THE
HARDER THEY FALL ($25) may have been screen legend Humphrey Bogart’s
swan song, but the actor ended his career by delivering another potent
performance. In THE HARDER THEY FALL, Bogart portrays Eddie Willis,
a respected sports writer who has had a turn of bad luck since his
newspaper folded. With money being tight, Eddie is willing to compromise
his principals and goes to work as a press agent for shady boxing promoter
Nick Benko (Rod Steiger). Eddie’s creative writing talents are put to
the test when he has to build up Benko's latest discover- a new South
American fighter named Toro Moreno (Mike Lane).
As
it turns out Toro is no boxer, just a big lumbering giant, who looks good
towering over his opponents in the ring. Of course, Benko wants to
maximize his investment in Toro and arranges a series of fixed fights that
will bring him closer and closer to the heavyweight championship. Although
Eddie is initially willing to go along with Benko’s plans, and even
seems to be selling his soul to the devil a little at a time, Eddie's
character makes it impossible to take advantage of Toro, especially when
it appears the naïve giant might actually get hurt in the ring. The cast
of THE HARDER THEY FALL also includes Jan Sterling, Max Baer,
Jersey Joe Walcott, Edward Andrews, Harold J. Stone, Carlos Montalbán and
Nehemiah Persoff.
Columbia
TriStar Home Entertainment has made THE HARDER THEY FALL available
on DVD in a 1.85:1 wide screen presentation that features the anamorphic
enhancement for 16:9 displays. The opening credits appear framed at 1.66:1
and that may be a more appropriate aspect ratio for the film, although I
did not notice and compromises in the picture’s composition during the
rest of the movie. The black and white film element used for the transfer
shows few signs of age, with a few minor blemishes appearing from time to
time. Image quality is very good for a late fifties production; everything
appears fairly crisp and nicely defined. There is a noticeable grain
structure to the picture, but it is never excessive. Blacks are deep and
solid, while the whites appear clean and crisp. Contrast is good and the
grayscale has a nice variety. Digital compression artifacts are well
concealed throughout.
The
Dolby Digital monaural soundtrack is in very good shape, providing a
crisp, clean sound that is free from most vestiges of hiss and surface
noise. While one would normally expect very limited fidelity from a
monaural track of this vintage, THE HARDER THEY FALL has a bit of a
bottom end. I Don’t know if the track was artificially sweetened, but
fight scenes has a bit of oomph, with the punches sounding as if they are
actually connecting. Dialogue sounds snappy and is always completely
understandable. A Portuguese language track is also encoded onto the DVD,
as are English, French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish subtitles.
The
basic interactive menus allow one access to the standard scene selection
and set up features, as well as a couple of extras. A Bogart Collection
retrospective, with vintage advertising materials is the main extra on the
DVD. Additionally, trailers for ON THE WATERFRONT and THE
GREATEST are also provided on the DVD.
THE
HARDER THEY FALL is an entertaining fight film, in which Bogart gives
another solid performance. This particular movie also marked Bogart’s
final screen appearance, which may pique the curiosity of those who might
not have had any interest in otherwise seeing THE HARDER THEY FALL.
Regardless, Columbia has done a good job with the DVD, producing a
presentation that will keep his fans and movie buffs happy.
THE
HARDER THEY FALL ($25) may have been screen legend Humphrey Bogart’s
swan song, but the actor ended his career by delivering another potent
performance. In THE HARDER THEY FALL, Bogart portrays Eddie Willis,
a respected sports writer who has had a turn of bad luck since his
newspaper folded. With money being tight, Eddie is willing to compromise
his principals and goes to work as a press agent for shady boxing promoter
Nick Benko (Rod Steiger). Eddie’s creative writing talents are put to
the test when he has to build up Benko's latest discover- a new South
American fighter named Toro Moreno (Mike Lane).
As
it turns out Toro is no boxer, just a big lumbering giant, who looks good
towering over his opponents in the ring. Of course, Benko wants to
maximize his investment in Toro and arranges a series of fixed fights that
will bring him closer and closer to the heavyweight championship. Although
Eddie is initially willing to go along with Benko’s plans, and even
seems to be selling his soul to the devil a little at a time, Eddie's
character makes it impossible to take advantage of Toro, especially when
it appears the naïve giant might actually get hurt in the ring. The cast
of THE HARDER THEY FALL also includes Jan Sterling, Max Baer,
Jersey Joe Walcott, Edward Andrews, Harold J. Stone, Carlos Montalbán and
Nehemiah Persoff.
Columbia
TriStar Home Entertainment has made THE HARDER THEY FALL available
on DVD in a 1.85:1 wide screen presentation that features the anamorphic
enhancement for 16:9 displays. The opening credits appear framed at 1.66:1
and that may be a more appropriate aspect ratio for the film, although I
did not notice and compromises in the picture’s composition during the
rest of the movie. The black and white film element used for the transfer
shows few signs of age, with a few minor blemishes appearing from time to
time. Image quality is very good for a late fifties production; everything
appears fairly crisp and nicely defined. There is a noticeable grain
structure to the picture, but it is never excessive. Blacks are deep and
solid, while the whites appear clean and crisp. Contrast is good and the
grayscale has a nice variety. Digital compression artifacts are well
concealed throughout.
The
Dolby Digital monaural soundtrack is in very good shape, providing a
crisp, clean sound that is free from most vestiges of hiss and surface
noise. While one would normally expect very limited fidelity from a
monaural track of this vintage, THE HARDER THEY FALL has a bit of a
bottom end. I Don’t know if the track was artificially sweetened, but
fight scenes has a bit of oomph, with the punches sounding as if they are
actually connecting. Dialogue sounds snappy and is always completely
understandable. A Portuguese language track is also encoded onto the DVD,
as are English, French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish subtitles.
The
basic interactive menus allow one access to the standard scene selection
and set up features, as well as a couple of extras. A Bogart Collection
retrospective, with vintage advertising materials is the main extra on the
DVD. Additionally, trailers for ON THE WATERFRONT and THE
GREATEST are also provided on the DVD.
THE
HARDER THEY FALL is an entertaining fight film, in which Bogart gives
another solid performance. This particular movie also marked Bogart’s
final screen appearance, which may pique the curiosity of those who might
not have had any interest in otherwise seeing THE HARDER THEY FALL.
Regardless, Columbia has done a good job with the DVD, producing a
presentation that will keep his fans and movie buffs happy.
