The Hustler (1961)

The drama film, The Hustler (1961), was directed by Robert Rossen and adapted from Walter Tevis’ book of the same name. Accompanied by his partner, Charlie, ‘Fast Eddie’ Felson visits a small town pool room under the guise of being salesmen en route to a convention. They deceive onlookers into thinking Eddie is a drunken blowhard and lure them into betting against him in a trick shot competition, which he wins. Next stop: New York City. There, Eddie challenges renowned player Minnesota Fats to a game of straight pool for $200 per match. Initially trailing behind, Eddie makes an impressive comeback and suggests increasing the stake to $1,000 per game. As his lead grows to $11,000, Charlie advises him to quit while he’s ahead, but Eddie refuses until Fats declares the game over.

After Fats labels Eddie as a ‘loser’, the professional gambler Bert Gordon agrees to let him continue playing. Despite initially being ahead by $18,000 and going through an entire bottle of bourbon, Eddie ultimately loses it all and is left with only $200 of his original stake. As a result, Fats declares the game over and they return to their hotel. The next morning, without saying goodbye to Charlie who is sleeping, Eddie moves out and leaves his belongings in a bus terminal locker. It is there that he meets Sarah Packard, an alcoholic, and they start a relationship which leads to Eddie moving in with her. However, when Charlie discovers Eddie at Sarah’s apartment, he attempts to convince him to get back on the road and keep playing.