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The Harder They Fall

Play trailer Poster for The Harder They Fall Released May 9, 1956 1h 49m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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100% Tomatometer 14 Reviews 81% 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 or not to tell Toro that his entire career is a sham.
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The Harder They Fall

Critics Reviews

View All (14) Critics Reviews
Richard Brody The New Yorker 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. Jul 18, 2022 Full Review Bosley Crowther New York Times This hard-punching boxing-business picture... comes out swinging from the very beginning and doesn't stop until just before the end. Mar 25, 2006 Full Review George N. Fenin Film Culture 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]. Mar 28, 2022 Full Review Hoshi Soffen Shin Nichibei/New Japanese American News 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. Nov 22, 2019 Full Review Prairie Miller NewsBlaze 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. Dec 25, 2011 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com In this noir sports melodrama, which is his final screen role, Bogart gives a powerful performance. Rated: B+ Jul 5, 2011 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (92) audience reviews
acsdoug D 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. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 10/28/24 Full Review W B 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 Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 06/05/24 Full Review Richard G. R Bogart's last movie before his death, and a good one at that. Very strong performances by Bogie and Rod Sterling about the seedy side of professional boxing. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 05/25/24 Full Review Steve D I am not a big boxing guy but this is one of the best of its kind. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 04/08/24 Full Review Audience Member Hard to watch. Script full of boring moments. Cliché. Bad acting. Fake violence in all the wrong places. Good music in all the wrong moments. Non plausible story, badly performed, but ambitious. Worst combo. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Audience Member I feel this movie covered a lot, and showed a hidden history, very entertaining. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review Read all reviews
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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 or not to tell Toro that his entire career is a sham.
Director
Mark Robson
Producer
Philip Yordan
Screenwriter
Budd Schulberg, Philip Yordan
Distributor
Columbia TriStar Home Video, Columbia Pictures
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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