37-year-old boxer Louis “Mountain” Rivera (Anthony Quinn) has been a prizefighter for 17 years, though he hit his peak 10 years earlier, ranking fifth in the heavyweight division. Ever since then, he’s been trying to re-live that glory. After a particularly brutal loss after 7 rounds with Cassius Clay, he can barely stand up and just mutters his words. The doctor informs Mountain’s manager Maish Rennick (Jackie Gleason) and cut man Army (Mickey Rooney) that he can no longer fight—one more punch to the face could leave him permanently blind. However, Maish had just bet that Mountain wouldn’t last 4 rounds, and now he owes a lot of money to Mafia boss Ma Greeny (Madame Spivy). With his fighter out of commission, he desperately tries to find a way to get the money he needs. Meanwhile, Mountain struggles to figure out what to do with his life. He’s been boxing since he was 20, only has a 6th grade education, and no job experience. Unemployment office caseworker Grace Miller (Julie Harris) takes a shining to him, and wants to help him, but Maish is already looking for the next way to exploit Mountain for his own gain.

Before Rod Serling became forever synonymous with The Twilight Zone, he wrote the boxing drama Requiem For A Heavyweight as a teleplay for an episode of CBS’ live Playhouse 90 TV series. The episode dominated the 1956 Emmys, taking home 6 awards, including best direction, best teleplay, and best actor. Serling also won the first Peabody Award for television writing. This 1962 feature film adaptation is dialogue-heavy and still has a very play-like feel to it. However, that is not necessarily a bad thing. It features amazing performances by Anthony Quinn and Jackie Gleason. Despite punching people for a living, Mountain is a gentle giant, who is loyal (to a fault) to manager Maish. He is thankful for Maish for giving him his career, and would do anything for him. He believes that Maish always has his best interests in mind—though Mountain is unaware that Maish had bet against him on his final fight. Though, without boxing, Mountain doesn’t know what to do with his life. He tries to get a job as an usher at a movie theater, but is turned down as he is way too big for the uniform. He is dejected and depressed. But when he suddenly receives interest from Miss Miller, he starts to experience some hope. Whether she is attracted to him, sees him as a charity case, or just wants to help isn’t completely clear, but she offers him the possibility of starting a new career working at a children’s summer camp. However, Maish wants Mountain to humiliate himself by dressing as an Indian and wrestle, so he can clear his debt with the Mafia. Can Mountain break away from his blind loyalty to Maish to forge his own path nd happiness in life?

Requiem for a Heavyweight is a tragic and sometimes depressing look at how prizefighters can go from being on top, to being washed out and forgotten. At one point Grace equates Mountain to a wounded veteran, referring to his “special problems”, and in some ways he is. He’s suffered mentally and physically after years of battling in the ring, and now finds himself without any real skills, trying to enter the work force. However, Mountain is angry at this comparison, saying that he may be a big ugly slob and looks like a freak, but he was almost the heavyweight champion of the world. Anthony Quinn gives a stellar, believable performance (though he looks far older than 37) as this washed-up boxer who definitely seems to have experienced some mental damage thanks to 17 years of punches to the head. He has little self confidence and blindly follows Maish out of a sense of misguided loyalty. After 17 years of prizefighting, he really has nothing to show for it, and Maish is already talking about taking on some new young fighter. While Army sees Mountain as blood and tries to help him find a job, Maish is just looking for a way to continue to use Mountain for his next meal ticket.

Requiem for a Heavyweight arrives on Blu-ray in the U.S. for the first time thanks to Mill Creek Entertainment. The disc features a generally stunning black and white presentation. The picture is quite clean with a solid level of detail, and just some occasional white flecks. The film is creatively shot, with the opening and closing of the movie putting the viewer in Mountain’s POV. As the movie starts, you literally see the boxing match from Mountain’s eyes. As the jabs are thrown, things get blurry and there is some double-vision, and as Mountain collapses in the ring, you feel his disorientation and confusion. The disc offers a 2.0 audio track. Save for a couple of fight sequences, the film is primarily dialogue-driven, so this is more than sufficient at capturing the discussions between the characters, and the brief excitement in the ring.

The Blu-ray disc comes packed in a standard HD keepcase, with a carboard slipcover. The disc is barebones with just a subtitle on/off menu option. There is no digital copy included. The original theatrical cut of the film ran 102 minutes, but this is not included on this Blu-ray (nor was it included on previous DVD releases). While it would have been great to have the option to watch both cuts of the film, the tighter 86-minute version still works quite well.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:25:24)

• 1080p / Widescreen 1.85:1
• Audio: English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio
• Subtitles: English SDH

Extras:

There is no bonus material included on this disc.

Final Thoughts:

I watched Requiem for a Heavyweight immediately following Creed and Creed II for the first time, and it definitely holds its own against these big-budget Hollywood blockbusters. Writer Rod Serling gives viewers a deep, dramatic and somewhat tragic look at what happens to a prizefighter at the end of his career, and star Anthony Quinn delivers a knockout performance in the lead role. Mill Creek’s Blu-ray looks and sounds great. While the disc does not include the longer theatrical cut or any bonus material, it still comes highly recommended based on the quality of the film itself.

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REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT/BD

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$9.59 (as of November 15, 2024 18:51 GMT -05:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)