FREE FILM SCREENING: The Hustler (1961)

Playing as part of our Classic Hollywood season.

This classic Hollywood sports drama inspired Martin Scorsese’s mid-1980s sequel The Colour of Money (1986). It stars Paul Newman in one of his most memorable roles as “Fast” Eddie Felson, a man on the make, determined to break into the high stakes world of professional pool ‘hustling’.

Based on a novel by Walter Tevis, who has had quite a renaissance thanks to the recent Netflix success of the chess miniseries Queen’s Gambit, Robert Rossen’s powerful and hard-hitting pool hall drama pretty much reconfigured the look and shape of Hollywood’s sports dramas. Featuring an incredible supporting cast of Jackie Gleason, Piper Laurie, George C. Scott and Murray Hamilton, the film also has a small cameo role for the ‘Raging Bull’ himself, Jake LaMotta. Despite being 60 years old it still stands the testament of time as one of the landmark films of its genre.

BOOK https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/gcph-60th-anniversary-screening-the-hustler-1961-tickets-153277369739

NOTE: Features scenes of physical injury and threat, themes of gambling