Requiem for a Heavyweight was originally a teleplay written by
Rod SerlingRodman Edward "Rod" Serling was an American screenwriter and television producer, best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his science fiction anthology TV series, The Twilight Zone. He was known in the more secular community as being an atheist despite converting to Unitarianism...
and produced for the
live televisionLive television refers to television broadcast in real time. Today it is used mostly for programs such as Today, CBS This Morning, and local television news. However, from the early days of television until about 1958, it was used heavily, except for filmed shows such as I Love Lucy and Gunsmoke...
show
Playhouse 90Playhouse 90 is a 90-minute dramatic television anthology series, telecast on CBS from 1956 to 1961 for a total of 133 episodes. Since live anthology drama series of the mid-1950s were hour-long shows, the title highlighted the network's intention to present something unusual, a weekly series of...
on 11 October 1956. Six years later, it was filmed as a 1962 movie starring
Anthony QuinnAnthony Quinn was a Mexican-American actor, as well as a painter and writer. He starred in numerous critically acclaimed and commercially successful films, including Zorba the Greek, Lawrence of Arabia, and Federico Fellini's La strada...
,
Jackie GleasonHerbert Walton Gleason, Jr. , baptized as John Herbert "Jackie" Gleason, was an American comedian, actor and musician....
, and
Mickey RooneyMickey Rooney is an American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. During his career he has won multiple awards, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award...
.
The teleplay won a
Peabody AwardThe George Foster Peabody Awards are annual, international awards for excellence in radio and television broadcasting. First awarded in 1941 for programs from the previous year, they are one of the oldest honors in electronic media...
, the first given to an individual script, and helped establish Serling's reputation. The broadcast was directed by
Ralph NelsonRalph Nelson was an American movie and television director, producer, writer, and actor of Norwegian descent. He served in the Army Air Corps alongside future Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling in World War II and continued their friendship until the latter's death...
and is generally considered one of the most famous examples of live television drama in the United States, as well as being
SerlingRodman Edward "Rod" Serling was an American screenwriter and television producer, best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his science fiction anthology TV series, The Twilight Zone. He was known in the more secular community as being an atheist despite converting to Unitarianism...
's personal favorite of his own work.
Jack PalanceJack Palance was a Ukrainian American film actor. With his rugged facial features, Palance was best known to modern movie audiences as both the characters of Curly and Duke in the two City Slickers movies, the first for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, but his career...
portrays Harlan "Mountain" McClintock, a once-promising but now washed-up
boxerBoxing is a combat sport where two participants, generally of similar weight, fight each other with their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee and is typically engaged in during a series of one to three-minute intervals called rounds. There are three ways to win...
who faces the end of his career after he is savagely defeated by a younger boxer.
Requiem for a Heavyweight was originally a teleplay written by
Rod SerlingRodman Edward "Rod" Serling was an American screenwriter and television producer, best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his science fiction anthology TV series, The Twilight Zone. He was known in the more secular community as being an atheist despite converting to Unitarianism...
and produced for the
live televisionLive television refers to television broadcast in real time. Today it is used mostly for programs such as Today, CBS This Morning, and local television news. However, from the early days of television until about 1958, it was used heavily, except for filmed shows such as I Love Lucy and Gunsmoke...
show
Playhouse 90Playhouse 90 is a 90-minute dramatic television anthology series, telecast on CBS from 1956 to 1961 for a total of 133 episodes. Since live anthology drama series of the mid-1950s were hour-long shows, the title highlighted the network's intention to present something unusual, a weekly series of...
on 11 October 1956. Six years later, it was filmed as a 1962 movie starring
Anthony QuinnAnthony Quinn was a Mexican-American actor, as well as a painter and writer. He starred in numerous critically acclaimed and commercially successful films, including Zorba the Greek, Lawrence of Arabia, and Federico Fellini's La strada...
,
Jackie GleasonHerbert Walton Gleason, Jr. , baptized as John Herbert "Jackie" Gleason, was an American comedian, actor and musician....
, and
Mickey RooneyMickey Rooney is an American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. During his career he has won multiple awards, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award...
.
The teleplay won a
Peabody AwardThe George Foster Peabody Awards are annual, international awards for excellence in radio and television broadcasting. First awarded in 1941 for programs from the previous year, they are one of the oldest honors in electronic media...
, the first given to an individual script, and helped establish Serling's reputation. The broadcast was directed by
Ralph NelsonRalph Nelson was an American movie and television director, producer, writer, and actor of Norwegian descent. He served in the Army Air Corps alongside future Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling in World War II and continued their friendship until the latter's death...
and is generally considered one of the most famous examples of live television drama in the United States, as well as being
SerlingRodman Edward "Rod" Serling was an American screenwriter and television producer, best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his science fiction anthology TV series, The Twilight Zone. He was known in the more secular community as being an atheist despite converting to Unitarianism...
's personal favorite of his own work.
American television version
Jack PalanceJack Palance was a Ukrainian American film actor. With his rugged facial features, Palance was best known to modern movie audiences as both the characters of Curly and Duke in the two City Slickers movies, the first for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, but his career...
portrays Harlan "Mountain" McClintock, a once-promising but now washed-up
boxerBoxing is a combat sport where two participants, generally of similar weight, fight each other with their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee and is typically engaged in during a series of one to three-minute intervals called rounds. There are three ways to win...
who faces the end of his career after he is savagely defeated by a younger boxer.
Keenan WynnKeenan Wynn was an American character actor and member of a well-known show-business family. His bristling mustache and expressive face were his stock in trade as an actor.-Early life and career:...
portrays McClintock's manager Maish; Keenan's father
EdEd Wynn was a popular American comedian and actor noted for his Perfect Fool comedy character, his pioneering radio show of the 1930s, and his later career as a dramatic actor....
plays McClintock's cut man, Army.
McClintock is suffering from
Dementia pugilisticaDementia pugilistica , also called chronic traumatic encephalopathy , chronic boxer’s encephalopathy, traumatic boxer’s encephalopathy, boxer's dementia, and punch-drunk syndrome , is a neurological disorder which may affect career boxers, wrestlers, mixed martial artists, and football players who...
or "punch drunk syndrome" -- brain damage caused by his career. A
fight doctorIn boxing and mixed martial arts, the fight doctor is an official that monitors the health of the fighters and evaluates their ability to continue fighting....
refuses to certify McClintock for further boxing, saying that another rough match could blind or even kill him. Boxing is all McClintock has ever known, and he's both terrified of trying something new, and intensely loyal to Maish, who has nurtured him from his youth. Maish has troubles of his own, however: he owes money to the
MafiaThe Mafia is a Sicilian criminal society which is believed to have emerged in late 19th century Sicily, and the first such society to be referred to as a mafia . It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct...
and tried to raise funds by betting against McClintock.
Kim HunterKim Hunter was an American film, theatre, and television actress. She won both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, each as Best Supporting Actress, for her performance as Stella Kowalski in the 1951 film A Streetcar Named Desire. -...
portrayed Grace Carney, an employment agency worker who tries to help the boxer make a transition to a new career. Maish persuades the boxer to turn to
professional wrestlingProfessional wrestling, or pro wrestling, is an athletic performing art where matches are prearranged by the promotion's booking staff. It is a non-competitive sport which contains strong elements of theatre, mock combat, and catch wrestling. Wrestling's origins date to 19th-century carnival...
, though McClintock is proud that he never had a fixed fight and is uncomfortable with the staged, predetermined wrestling match.
Army disapproves of Maish's plans and refuses to be a part of them. Just before he's scheduled to go into the wrestling ring in a humiliating
mountain manMountain men were trappers and explorers who roamed the North American Rocky Mountains from about 1810 to the early 1840s. Although primarily of Canadian or American origin, mountain men were ethnically, socially, and religiously diverse...
costume, McClintock learns of Maish's betting against him, and parts ways with his manager and mentor. Though he feels that boxing can ruin men's lives, Maish finds another promising young boxer to train. McClintock takes a chance on working with children at summer camp.
As Serling and Palance were both experienced boxers, they brought a level of authenticity to
Requiem for a Heavyweight, although there was very little boxing depicted in the broadcast.
Requiem for a Heavyweight was the beginning of what became one of the new medium's most successful creative teams, writer Rod Serling and director Ralph Nelson.
Cast
Jack PalanceJack Palance was a Ukrainian American film actor. With his rugged facial features, Palance was best known to modern movie audiences as both the characters of Curly and Duke in the two City Slickers movies, the first for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, but his career...
... Harlan 'Mountain' McClintock
Keenan WynnKeenan Wynn was an American character actor and member of a well-known show-business family. His bristling mustache and expressive face were his stock in trade as an actor.-Early life and career:...
... Maish
Kim HunterKim Hunter was an American film, theatre, and television actress. She won both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, each as Best Supporting Actress, for her performance as Stella Kowalski in the 1951 film A Streetcar Named Desire. -...
... Grace Carney
Ed WynnEd Wynn was a popular American comedian and actor noted for his Perfect Fool comedy character, his pioneering radio show of the 1930s, and his later career as a dramatic actor....
... Army
Joe Abdullah ... Fight Announcer
Max Baer ... Mike
Eddie CantorEddie Cantor was an American comedian, dancer, singer, actor, and songwriter. Familiar to Broadway, radio and early television audiences, this "Apostle of Pep" was regarded almost as a family member by millions because his top-rated radio shows revealed intimate stories and amusing anecdotes about...
... Host
Ted Christy ... Wrestler
Karl 'Killer' Davis ... Wrestler
Ned GlassNed Glass was an American character actor who appeared in more than eighty films and on television more than one hundred times, frequently playing nervous, cowardly or weasely characters...
... Bartender
Young Jack Johnson ... Champ
Lyn Osborn ... Photographer
Ivan Rasputin ... Wrestler
Frank Richards ... Fighter in Bar
Max Rosenbloom ... Steve
British television version
BBC TelevisionBBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which began in 1932. The British Broadcasting Corporation has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927.-History of BBC Television:...
in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
screened a version of the play in their regular
Sunday Night Theatre anthology strand on March 31 1957.
Sean ConnerySir Thomas Sean Connery , best known as Sean Connery, is an Academy Award, Golden Globe, and BAFTA Award winning Scottish actor and producer....
, five years before portraying
James BondJames Bond 007 is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. The character has also been used in the longest running and most financially successful English language film franchise to date, starting in 1962 with Dr...
, starred as McClintock, while Alvin Rakoff produced and, with Serling's approval, also wrote some new material to cover costume changes that took place during commercial breaks on US television, but could not do so on the non-commercial
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation as the "BBC", is the longest established and largest broadcaster in the world...
. Co-starring with Connery were
Warren MitchellWarren Mitchell is an English actor.-Early life:Mitchell was born Warren Misel in Stoke Newington, London. He is of Russian Jewish descent, but describes himself in interviews as an atheist who sometimes believes in God....
and Rakoff's future wife
Jacqueline HillJacqueline Hill was a British actress best known for her role as Barbara Wright in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who. As the history teacher of the Doctor's granddaughter, Susan Foreman, Barbara Wright was the first of the companions to appear in the show in 1963, with Hill...
, who had recommended Connery for the leading part.
Michael CaineSir Michael Caine, CBE is an English film actor. Caine has appeared in more than 100 films, and is one of only two actors to have been nominated for an Academy Award for acting in every decade since the 1960s Sir Michael Caine, CBE (born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, Jr.; 14 March 1933) is an...
was featured in a small role in a new scene written by Rakoff.
This production was reviewed in
The TimesThe Times is a daily national newspaper published in the United Kingdom since 1785 when it was known as The Daily Universal Register....
newspaper the following day, which gave it a generally positive assessment, with some reservations. "It is unfortunate that Mr. Serling has allowed a saccharine romance to intrude into this self-sufficient and wholly masculine situation. Otherwise his touch is sure. Although physically miscast as the fighter, Mr. Sean Connery played with a shambling and inarticulate charm that almost made the love affair credible."
Dutch television version
In 1959 Dutch television adapted the story as
Requiem voor een zwaargewicht.
Cast
Ko Van Dijk ... Malloy
Ton Van Duinhoven ... Manager
Jan Blasser ... Verzorger
Film version
Ralph NelsonRalph Nelson was an American movie and television director, producer, writer, and actor of Norwegian descent. He served in the Army Air Corps alongside future Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling in World War II and continued their friendship until the latter's death...
also directed a
movieFilm encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects....
version in 1962 with
Anthony QuinnAnthony Quinn was a Mexican-American actor, as well as a painter and writer. He starred in numerous critically acclaimed and commercially successful films, including Zorba the Greek, Lawrence of Arabia, and Federico Fellini's La strada...
in the role originated by
Jack PalanceJack Palance was a Ukrainian American film actor. With his rugged facial features, Palance was best known to modern movie audiences as both the characters of Curly and Duke in the two City Slickers movies, the first for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, but his career...
, with
Jackie GleasonHerbert Walton Gleason, Jr. , baptized as John Herbert "Jackie" Gleason, was an American comedian, actor and musician....
and
Mickey RooneyMickey Rooney is an American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. During his career he has won multiple awards, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award...
in the parts portrayed on television by
Keenan WynnKeenan Wynn was an American character actor and member of a well-known show-business family. His bristling mustache and expressive face were his stock in trade as an actor.-Early life and career:...
and his father
Ed WynnEd Wynn was a popular American comedian and actor noted for his Perfect Fool comedy character, his pioneering radio show of the 1930s, and his later career as a dramatic actor....
. The part of social worker Grace Miller in the film went to
Julie HarrisJulie Harris is an American stage, screen, and television actress. She has won five Tony Awards and three Emmy Awards, and was nominated for an Academy Award. She is a member of the American Theatre Hall of Fame...
Muhammad AliMuhammad Ali is a retired American boxer and three-time World Heavyweight Champion, who is widely considered one of the greatest heavyweight champions. As an amateur, he won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome...
, then still using his birth name, Cassius Clay, appears as Quinn's opponent in a boxing match at the beginning of the movie, a memorable sequence filmed with the camera providing Quinn's point of view as the unstoppable Clay rapidly punches directly at the movie audience.
The film version is somewhat bleaker in its plotline than the original teleplay. Mountain is to interview for a counselor position at a children's camp, but he gets drunk with Maish instead. He embarrasses himself at the hotel where the interview is to take place, behaving drunkenly in plain sight of the camp owners. Grace follows Mountain home to try to understand what went wrong, and though they are attracted to each other, Mountain's aggression scares Grace off. She confronts Maish in tears, condemning him for controlling Mountain and ruining his chance to make a new life for himself.
To pay off Maish's gambling debts, Mountain agrees to perform as an Indian, "wrestling" dwarves in a staged match. Humiliated, he changes his mind and is about to leave when "Ma" Greeny and her thugs threaten Maish. In the last scene of the film, Mountain enters the ring, ridiculed by the crowd.
Cast
Anthony QuinnAnthony Quinn was a Mexican-American actor, as well as a painter and writer. He starred in numerous critically acclaimed and commercially successful films, including Zorba the Greek, Lawrence of Arabia, and Federico Fellini's La strada...
... Luis 'Mountain' Rivera
Jackie GleasonHerbert Walton Gleason, Jr. , baptized as John Herbert "Jackie" Gleason, was an American comedian, actor and musician....
... Maish Rennick
Mickey RooneyMickey Rooney is an American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. During his career he has won multiple awards, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award...
... Army
Julie HarrisJulie Harris is an American stage, screen, and television actress. She has won five Tony Awards and three Emmy Awards, and was nominated for an Academy Award. She is a member of the American Theatre Hall of Fame...
... Grace Miller
Stanley Adams ... Perelli (as Stan Adams)
Madame Spivy ... Ma Greeny
Cassius Clay ... Himself
Val Avery ... Young fighter's promoter
Herbie FayeHerbie Faye was an American actor who appeared in both of Phil Silvers's CBS television series, The Phil Silvers Show and The New Phil Silvers Show ....
... Charlie, the Bartender
Jack DempseyJack "Manassa Mauler" Dempsey was an American boxer who held the world heavyweight title from 1919 to 1926. Dempsey's aggressive style and punching power made him one of the most popular boxers in history. Many of his fights set financial and attendance records...
... Himself
Haystacks Calhoun ... Himself
The Man in the Funny Suit
In 1960,
Ralph NelsonRalph Nelson was an American movie and television director, producer, writer, and actor of Norwegian descent. He served in the Army Air Corps alongside future Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling in World War II and continued their friendship until the latter's death...
wrote and directed
The Man in the Funny SuitThe Man in the Funny Suit is a television drama detailing the agony endured by actor Keenan Wynn while helping his father, legendary comedian Ed Wynn, play a serious role in the original television production of Rod Serling's Requiem for a Heavyweight.Requiem was the elder Wynn's first dramatic...
, a dramatic account of
Keenan WynnKeenan Wynn was an American character actor and member of a well-known show-business family. His bristling mustache and expressive face were his stock in trade as an actor.-Early life and career:...
's travails in helping his father, legendary comedian
Ed WynnEd Wynn was a popular American comedian and actor noted for his Perfect Fool comedy character, his pioneering radio show of the 1930s, and his later career as a dramatic actor....
, play such a serious role on live television in
Requiem for a Heavyweight. Ed Wynn went on to play equally serious roles in
The Great ManThe Great Man is a 1956 drama film directed by José Ferrer and based on a novel by Al Morgan. It was loosely based on the controversial career of Arthur Godfrey, the beloved TV and radio host whose image had been tarnished by a number of cast firings and Godfrey's contentious battles with the...
and the 1959 version of
The Diary of Anne FrankThe Diary of Anne Frank is a 1959 motion picture based on the Pulitzer Prize winning play of the same name, which was based on the diary of Anne Frank. It was directed by George Stevens, with a screenplay by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett...
.
The Man in the Funny Suit was telecast as an installment of the
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse with
Rod SerlingRodman Edward "Rod" Serling was an American screenwriter and television producer, best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his science fiction anthology TV series, The Twilight Zone. He was known in the more secular community as being an atheist despite converting to Unitarianism...
and
Red SkeltonRed Skelton , born Richard Bernard Skelton, was an American comedian who was best known as a top radio and television star from 1937 to 1971...
playing themselves.
The Man in the Funny Suit is available for public viewing at The Paley Center for Media in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
and
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the municipality of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123.445 inhabitants...
.
Cast
Keenan WynnKeenan Wynn was an American character actor and member of a well-known show-business family. His bristling mustache and expressive face were his stock in trade as an actor.-Early life and career:...
... Keenan Wynn
Ed WynnEd Wynn was a popular American comedian and actor noted for his Perfect Fool comedy character, his pioneering radio show of the 1930s, and his later career as a dramatic actor....
... Ed Wynn
Rod SerlingRodman Edward "Rod" Serling was an American screenwriter and television producer, best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his science fiction anthology TV series, The Twilight Zone. He was known in the more secular community as being an atheist despite converting to Unitarianism...
... Rod Serling
Maxine Stuart ... Sharley Wynn
Ralph NelsonRalph Nelson was an American movie and television director, producer, writer, and actor of Norwegian descent. He served in the Army Air Corps alongside future Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling in World War II and continued their friendship until the latter's death...
... Ralph Nelson
Red SkeltonRed Skelton , born Richard Bernard Skelton, was an American comedian who was best known as a top radio and television star from 1937 to 1971...
... Red Skelton
Bob MathiasRobert Bruce Mathias was an American decathlete, two-time Olympic gold medalist, and United States Congressman representing the state of California.-Early life and athletic career:...
... Bob Mathias
William Roerick ... Martin Manulis
Max Rosenbloom ... Slapsie Maxie Rosenbloom
Seymour Berns ... Skelton's Director
Robin Blake ... Script Girl
Joey Faye ... Latecomer
Ned Glass ... Ed Wynn's Understudy
Charlene Glazer ... Secretary
Drew Handley ... Assistant Director
Robert H. Harris ... Technical Director
Richard Joy ... Announcer
Bill Walker ... Porter
External links