there is no attempt to follow the game shot by shot, or even to explain the rules. ![]()
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