As The Hustler's "Fast" Eddie Felson,
Paul Newman created a classic anti-hero, charismatic but fundamentally flawed, and nobody's role model. A pool player from Oakland, California as good as anyone who ever picked up a cue, Eddie has an Achilles' heel: arrogance. It's not enough for him to win: he must force his opponent to acknowledge his superiority. The movie follows Eddie from his match against billiards champ Minnesota Fats (
Jackie Gleason) as he falls in love with Sarah (
Piper Laurie), an alcoholic would-be writer and sometime prostitute, and falls under the spell of Bert Gordon (George C. Scott), a successful gambler who offers to take Eddie under his wing and teach him how to play in the big time. However, when Sarah joins Eddie and Bert on a trip to Louisville for a high-stakes match with a dandy named Findlay (
Murray Hamilton), the consequences prove tragic. Along with a classic performance by Newman, The Hustler also features turns by Scott, Laurie, and Gleason, in a rare dramatic role. Cameos from pool champ Willie Mosconi and boxer Jake LaMotta add to the atmosphere of
Harry Horner's grubby production design and
Eugen Schüfftan's camerawork. Director
Robert Rossen, who had been working in films since 1937, was to direct only one more film,
Lilith (1964), before his death in 1966. In 1986, Newman returned to the role of "Fast" Eddie in
Martin Scorsese's
The Color of Money, for which he finally earned an Academy Award as Best Actor. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide