The Hustler (Two-Disc Collector’s Edition)

The Great American Movie THE HUSTLER is one of the essential American films of the 1960’s, right up there with BONNIE & CLYDE, THE GRADUATE, and THE WILD BUNCH, a cultural touchstone for years after its release with scenes that defined a generation. If its luster has faded in the past few decades, maybe it is because B/W films were not favorites of the MTV generation and the millennials that followed, but I think it is The Great American Movie the way The Great Gatsby is The Great American Novel, in that it is a film…

Gleason and Laurie to reveal the true ugliness of human potential gone wrong for the love of money and absolute control The Hustler is a lot more than a movie about a game called pool. It’s a film about life that uses pool as a back drop to teach the lessons expertly captured within the story. Many people aren’t aware that Robert Rossen’s father was caught up in the “Red Scare” in the fifties and black balled. Mr. Rossen uses the idea of corruption of power by Bert Gordon as allegory to McCarthyism. This film is deep on a variety of levels if the viewer cares to look beneath the surface of stellar…

A Slow Burn of Pool Hall Swindlers and Doomed Addicts The Hustler is directed by the steadfast Robert Rossen. His black and white aesthetic helps smoke up the air with his dingy pool hall sets and sleazy cast of realistically tragic characters.Rossen’s direction leaves you with empty spaces of room filled with a few characters of magnificent presence. His shots hold on faces, hands, and cues to squeeze out all the tension of his shots with a horrifying suspense. I always felt uneasy watching The Hustler as you never knew what would…