An up-and-coming pool player plays a long-time champion in a single high-stakes match.An up-and-coming pool player plays a long-time champion in a single high-stakes match.An up-and-coming pool player plays a long-time champion in a single high-stakes match.
- Won 2 Oscars
- 13 wins & 21 nominations total
- Turk
- (as Cliff Pellow)
- Old Doctor
- (uncredited)
- Bartender
- (uncredited)
- Waiter at Parisien Restaurant
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaPaul Newman and Jackie Gleason established a friendship on the set. At one point, Newman got a little cocky about his newfound pool skills and challenged the much more experienced Gleason to a $50 bet on a game. Newman broke, then it was Gleason's turn. He knocked all 15 balls in and Newman never got another shot. Gleason recalled that the next day Newman paid him off with 5000 pennies.
- GoofsDuring the last pool match, second game, Minnesota Fats has taken his jacket off, loosened his tie and unbuttoned his vest, but one subsequent shot shows him with his tie tightened and wearing a buttoned vest and jacket.
- Quotes
[Fast Eddie is bothered because Bert called him a born loser]
Fast Eddie: Cause, ya see, twice, Sarah... once at Ames with Minnesota Fats and then again at Arthur's, in that cheap, crummy pool room, now why'd I do it, Sarah? Why'd I do it? I coulda beat that guy, coulda beat 'im cold, he never woulda known. But I just hadda show 'im. Just hadda show those creeps and those punks what the game is like when it's great, when it's REALLY great. You know, like anything can be great, anything can be great. I don't care, BRICKLAYING can be great, if a guy knows. If he knows what he's doing and why and if he can make it come off. When I'm goin', I mean, when I'm REALLY goin' I feel like a... like a jockey must feel. He's sittin' on his horse, he's got all that speed and that power underneath him... he's comin' into the stretch, the pressure's on 'im, and he KNOWS... just feels... when to let it go and how much. Cause he's got everything workin' for 'im: timing, touch. It's a great feeling, boy, it's a real great feeling when you're right and you KNOW you're right. It's like all of a sudden I got oil in my arm. The pool cue's part of me. You know, it's uh - pool cue, it's got nerves in it. It's a piece of wood, it's got nerves in it. Feel the roll of those balls, you don't have to look, you just KNOW. You make shots that nobody's ever made before. I can play that game the way... NOBODY'S ever played it before.
Sarah Packard: You're not a loser, Eddie, you're a winner. Some men never get to feel that way about anything.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Portrait of an Actor (1971)
So much more than a film about pool, with two out of this world performances from Paul Newman and Piper Laurie and top drawer support from George C. Scott and Jackie Gleason. As brilliant as it was when it was made, those two lead roles just mind blowing.
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $2,125,000 (estimated)
- Runtime2 hours 14 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1