The Hustler - My first view of Americana

Rating: 10/10 (11 June 2012)

The Hustler, like most great films, grows in meaning as you grow older. As a boy, I saw the film and thrilled to the picture of America it painted. It was a tough, dangerous place where everyone was out to be a winner and losers were outsiders. Best of all, the Americans spoke in a kind of poetry that made everything they said interesting to a boy from small town Australia. "You looking for some action?" "Big John, do you think this boy is a hustler?" "Fat man, you shoot a great game of pool." The jazzy score seemed to match the jazzy way Americans spoke.
Eddie, the young outsider, was of course my focus when I first saw the film. I was young and the young always feel like they have something to prove. Eddie weakness is that he has something to prove. He must prove that he is the best pool player in the country and the money he might win in the process comes second to him. He is young and he must get the better of the older man. And this is the character flaw that Burt Gordon discerns and exploits.
As I have grown older, I empathise much more with Charlie, Eddie's partner, and with "Fats" as played by The Great One - Jackie Gleason. These are men who know themselves and their situation in life. "Fats" sees the facade he presents to the world and as Eddie asks Burt Gordon, "Who did you ever love?", Gleason gives the slightest hint of recognition that his life is as empty as Burt's. Look at how "Fats" makes his entrance. He is like an actor getting ready to play a part. The poolroom is where "Fats" comes to life as the best in the country. We can only guess at his life outside the pool hall but as he leaves Burt perched upon a stool as the lonesome ordinary people who frequent Aimes go about their own colourless and unfulfilling lives, there is sense of resignation to this ultimately meaningless existence. Action is required for Burt, "Fats" and the pool hall cohort to come to life. Once it's over, there is nothing but the wait for the next piece of action.
For the aging Charlie the future looms as a frightening prospect. As a child I cast him off in much the same way Eddie did. "Crawl off and die!" Myron McCormick's understanding of Charlie's desperate need for financial security shows in every facial expression. In one look he can tell the story of a lifetime spent as a lonely, small-time grifter. Eddie's first game with "Fats" is Charie's last chance for a big score if Eddie can only just take the money and run. Charlie is the voice of reason born of experience as opposed to Eddie's youthful recklessness. Financial security means nothing to youth when growing old is so far off in their minds. The present moment was beating "Fats" and getting him to acknowledge that he, Eddie Felson, is the best in the country.
Eddie learns a hard lesson. To be the best, he must pay a dreadful price. "Fats" has paid the price and he wears a hollow crown. Only Gleason could depict how hollow as he sits and considers what Eddie says to Burt about Burt being a loser because he can't love anything and that he has a need to make everything dead around him in order to feel alive.
My initial view of Americans as presented in The Hustler has led me to a lifetime of watching films in which American film makers reflect upon what it is to be American. It is a fascinating subject.