CLASSIC MOVIES: REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT (1962)

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Brief Movie Synopsis [courtesy of Turner Classic Movies]:

A washed-up prizefighter tries to free himself from
his ruthless promoters to build a new life.

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REVIEWS:

"Mr. [Rod] Serling and his able associates, who have shot their bleak subject hereabouts in stark, and quite effective, black and white, develop their characters in shades of natural grays. The fighter [Anthony Quinn] is inarticulate but his pride is obvious and speaks volumes. His manager [Jackie Gleason] is not an outright heel but a man cornered by the fates, who loves his heavyweight but is forced into a villain's mold. And his trainer [Mickey Rooney] is dog-like in his affection for the hulk of a fighting machine he has nurtured through victories and wounds. The genteel lady who tries to counsel him [Julie Harris] is seemingly out of place in this raw trio but her compassion is not. .... Quinn, Gleason and Serling...may not have come up with the best in
this genre but their 'Requiem' is both a solid indictment and an
often memorable view of a sordid slice of contemporary life."

-- Excerpt from The New York Times; October 17, 1962