The Harder They Fall (1956)

Director:

Mark Robson

Writers:

Budd Schulberg (novel)
Philip Yordan (screenplay)

Release Date:

9 May 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Film-Noir | Sport | Thriller

Tagline:

No Punches Pulled! If you thought "On The Waterfront" hit hard... wait till you see this one!

Plot:

Down-on-his-luck ex-sportswriter Eddie Willis is hired by shady fight promoter Nick Benko to promote his latest find, an unknown but easily exploitable phenom from Argentina.

Plot Keywords:

Boxing | Fixed Fight | Bleeding Mouth | Reference To King Kong | Title Bout

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Humphrey Bogart	...	Eddie Willis
Rod Steiger	...	Nick Benko
Jan Sterling	...	Beth Willis
Mike Lane	...	Toro Moreno
Max Baer	...	Buddy Brannen
Jersey Joe Walcott	...	George
Edward Andrews	...	Jim Weyerhause
Harold J. Stone	...	Art Leavitt, TV sportscaster
Carlos Montalbán	...	Luís Agrandi
Nehemiah Persoff	...	Leo
Felice Orlandi	...	Vince Fawcett
Herbie Faye	...	Max
Rusty Lane	...	Danny McKeogh
Jack Albertson	...	Pop
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Val Avery	...	Frank (uncredited)
Emily Belser	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Phil Berger	...	Boxer being knocked out in Bakersfield (uncredited)
Tony Blankley	...	Benko Child (uncredited)
Penny Carpenter	...	Benko child (uncredited)
Marian Carr	...	Alice (uncredited)
Tina Carver	...	Mrs. Benko (uncredited)
George Cisar	...	Fight Manager (uncredited)
Pat Comiskey	...	Gus Dundee (uncredited)
Lillian Culver	...	Mrs. Wilson Harding (uncredited)
Jack Daly	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Patricia Dane	...	Shirley (uncredited)
Vinnie De Carlo	...	Joey (uncredited)
Elaine Edwards	...	Vince's girl friend (uncredited)
Abel Fernandez	...	Chief Firebird (uncredited)
Paul Frees	...	Priest (uncredited)
Robert Fuller	...	Extra (uncredited)
Ralph Gamble	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Everett Glass	...	Minister (uncredited)
Michael Granger	...	Gus Dundee's Doctor (uncredited)
Joe Greb	...	Joey Greb-played himself (uncredited)
Frank Hagney	...	Referee (uncredited)
Sam Harris	...	Fight Crowd Extra (uncredited)
William Henry	...	Fight Arena Locker Room Guart (uncredited)
Tommy Herman	...	Tommy (uncredited)
Joe Herrera	...	Referee (uncredited)
Charles Horvath	...	Fighter (uncredited)
Kenner G. Kemp	...	Detective (uncredited)
Don Kohler	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Peter Leeds	...	Ring announcer, Dundee fight (uncredited)
Mort Mills	...	Reporter in hospital (uncredited)
Diana Mumby	...	Vince's girl friend (uncredited)
Matt Murphy	...	Sailor Rigazzo (uncredited)
Richard Norris	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Stafford Repp	...	Reporter (uncredited)
William Roerick	...	Mrs. Harding's lawyer (uncredited)
Sandy Sanders	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Cosmo Sardo	...	Fight Crowd Extra (uncredited)
Mark Scott	...	Reporter (uncredited)
J. Lewis Smith	...	Brannen's manager (uncredited)
Bert Stevens	...	Fight Crowd Extra (uncredited)
Hal Taggart	...	Fight Crowd Extra (uncredited)
Charles Tannen	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Arthur Tovey	...	Fight rooter (uncredited)
Russ Whiteman	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Ulysses Williams	...	Boxer being knocked out in Salinas (uncredited)

Directed by
Mark Robson

Writing credits
Budd Schulberg		(novel)
Philip Yordan		(screenplay)

Produced by
Philip Yordan	....	producer

Original Music by
Hugo Friedhofer

Cinematography by
Burnett Guffey

Film Editing by
Jerome Thoms

Art Direction by
William Flannery

Set Decoration by
William Kiernan
Alfred E. Spencer

Makeup Department
Clay Campbell	....	makeup artist
Helen Hunt	....	hair stylist
Robert J. Schiffer	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Milton Feldman	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Lambert E. Day	....	sound (as Lambert Day)
John P. Livadary	....	recording supervisor (as John Livadary)

Stunts
Wally Rose	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Richard H. Kline	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Music Department
Arthur Morton	....	orchestrator
Lionel Newman	....	conductor

Other crew
John Indrisano	....	technical advisor
Curtis Harrington	....	assistant to producer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1956) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Film-Verleih (1956) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (video)
• Columbia TriStar (2004) (Brazil) (DVD)

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

USA

Language:

Spanish | English

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:12 (video re-rating) (2002) (uncut) | UK:A (original rating) (cut) | USA:Approved (certificate #17754) | West Germany:16 (nf)

Filming Locations:

Beverly Hills Hotel & Bungalows - 9641 Sunset Blvd., Beverly Hills, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Primo Carnera unsuccessfully sued the film's makers, claiming it damaged his reputation for implying that he was involved in fixed fights. Carnera's career is one of the biggest mysteries in boxing, as many of the sport's historians believe that, without Carnera's knowledge, his managers paid most of his opponents to throw their fights.

Goofs:

Continuity: As Bogart crosses a row a seats on his way to sit down at the Dundee fight, the collar of his overcoat turns up and down.

Quotes:

Nick Benko: The people, Eddie, the people! Don't tell me about the people, Eddie. The people sit in front of their little TVs with their bellies full of beer and fall asleep. What do the people know, Eddie? Don't tell me about the people, Eddie!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in À bout de souffle (1960)

Although Ill, Bogey Could Still Carry A Film

This was an interesting story but not always enjoyable to watch, simply because it's a real downer in spots, and seeing an ill Humphrey Bogart was sad.

Bogart, as "Eddie Willis," plays a decent guy who knows he's doing the wrong thing so he's ornery for most of the film. His conscience is getting the best of him. Not many others in here are happy, either, for that matter, in this tale of crooked boxing. Boy, filmmakers in the '40s and '50s loved making crooked boxing stories.

What's also different about this is the featured boxer: a 6-foot-8 Argentinian import named "Toro Moreno" (Mike Lane), a stiff who is being groomed for the heavyweight championship via a series of fixed fights, led by the crooked promoter played by Rod Steiger.

Along the way, it was interesting to see real-life fighters Max Baer and Jersey Joe Walcott.

Bogart died a little a little over a year after making this film. He looked haggard, which is understandable, but he still did his normal excellent job of acting and keeping the story interesting. Like him or not, Bogart always got your interest. He, along with James Cagney, were the best at dominating a film.

A decent boxing film, but nothing spectacular, to be honest. There are many, many better boxing movies, but this is still worth watching.