Customer Reviews

Requiem for a Heavyweight

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

C'mon, guys!!! This is the age of DVD "extra-mania" with every sort of outtake, alternate scene, missing scene, lost scene, director's cut,, etc etc being an ESSENTIAL part of a film's legacy as preserved in the DVD format.

In the case of the moving and powerful "Requiem" (and I agree with the customer who feels that the Jackie Gleason/Julie Harris staircase scene belongs at the top of the all-time list of great movie scenes), the film was obviously released in several different versions.

The confusion begins,in fact, immediately after the staircase scene. There are AT LEAST THREE SCENES from the latter part of the film that are NOT INCLUDED on the DVD:

1.) Gleason's encounter with the vile Ma Greeny in the hallway when he tells her he'd "like to run into her when you're not grafted to that torpedo..." (referring to her big thug/bodyguard).

2.) A lengthy (and painful) scene where Quinn is training to be a wrestler, and the moronic Pirelli (Stan Adams, the only actor to reprise his role from the 1956 TV original version) signals Quinn's wrestling partner to intentionally gouge his bad eye, whereupon Quinn beats the crap out of the guy.....

3.) Gleason's final speech on the rotten world of Prize Fighting which he delivers to the young wanna-be.....

If Serling ultimately wanted these scenes cut, WHY IN THE WORLD were they ot included as EXTRAS??? I have old video copies of late-night, local TV airings of this film that are FAR MORE COMPLETE than this state-of-the-art DVD release.

What a pity---to see such a cool film treated so poorly (the audio is also very low on this disc; I had to jack the TV volume all the way up to get a decent signal).

(DVD) I agree with Mr. Rapchak. In addition to the missing scenes he outlines, there are other missing scenes near the beginning of the movie. The bar scene after Gleason is worked over by mob muscle; Quinn wandering the street, meeting a down-and-out ex-fighter/boozer and tussling with his boss, broken up by Gleason and Rooney. Quinn trying to get a moving van job...etc. There's no warning on the DVD cover that it does NOT contain the movie Requiem For A Heavyweight but rather selected scenes from the real movie. On the back of the DVD case however there are two pictures from scenes in the movie...they are among the scenes that are NOT included on the DVD. That strikes me as deceptive. I have seen the entire movie on satellite TV and the Columbia/Tri-Star version is a rip off. If you want to see the real Requiem For A Heavyweight then you'll be very disappointed with this butchered version of the movie. Maybe the VHS version will have the complete movie; I don't know.

I am reviewing the VHS version of this film because the DVD is edited and omits several key scenes. I was bitterly disappointed in the DVD and would not recommend it. However, I enthusiastically recommend the VHS version.

This film is one of the great forgotten masterpieces. Rarely do you see such depth of emotion as displayed by the three leading characters: Anthony Quinn, Mickey Rooney and Jackie Gleason. This is undoubtedly Quinn's greatest and most poignant performance, he delivers a knock out interpretation of the brain-damaged Mountain Rivera. Make-up and a false nose disguises Quinn's good looks and he resembles a drunken Victor MacLagen here. Mickey Rooney, always seriously underrated, is magnificent as Mountain's assistant. And Jackie Gleason is perfection as the greasy, sleazy manager. The scene of him on the stairwell with Julie Harris is one of the great moments in cinema history. What a movie!

I'm at a loss to explain why this brilliant film is not universally recognized as one of the great movies ever made. The acting is superb, the screenplay gripping and the ending will mesmerize you. A thinking man's flick, to be sure. This is definitely a keeper.

I love this movie. Although I prefer the orginal TV version because the ending is more upbeat, this is still a powerful film that really does not get its due. Even on DVD. The picture is suberb, having been remastered. BUT this edited version of the film leaves out too much. With a run-time of only 86 mintues, you'd think the dim bulbs behind the DVD would want to "pad" the release with everything they could find. And the scenes they left out are anything but padding. Gleason's speech at the end completes his character. We see that he has been ripped apart by the last 17 years and what he was forced to do to Mountain to save his life. The scene is only 1 minute long. Would it really have been so difficult to include this?

In closing, this is a great, great movie. Rod Serling was the best tv writer of his time -- one of the great writers of all time -- and Requiem is one of his best. I recommend BOTH versions. If the DVD was a complete version of the film with some extras about the film, then it would get my highest recommendation! I was fortunate enough to get this second hand for only $4.99 and still feel let down by what is not included in the release.

The movie is worth watching. Make no mistake. If you've never seen it before, it will rip your guts out. But for long-time fans of the film, this DVD release just doesn't measure up. Great picture and sound. Great viewing experience. Incomplete movie. Here's hoping a future relase will correct the mistakes made on this one. The film deserves it.

'Requiem for a Heavyweight' is not only one of the great forgotten boxing pictures, it's also one of those movies that has almost vanished. Thankfully this DVD release will help keep this great film alive.

Anthony Quinn superbly plays Mountain Rivera, a 37 year old fighter who risks losing his eyesight if he continues to fight. His manager (Jackie Gleason), his trainer (Mickey Rooney), and a new-found lady friend (Julie Harris) all have different ideas about Mountain's future. Just what CAN a fighter do after 17 years in the ring?

While most of the drama takes place outside the ring, Rod Serling's script delivers tension, conflict and suspense in way you wouldn't expect from a 1962 film. You can almost see the characters thinking about where they are, where they're going, and how Mountain Rivera can and does affect their lives.

The brilliance of the film's cast is electrifying. Every actor is in absolutely tip-top form. These performances are a real pleasure to watch. This film contains no weak links.

Other reviewers have commented on the several different versions of the film. The film originally aired on television on a show called "Playhouse 90." This is the only version I have seen, so I have no other standard for comparison. I suppose it's possible, but I don't see how any version could top this one. Well worth your time and money.

Approx. 90 minutes in black and white

I submitted a review of this movie earlier today--"There Were Giants in Those Days."

This is meant as possible addendum to my review, if the review's okay. One of the customer reviews concerns the missing ending of the movie. I've found Rod Serling's reading version of the script, published by Bantam in 1962. The ending of the reading version does indeed have a scene with Maish telling this would be fighter how tough a "game" it is, and how "the good's great--the bad stinks." He tells the young man they will try him out, and Army resignedly agrees. This version ends with Maish hearing the catcalls and laughter at Mountain in the wrestling ring, as the manager puts his head in his hands and weeps.

This final scene I remember was either added to or edited out of its various television runs because of commercial time and to fit a two hour time slot. Over the years, the film has been edited in different ways, with various scenes missing or kept intact, or added. And yes it is very frustrating. I saw the movie first on TV, not at the theatre.

The part of the scene I mention that has been excised, where Army tells Maish he will rot in hell, I've seen in every version, save this one on DVD.

I hope I've been of some help.

This is a golden oldie if there ever was one. Adapted from Rod Serling's earlier "Playhouse 90" TV drama, it improved greatly on the original by taking full advantage of the film medium, including moody film-noir lighting, an excellent music score, and superb direction. Anthony Quinn is excellent, getting all the pathos out of the role without overdoing it. Mickey Rooney and Jackie Gleason, neither of whom is renowned for subtlety and restraint, hit just the right note in their performances, as does Julie Harris. The ending of this film couldn't be more different than the "Playhouse 90" ending. One of the more bizarre elements of this film, which was not in the original TV play, is the character of Ma Greeney, a really frightening person and the only example I am aware of in film of a lesbian gangster (and in 1962, yet). I can still remember how startled I was to see this character when I first watched this film on TV back in the late 1960s.

The new DVD of "Requiem for a Heavyweight" offers both a full-screen and wide-screen presentation. The quality of the transfer is really outstanding. The liner notes indicate that it is mastered in high definition. While I don't have the hardware to watch it in high-def., I can say that on an ordinary monitor it looks outstanding. Perhaps the sharpest DVD picture I've ever seen. The sound is clear, and the subtitles are very helpful in picking out dialog that may be indistinct, or not easily understood because of Anthony Quinn's manner of delivering the lines while in character.

However... It seems to me that at least one whole scene and a part of another scene is missing. I distinctly remember Maish (Jackie Gleason) telling Ma Greeney what he would do to her if she weren't a lady. In response, she laughs and says "that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me." This is part of the early scene where Maish is attacked in an abandoned boxing ring by Ma's thugs. There is another whole scene I can recall in which Mountain (Anthony Quinn) is practicing holds with a wrestler. He asks that the wrestler stay away from his injured eye, and when he purposely goes for the eye, Mountain punches his lights out. The cuts I recall seeing on TV years ago always included these scenes, and I've never seen this shortened cut of the film before. It's still a great film, but I really miss these two scenes. I would have given it five stars had it not been a shortened cut.

This is a remarkable film. Remarkable because it is the death of a man's life style. It teaches that many people's lives are cut short without being killed. A person's life is more than their physical life. It is their way of life that attributes to their life. Cut a man's reason for living and you might as well kill him physically. Ironically, the film was filmed on location in the Washington Market Area of lower manhattan. Any area that was in it's own dying days which can be seen from the decay of the neighbor hood. And area that would be totally destroyed to make way for the World Trade Center some 5 years later, another tragitic story in it's own right.My father actually watched some of the filming of this fim on Murray Street. The film crew actually brought the old Susquehanna Hotel back to life for most of this film. The dreary sceens are real, filmed in the dead Susquehanna Hotel. Sadly, the most depressing thing about this film is the fact that the Jerks who put the movie on DVD used an edited version. Why? I will never know. Rod Serling must be spinning in his grave!!! The producers of this DVD owe each of us that purchased this film and updated UNEDITED VERSION!!!!!!!!!

REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT serves as a powerful indictment of the sport of professional boxing. The film is marked by strong performances from some of the best actors available at that time. It is not a classic boxing movie in the traditional sense but instead it is a film which focuses on the personal and social damage associated with a sordid business.

Anthony Quinn as a punchy heavyweight at the end of a long career and Jackie Gleason as his greedy, conniving manager are superb. Mickey Rooney is the boxer's trainer and Julie Harris is the employment counselor who tries to help Quinn make the transition to a life after boxing. There are cameo appearances by Cassius Clay and Jack Dempsey.

Ralph Nelson also directed some other good movies such as LILIES OF THE FIELD and FATHER GOOSE. The Oscar competition in 1962 had several strong contenders. REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT did not receive a single nomination in any category.

As someone else mentioned this DVD is missing at least a few scenes than the version that is sometimes played on TV.

I purchased this DVD after viewing a portion of the movie on TV - What I saw on TV that made the biggest impression on me, was a scene towards the very end of the movie. Jackie Gleason confronted by the up and coming boxer and his handler gives one of the most powerful speeches of the movie, and some of the most memorable acting I've ever seen. He chides these two for believing that they could be a champion for believing that they'll turn out any different than the Mountain, and rejects their offer to be their manager.

Not only was the speech powerful, the acting superb but also the scene gives insight into the future of Gleason's character. Maish, has learned his lesson, he isn't going to be manager another boxer for 17 year while chasing the ghost of a championship. He is still a bum who betted against his own fighter, but the story goes to great lengths to make Gleason more than just a one-dimensional rotten manager, and this final scene brings that point home.

I don't why these scenes were excluded. Maybe this is the original release version - but then why weren't they included as extras on the DVD? I don't know. I hope that at some point, this movie, with the missing scenes is released on DVD. If it is I will happily buy that version - While this DVD is crisp and clean, while the story is still great and the acting perfect - to know that these other scenes are missing, particularly the one I mentioned, well in this case this DVD isn't enough

- Complete its a 5 stars - incomplete its still great - but I can't help feeling I'm missing an important part of the movie without it including these scenes - so I am giving it 3 stars - to draw attention that something is missing from this movie - and not as a reflection of the movie that is on the DVD which is still great -