• Requiem for a Heavyweight (1956 TV)

9/9/20 (Wed)

Another live program from TV’s Golden Age, this is a beautiful show about an uneducated washed-up boxer in NY trying to move on in life. Once the fifth-ranking heavyweight in the world, the boxer has unwisely tried to drag his career out beyond its sale date, only to reach a point where the doctor warns him that another fight risks blindness or death. He goes to an employment agency, where he realizes how the deck is stacked against him given his lack of education and beat-up face. He is proud only that he never took a bribe, always fighting his hardest even at his most desperate. His disarming honesty and lack of self-worth catch the interest of his female interviewer, who takes pity on him.

Meanwhile, his trusted manager, who he worships, is panicking at the prospect of losing his main earner. He tries to entice the boxer to go into professional wrestling, a humiliating step down where the players are essentially actors giving a performance. The boxer being asked to wear a funny costume to amuse the crowd and, worse, to win or lose as scripted, thus taking away the only bit of pride he had in himself. He is heartbroken but reluctantly considers out of respect for his manager, only to be shocked to learn that the manager actually bet against him in the last fight and is now heavily indebted after the boxer went longer in the ring than expected. He eventually decides, at the behest of the female interviewer, to go home to Tennessee to work with kids, while vowing to return someday to seek out the woman. There is a lovely ending sequence on the train where he gives boxing lessons to a random kid, suggesting a positive future.

Jack Palance gave a terrific performance as the boxer who knows nothing of life outside the ring. He superbly catches the boxer’s low self-esteem without dropping into self-pity (not too far in a way from Marty’s character in last week’s film) as well as his enthusiasm when he talks about boxing. His anger at the manager and his sorrow after thoughtlessly punching the assistant were fantastic.

The acting was of a high order all around. Ed Wynn is surprisingly good in a non-comic role, and his son Keenan is great as the sleazy manager. Kim Hunter was fine as the woman who comes to like him. Character actors also impressive, apparently including Max Baer and other legendary boxers.

The staging was wobbly in part with some odd angles and could have used more rehearsal. But given the live presentation, it went smoothly overall. The script was straightforward, the ending hopeful. It even gave the slimy manager a reprieve when the gangster lets (well, forces) him to repay his debt by training a new aspiring boxer.

This was apparently the first 90-minute live drama broadcast on television. It was the second show on Playhouse 90, cementing the program’s reputation. It interestingly included black boxers mingling casually in the bar with their white counterparts, which I wouldn’t have expected in 1956. (I noticed that as well in the re-released documentary Jazz on a Summer Day from 1958, where audiences of both races seem to be mingling freely. Maybe it’s my image that’s wrong.) Great story, great acting, great film.