Piper Laurie and Paul Newman Lend Dramatic Heft to The Hustler

           Upon hearing of the great Piper Laurie’s passing, several career highpoints from this major talent crossed my mind, including her work on television in Twin Peaks and, much earlier, giving one of the greatest live t.v. performances ever in the original Playhouse 90 airing of The Days of Wine and Roses, wherein the stunning dramatic range she offered announced the arrival of a prodigious talent, after serving several years in charming ingénue roles for Universal, wherein she started her career at 17. For me, the enduring nature of Laurie’s best work was illustrated on the day she died, as a live stream of Carrie, which praised her astounding, inventive work as Mrs. White, the title character’s fanatical mother, took place just before the news came out of her passing. Carrie marked a career resurgence for Laurie after 15 years away from the big screen, reaping Laurie her second Oscar nomination and fine opportunities ahead, which included yet another Oscar nod for her moving performance in Children of a Lesser God, and an Emmy and greater fame via Peaks. However, the primarily Laurie role that immediately came to mind when I heard of her passing was her unforgettable work as the tragic Sarah Packard in director Robert Rossen’s 1961 classic The Hustler. Upon first seeing this film as a teen, Laurie’s powerful, trenchant performance left a lasting impression, making me a fan of hers for life as I eagerly sought out other key Laurie films, while enjoying her later successes, which were always richly warranted.

                In The Hustler, Laurie is given a role that could quickly become maudlin in the wrong hands, but as Sarah, a lonely young woman seeking a purpose in life, who finds romance with pool shark “Fast” Eddie Felson, Laurie is dramatically riveting from her first moment onscreen. Employing a low, husky voice and a calm, melancholy countenance (it’s hard to forget Laurie’s wounded, searching eyes), Laurie clearly illustrates Sarah is unique, and deserves affection from the equally lost Eddie. In one of the film’s most moving moments, during a rendezvous at a park Sarah tells Eddie she loves him and he’s a winner, and Laurie lends stunning conviction to her lines as Sarah focuses intently on Eddie, causing the scene to linger in memory- one senses the fragile Sarah has dealt with much misfortune, and sees Eddie as a chance for love and redemption, due to Laurie’s rich interpretation of the role. Later, as the character faces progressively more difficult issues, Laurie remains completely believable and in-the-moment in detailing Sarah’s plight with an emotional intensity that leaves a viewer overwhelmed, to the extent one wants to reach out to Sarah to prevent any more harm coming her way.

Although The Hustler cemented Laurie’s status as a dramatic performer of rare skill and depth after her equally superb work in Roses, she abruptly left movies afterwards to focus on her personal role as wife and mother, setting herself up for one of the cinema’s most intriguing comebacks, with her lauded work in Carrie allowing Laurie to gain Academy Award nominations fifteen years apart, but for her prior two pictures. One can only wonder what Laurie might have accomplished during this break from 1961-1976, while being grateful she did have, via The Hustler, the chance to demonstrate her powerful dramatic gifts during her first period of stardom, and a successful later-career as a character performer of the first rank after her indelible comeback in Carrie brought her new, and lasting, fame.

                As The Hustler’s title figure, Paul Newman confirmed his status as one of the movies’ most talented and sensitive leading men. Although at this stage Newman had arrived as a top star, providing himself an actor of merit in such work as his breakthrough in Somebody Up There Likes Me as Rocky Graziano, perhaps his most memorable pairing with wife Joanne Woodward in The Long Hot Summer and his Oscar-nominated work as Brick in the sanitized but engrossing screen adaptation of Tennessee William’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Hustler marked a new peak for Newman. He brings such sincerity and vulnerability to the role the audience immediately understands Eddie’s mindset and motivations and stays with him even when Eddie shows character flaws. Newman works beautifully with Laurie and is commanding in his final scenes, wherein Eddie has a showdown with ace pool man Minnesota Fats and delivers a denouncement to his unsavory, vicious colleague, Bert Gordon, revealing the actor in his element, as he depicts Eddie’s anguish and drive with a dramatic flourish and complexity that ensured his place among the new decade’s top stars, as well Eddie’s position among Cinema’s most beguiling anti-heroes.

                As Minnesota Fats, Jackie Gleason effortlessly commands the screen with skill and perception. Bringing a knowing world-weariness to the role, Gleason makes an impressive about-face from the fame he’d gained as one of the top comics from the Golden Age of Television, avoiding any of the pretentiousness which often accompany comedians when they attempt dramatic roles and push too hard for sincerity, instead of trying to inhabit a role in an honest fashion. Gleason maintains a quiet, mature grace and dignity throughout the film, and shots of him observing Eddie’s alternating fortunes during their pool contests add ample depth to these scenes, as one wonders exactly how Fats views his young competition, and his sometimes-reckless behavior. Gleason would continue to prosper via his comedic endeavors on stage, screen and television, but on occasion more dramatic fare, such as his wonderful, very touching work opposite Tuesday Weld via their May/December storyline in 1963’s Soldier in the Rain, would again demonstrate Gleason’s gifts as an instinctive, intelligent actor of rare ability.

George C. Scott also makes a huge impression as Bert Gordon, one of the more callous figures to be found in cinema. First drawing major attention with film audiences via his forceful, Oscar-nominated work in 1959’s Anatomy of a Murder, Scott further established himself as a performer of great presence and intensity via his bold interpretation of the cold, calculating Gordon. The role could come across as unbelievable, as the seething Bert seems more interested in destroying Eddie (including his relationship with Sarah), than reaping benefits from their partnership by supporting Eddie’s prowess in the poolroom. However, Scott portraying Bert with all the fierce relentlessness at his disposal makes a viewer believe that whatever the character’s motivations, the talented Scott makes one accept every one of Bert’s nefarious actions, making them also wish to never encounter someone of his ilk, in a pool hall or anywhere else.

                Upon release, The Hustler received excellent reviews and fine box-office returns, leading it to becoming possibly the most honored film of the year outside of West Side Story. In addition to eight Oscar nominations (including ones for Newman, Gleason, Scott, Laurie and Rossen), with wins for Best Art Direction and Eugen Schufftan’s terrific B&W Cinematography, which perfectly captures the smoky, grimy pool hall atmosphere wherein much of the action takes place, the movie received many other accolades, such as Best Picture and Best Actor for Newman from the British Academy Awards, a National Board of Review Supporting Actor award for Gleason and a richly-warranted New York Film Critics’ Best Director prize for Robert Rossen, who impeccably meshed all the rich talents involved in the film (including a deft screenplay Rossen co-wrote with Sidney Carroll, based on Walter Tevis’ novel) into a cohesive whole, resulting in one of the best dramas of that or any era. The film has lost none of its impact over the intervening decades, and lovers of classic movies or film in general will discover a host of rewards await them via a viewing of The Hustler, including A-1 production values across the board, singular work by Gleason and Scott, a compelling story that expertly depicts a colorful array of characters and situations and, specifically, career-best work from Newman, and the haunting presence of one of the screen’s most gifted and instinctive performers, Piper Laurie.

I was able to see Ms. Laurie in person during the 2022 TCM Film Festival, aptly at a showing of The Hustler, wherein pre-screening Ms. Laurie offered wonderful recollections concerning her career and work on the film. I had missed the chance to see her in person several years before, right after she published her autobiography, but corresponded with her regarding an autograph request, which she graciously provided. She was in good spirits at the festival, and it was great to see one of my favorites discussing possibly her best film and performance. RIP, Piper Laurie.