I have said before that I love boxing films. "Rocky" 1, 2 and 3, "Real Steel" (Rocky with robots), “The Harder They Fall", Bogart's last film, "Golden Boy"(William Holden's first film), "City for Conquest" (James Cagney),"Champion" (Kirk Douglas) and a dozen more, all excellent films. But “Requiem for a Heavyweight", has to be the best boxing film that no one has ever seen (with Jackie Gleason, Anthony Quinn and Mickey Rooney).
I have also said that bad casting can ruin a great script and potentially good movie (but we will get to the 2003 “Daredevil” at another time), but good casting can make a good movie into a great movie. Requiem is just that kind of great movie. Gleason, Quinn and Rooney play perfectly off each other, with Gleason playing Mountain Rivera’s (Anthony Quinn) sleazy manager. Gleason was fresh off an exceptional performance as Minnesota Fats in “The Hustler” with Paul Newman, having been nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award. Quinn had a string of European films under his belt with “Ulysses”, “Attila”, an Oscar winning role in “Lust for Life” as artist Paul Gauguin, and star of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”.
It is said that Gleason hated Quinn’s mumbling, brutish portrayal of a washed up boxer “who was almost heavyweight champ of the world,” but Quinn eked out every bit of empathy that he could have with the gritty, honest portrayal. Add in Mickey Rooney as the cut man, and man who would try time and again to be the conscience of the trio, and you had an explosive, vibrant mix of drama and action. You have heard me say that the best dramas are about how we treat people, and Requiem hits a home run.
It’s a boxing movie that’s not about boxing. Mountain is on the downside of his career, and manager Maish is trying to squeeze every dollar he can out of the big man before he’s done for good. Mountain has a contract, and Maish continually reminds him, "you owe me." If you have ever seen Jackie Gleason at his condescending, manipulative worst, this performance tops it. Mountain is not a human being to him, Mountain is a thing- a means to and end. It's brilliant, poetic and tragic.
When I first saw this film, I was floored. Where had this masterpiece been? And worse yet, no one I talked to about the film had seen it either. Easily one of the Top 10 boxing films of all time, and maybe even the best any kind of Top 10 films of all time. The script was written by Rod Serling, yes, Twilight Zone Rod Serling, and has a couple of sweet cameos for boxing and pro-wrestling fans (who is that young boxer at the beginning, who is that giant of a man at the end?).
I am convinced that this film’s biggest problem it’s its obscurity. I have to say I was pleased when I learned my friend Joseph C. Phillps (Cosby Show and 13 Reasons Why) said he knew of the film but hadn’t seen it in a long time, and I got to send him a DVD as a gift. That was fun.
Anthony Quinn talks fondly of the film in his bio, but the movie is always overshadowed by the more well-known films he had done like “Guns of Navarone”, “Zapata” and of course “Zorba the Greek.” If you have a chance to catch it (it pops up from time to time on free, streaming services like Tubi), grab it. Watch it. Absorb it. I dare say this obscure boxing film will certainly absorb your attention. I can watch it at least once a year and never be bored by it as Quinn slobbers and stumbles his way through the end of a career that might have been.
IMDB says 7.8/10. Not even close. It’s easily a 9/10, maybe more.
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