Here we go, fast and loose: the clatter of pool balls, the snap of broken fingers, the silent howl of a lost soul. “Don’t forget, kid,” director Robert Rossen told his editor Dede Allen as she began post-production back in 1961, “it’s not about pool, it’s about character.”
As Allen remembers on one of the featurettes, Paul Newman was just another “Brando clone” at the time, but in pool shark ‘Fast’ Eddie Felson, he found his defining character: cocksure, blue-eyed charm numbed and contorted into choked masculinity. Shot with pace and rattle, the trick-shot table-tussles between Eddie and cue-man Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason) are superb, but when the chalk finally settles, the impact is in the drama.
Rossen digs deep, turning boxy enclosures into smouldering dramatic cauldrons as Eugene Shuftan’s crisp black-and-white photography makes it all seem like one long, midnight journey for Newman and lame dame co-star Piper Laurie. But perhaps most captivating of all is the movie’s dark destroyer, wealthy businessman George C Scott. He plays Eddie without touching a cue – and always pockets the green. Sadly, the late Scott is one of the few key players not to put in an appearance on this re-released – and slightly deceptive – double-discer, in which the lynchpin extras remain the exact same. The cut’n’shut commentary from Newman, Allen, Rossen’s daughter Carol, Time critic Richard Schickel, actor Stefan Gierasch and AD Ulu Grosbard is busy but also non-scene-specific, muddled and only intermittently interesting. They all reappear on The Inside Story featurette, providing solid context and consideration – particularly when it comes to lighting up the talents of director/co-writer/producer Rossen, who’d won an Oscar for All The King’s Men and whose full contribution to The Hustler’s brilliance is rarely chalked up. World Champion pool player Mike Massey, meanwhile, once again breaks down the best trick shots from the movie and re-enacts them for our viewing pleasure.
Disappointingly, only three featurettes are new, and they’re typical DVD filler. Newman, Laurie and Allen are hauled back in, but their anecdotes are as steady and uninspiring as the analysis from self-serious US film buff Dr Drew Casper. By this point, we’ve heard it all before: Newman never having picked up a cue before, pool god Willie Mosconi filling in for the tough shots, Laurie only realising the movie was any good when she went on to receive her Oscar nom. The only real bonus treat is The Art Of The Hustle, which talks up the tricks of real-life hustlers with smart show-hows from the pros. It’s a great addition, as is the 43-minute Newman biog-doc. So why the three-star rating? It’s a strong disc, undeniably, but lacking... character.
DVD Extras:
Cast, crew and experts commentary
Paul Newman documentary
Four Making Of featurettes
Trick-shot analysis
