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The Harder They Fall

Play trailer Poster for The Harder They Fall 1956 1h 49m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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100% Tomatometer 14 Reviews 80% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Broke and without work, newspaper reporter Eddie Willis (Humphrey Bogart) agrees to work for the corrupt boxing promoter Nick Benko (Rod Steiger) to help hype his new boxer, Toro Moreno (Mike Lane). While Toro is beastly in appearance, he has no actual boxing talent, and all his fights are fixed. When Toro gets a shot at the title against the brutal Buddy Brannen (Max Baer), Willis is faced with the tough decision of whether to tell Toro that his entire career is a sham.
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The Harder They Fall

Critics Reviews

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Richard Brody The New Yorker 07/18/2022
Packs the ambient violence of a sports world and a media scene that are infested with gangsters; it’s an exposé not just of boxing but of the American way of business. Go to Full Review Bosley Crowther New York Times 03/25/2006
This hard-punching boxing-business picture... comes out swinging from the very beginning and doesn't stop until just before the end. Go to Full Review George N. Fenin Film Culture 03/28/2022
Robson and Yordan have fulfilled their aesthetic objectives, making The Harder They Fall one of the most honest American films in recent years. But in accordance with the limitation of their vision, they only scratched the corrupted crust of [boxing]. Go to Full Review Hoshi Soffen Shin Nichibei/New Japanese American News 11/22/2019
A lousy racket lurking around some of the prize fighting arenas of the country is being depicted in one of the most gripping films to come out of Hollywood crucible. Go to Full Review Prairie Miller NewsBlaze 12/25/2011
Honored as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema by the American Film Institute, the late iconic Humphrey Bogart is now similarly memorialized with the re-release of this screen classic compilation. Go to Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com 07/05/2011
B+
In this noir sports melodrama, which is his final screen role, Bogart gives a powerful performance. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Jack P Jan 12 The movie is worth just watching Humphrey Bogart and Rod Steiger, two of the greatest actors ever, play off each other. See more Martin B Dec 17 One of the finest 50's era films I can recall seeing. Bogart at his weary mid life best playing a weary writer at his mid life best was brilliant. See more Russ G Jul 24 Bogie's swan song; I believe it was self-financed or heavily backed with Bogie's own money, similar to "Beat the Devil," though I could be wrong. Worth a watch but it's not Mr. Bogart's best work and it's dark. See more Jed M. @Jed76 Jul 20 Bogearts last film before his death, great noir film about the boxing industry in the 40’s and 50’s. See more acsdoug D @acsdoug 10/28/2024 Bogart was deathly sick while filming this one. Perhaps he looked a little tired, but other than that you would never know it. The movie is a good one as well. See more W B 06/05/2024 This is Bogart's last movie before his untimely death. An obviously ill Bogart presents a powerful image of an individual coming to the realization that his favorite reporting sport (boxing) is rapidly deteriorating; it is fictionally as ill as he was in real life. The now puffy & prematurely wrinkle faced Bogart clearly demonstrates the dichotomy between the rapid decline in the purity of the sport and the growth of corruption as manifested by the prostitution of the skills of the individual boxers and their total abandonment once their “usefulness” is exhausted: “Boxers come and go but their managers go on forever!” Steiger presents as a thoroughly corrupt individual devoid of any human empathy. The only affection or “love” he demonstrates is that which is derived from a positive balance sheet and the misuse of every human being unfortunate enough to have fallen into his personal orbit. The oft quoted, “No one gets hurt” rapidly becomes a piece of farce; representing the ultimate prostitution of both the sport and those involved with it at all levels. It is an expose as valid today as it was 60+ years ago. W.D. Bruni See more Read all reviews
The Harder They Fall

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Cast & Crew

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Mark Robson

Director

Humphrey Bogart

Eddie Willis

Rod Steiger

Nick Benko

Jan Sterling

Beth Willis

Mike Lane

Toro Moreno

Max Baer

Buddy Brannen

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The Harder They Fall

The Harder They Fall (1956) The Harder They Fall (1956) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Broke and without work, newspaper reporter Eddie Willis (Humphrey Bogart) agrees to work for the corrupt boxing promoter Nick Benko (Rod Steiger) to help hype his new boxer, Toro Moreno (Mike Lane). While Toro is beastly in appearance, he has no actual boxing talent, and all his fights are fixed. When Toro gets a shot at the title against the brutal Buddy Brannen (Max Baer), Willis is faced with the tough decision of whether to tell Toro that his entire career is a sham.
Director
Mark Robson
Producer
Philip Yordan
Screenwriter
Budd Schulberg, Philip Yordan
Distributor
Columbia Pictures, Columbia TriStar Home Video
Production Co
Columbia Pictures Corporation
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
May 9, 1956, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 16, 2012
Runtime
1h 49m
Sound Mix
Mono
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