Jackie Gleason

Happy-go-lucky advertising executive David Basner (Tom Hanks), who recently got a promotion at his Chicago ad agency, returns to work from a vacation. He is utterly carefree until his parents split up after 36 years of marriage. Out of the blue, he must care for his aging, bitter father Max (Jackie Gleason), as well as be there for his emotionally fragile mother, Lorraine (Eva Marie Saint). To add insult to injury, Max has just been fired from his 35-year career in the garment industry. At work, David is developing a commercial for Colonial Airlines, owned by the rich and eccentric Andrew Woolridge (Barry Corbin). A successful ad campaign would likely promote David to partner in his company. At the same time, David develops a romantic relationship with Woolridge's daughter, the no-nonsense Cheryl Ann Wayne (Sela Ward). His father is well aware of David's playboy nature. Asking at one point if his son is in bed with a woman, Max adds: "Anybody you know?" Over the next few months, the parents begin to rely more and more on David, calling him on the phone constantly. His mother needs help moving to a new apartment. His father needs to be driven to an eye doctor. Lorraine needs to be rescued in a bar after going out on a date with another man, having become frightened when he tried to kiss her goodnight. David's mother then confides to him that Max cheated on her and humiliated her. An enraged David goes to confront Max. Their argument ends with David saying: "Tomorrow I'm shooting a commercial about a family who loves each other, who cares about each other. I'm fakin' it." The next day, David is distracted by the deteriorating relationship with his father and it affects his work. As a peace offering, David offers to take Max to a nightclub to hear some of the jazz music Max likes. It is there that David accidentally discovers a secret Max has been hiding from the family: he has severe diabetes. When Max takes off his shoes to dance to the jazz music, David sees that his father's right foot is gangrened. Max must go to the hospital for his foot to be amputated. While awaiting surgery, he and Lorraine share their thoughts about their life together, with Lorraine condemning him for doing what he did to himself and to her. Max sobs over his mistakes once he is alone. At the agency, Andrew Woolridge insists that David go to New York with him to promote his new ad campaign. David refuses, saying he wants to stay with his sick father. Woolridge complains that it's unnecessary for business must come first. David tells him off and is quickly fired. The next day, David accompanies his dad to the operating room. His boss Charlie (Hector Elizondo) assures him that he will personally smooth things over with Woolridge, so David should take some time off. In the final scene, David goes back to the hospital where he learns from the doctor who performed the surgery that he managed to save Max's right foot, but had to amputate two toes. David enters Max's room to take him home. As David wheels Max through the hospital to his car to take him home, Max admits to his son: "You were the last person I thought would come through for me." Later, David gets his job back (although being fired earlier) and shows Max what he does for a living and Max is impressed at seeing what David does at work.

In 1940 New York City, a man known as Kid Colors (Burt Remsen) is tortured and killed as retribution for his role in swindling $500,000 from Doyle Lonnegan (Oliver Reed), a crooked banker from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His lead henchman, Carlos (Jose Perez), spreads the rumor that Brooklyn, New York, nightclub owner and pimp Gus Macalinski (Karl Malden), known as "the Wolf" for his reputation as a womanizer, is responsible for the Kid's killing, while Lonnegan plans the murder of confidence man Jake Hooker. Elsewhere in the city, con artist Jake Hooker (Mac Davis) and his friend, Eddie (Ron Rifkin), attempt to swindle Countess Veronique Le Fleur (Teri Garr) and her companion, Lady Dorsett (Frances Bergen), who turn the tables on them. Jake receives a telegram from his old con artist friend, Fargo Gondorff (Jackie Gleason), inviting him to Florida. After boarding the train, Jake and Eddie raise train fare by stealing off-duty police officer Francis O'Malley's wallet. Meanwhile, Carlos trails the two men and informs Lonnegan of their plans. After arriving in Miami, Florida, Jake and Eddie discover that Fargo is serving a two-year sentence in a federal prison and will be released within a few days. Fargo tells them about Kid Color's murder, placing blame on Gus Macalinski. A few days later, the three men return to New York City and meet with business associates "Handicap," (Larry Hankin) "Big Ohio," (Michael D. Alldredge) "Doc Brown," (John Hancock) and "Tuxedo" in the back room of a Chinese laundry, where they concoct a "sting" to cheat Macalinski out of a fortune. While Fargo establishes headquarters at Golding's gymnasium, Jake purchases boxing equipment at a department store, where he encounters Countess Veronique Le Fleur. Jake accuses her of being a pickpocket and alerts the store manager, who discovers O'Malley's wallet in the countess's handbag, and her coin purse in Jake's pocket. After both are ejected from the store, the countess introduces herself as Veronica Sherman... a con artist herself. Jake is sufficiently impressed with her skills and offers her a job as a member of the team to exploit Macalinski's weakness for the opposite sex. The next day at Golding's Gym, Jake receives his boxing license and his alias, Bobby Florian. He tells Fargo about Veronica, sheepishly revealing that she "reverse conned" him two weeks earlier. At Fargo's urging, Veronica admits to her real surname, Crinklaw. The next evening, she enters Macalinski's Ocean Club and draws the owner to her table. Fargo appears within seconds and introduces himself as Trevor Plantagenet. Veronica, who calls herself Elizabeth Windsor, pretends to be enamored with Fargo. He opens a bottle of champagne and the spray removes Macalinski's toupee. Attempting to overcome his humiliation, Macalinski challenges Fargo to a game of pool, then to a game of Three Card Monte. Fargo wins both, and Macalinski leaves the club in a fit of anger. Outside, Jake tells Macalinski he has information on "Trevor Plantagenet." Macalinski invites Jake, posing as "Bobby," to join him for a roller coaster ride. As the coaster speeds along the track, Jake explains that Fargo is his manager, and wants him to intentionally lose his upcoming fight against boxer Chico Torres. Jake intends to win the fight, and asks Macalinski for protection against a reprisal from Fargo in exchange for half of the $6,000 prize. After Macalinski promises to consider the offer, Jake encounters O'Malley. He eludes the officer and takes refuge in the Chinese laundry, where Fargo and his team are waiting for him. Fargo assures Jake that Macalinski will accept the offer, and advises him stay in hiding to avoid O'Malley. When Carlos updates Lonnegan on Jake's activities, the banker happily anticipates the murder of his adversaries by Macalinski. Meanwhile, Jake trains with Big Ohio, but shows little promise. However, when Macalinski visits the gym, they stage a sparring match and Jake knocks Big Ohio out of the ring. That evening, Jake informs Macalinski that Fargo is betting on Torres, and has arranged with bookmaker Tuxedo to increase the odds of Jake winning to attract more bets. Though Macalinski is intrigued, he refuses to commit until he sees Jake fight a professional boxer, which he arranges for the following day at the 8th Street Gymnasium. Jake leaves the meeting and evades O'Malley a second time. Carlos intercepts the policeman and takes him to see Lonnegan, who pays O'Malley to leave Jake alone until the sting is completed. After learning of Jake's dilemma, Fargo devises a plan to evacuate the gym, staff it with his own people, and drug Jake's competitor. When Jake wins, Macalinski agrees to protect him, and places a $400,000 bet with Tuxedo. Jake returns to Golding's and has a romantic interlude with Veronica. Confident of a victory by Torres, Lonnegan bets $1 million with a bookmaker named King Rafferty. Lonnegan directs O'Malley to the Chinese laundry, where he is expected to kill Jake and Fargo if Macalinski fails. The banker also introduces O'Malley to his informant, Samantha Scanlon, alias Veronica Crinklaw. On the night of the boxing match, Fargo instructs Jake to feign defeat in the sixth round, although Jake doubts he will last that long. While the fight is underway, Lonnegan informs Macalinski that Torres is the predetermined winner. On their boss's instructions, Macalinski's thugs reassign the bet to Torres and bring Tuxedo to the stadium at gunpoint. Believing their friend's life is in danger, Fargo instructs Jake to knock out Torres in the sixth round. Jake wins, despite his self-doubt, and is equally puzzled by Veronica's sudden absence. Fearing revenge from Macalinski, Lonnegan and Carlos run from the stadium, only to be ambushed in their car. O'Malley leads a police raid on the Chinese laundry and is greeted by a messenger, who delivers a bouquet of flowers and a derisive message from Fargo. On their way to the train station, Fargo explains that he hired Veronica to infiltrate Lonnegan's gang several months earlier. King Rafferty and Torres are also members of the organization. Fargo and his team board a westbound train, but Jake waits on the platform, hoping for Veronica's arrival. Moments after leaving the station, the train stops and Veronica disembarks. She tells Jake that she will be taking care of him from now on, as instructed by her father, Fargo.

As is the case with the two preceding 'Smokey and the Bandit' films, Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 begins with Big Enos (Pat McCormick) and Little Enos (Paul Williams) offering a sizeable wager on one's ability to transport a shipment a large distance in a short period of time. Offering a slight twist, however, the offer is this time made to a retiring Sheriff Buford T. Justice (Jackie Gleason), betting $250,000 against his badge on his ability to transport a large stuffed fish from an eatery in Florida to Texas. Unlike the two earlier films, Big and Little Enos this time seem to be quite active in their desire to see Buford fail in his goal. After Buford dodges their many traps (especially after he destroyed their milk truck, which drenched them and disabled their engine), they then go so far as to actually attempt to hire the Bandit (as a distraction) to stop him. Deciding that the Bandit is too egotistical and hard to manage, they hire Cledus "Snowman" Snow (Jerry Reed) as his replacement. Accepting the offer, Cledus parks his Peterbilt 359 and climbs behind the wheel of a black and gold 1983 Pontiac Trans Am. He later picks up Dusty (Colleen Camp), who quits her job as a "bookkeeper" for a used car dealership, but not before attempting to wreck her boss' business (a seedy used car dealership) by badmouthing him in the middle of broadcasting a live TV commercial. The scene of Cledus picking up Dusty in the middle of the road is almost an exact repeat of how Bo picked up Frog in the 1977 film. Cledus manages to catch up with Buford on an interstate, where he then lassoes Buford's fish off of the Justices' police cruiser; Buford needs the fish to retrieve his $250,000. Buford then begins a hot pursuit of Cledus, with another local officer who attempts to take charge of the situation. Not long after the local officer is disabled, Buford becomes disabled as well when sand is dumped on his squad car. The pursuit quickly resumes as Buford catches up to the duo after Cledus and Dusty stop at a redneck bar to pick up some food. The chase resumes as they enter a local town, where mass chaos comes with their entry. Cledus escapes when an 18 wheeler blocks the alleyway where Cletus run through. While trying to get the truck out, Buford's car is hitched to a tow-truck. After unsuccessfully pleading with the traffic officer to release his car, he sends his son Junior (Mike Henry) out to unhook it. Unable to wait, he angrily reverses the car and escapes. The tow truck operator chases him in pursuit, with Junior dangling on the hook, spinning freely. Eventually, Buford manages to make the truck flip over, sending the truck and Junior flying. A number of cars continue to crash into the pile-up. The next scene comes sudden as the Bandit and Justice are in the Mississippi fairgrounds. Buford continues to pursue on two wheels after driving on an incline with Cledus letting the fame get to his head. Cledus and Dusty decide to stop at a hotel for the night, which contains people who are involved in "sexual" acts, several of which are quite deviant. Buford finds the Bandit's Trans Am and decides to make a search of the building to find the fish, which he eventually does. While searching in the steamroom, Buford handcuffs himself to a muscular nymphomaniac female who will not take no for an answer. The next final scenes show Buford getting his tires blown by the "Enos Devil Darts." Cledus quickly arrives and retakes the fish. Cledus and Justice then start a final pursuit with Buford on two tires, first through a bunch of cattle, then to boats, then finally through a field where the Enoses set off a series of explosives, one of which destroys all of the bodywork, leaving the engine, seats, and police light bar (being held by Junior above his head). Cledus decides to surrender the fish to let Buford win. Just after cashing in on the $250,000, Buford finds Cledus and begins to apprehend him, but Buford then imagines Cledus to be the "Real" Bandit (in a cameo appearance by Burt Reynolds) who sweet talks him to letting him go and starting a new pursuit. Similar to the ending of the 1977 movie, Buford is again chasing the Bandit in the hulk of his police cruiser (the muscular female has taken Junior's place riding shotgun this time), while Junior chases after "Daddy" for miles on end, dropping the reward money as he goes.

Jack Brown (Richard Pryor) is an unemployed newspaper reporter living in Baton Rouge, Louisiana who is in danger of losing his house to the bank since he and his wife, Angela (Annazette Chase), cannot make their mortgage. After numerous unsuccessful attempts to get a job working for the local paper, The Bugle, he becomes so desperate that he ends up taking a job as a "cleaning lady" for U.S. Bates (Jackie Gleason), an uptight and ruthless businessman who owns the paper and many other businesses in Louisiana. Jack is humiliated as he clumsily attempts to serve food at a luncheon. He is fired, but quickly lands a part-time job as a janitor in a department store owned by Bates. The following evening, "Master" Eric Bates (Scott Schwartz), the 10-year-old, spoiled-and-rotten, brat son of the boss, arrives home from the military academy where he attends and his father sends him to the store and he is told that he "can have anything he wants in the store". Amused at seeing Jack goof around in the store's toy section, Eric informs his father's long-suffering right-hand man, Sydney Morehouse (Ned Beatty), that what he wants is Jack Brown himself. Morehouse fails to convince Eric that human beings cannot be owned. Jack is literally "boxed up" and taken to the large Bates mansion that sits on the outskirts of the city. At first, Jack refuses to have any interaction with the brat Eric, but Bates offers him a deal: in exchange for a generous financial settlement, Jack reluctantly agrees to be Eric's live-in friend during Eric's one-week spring break from military school. Emotionally estranged from his father, Eric takes a liking to Jack but still manages to humiliate him with numerous pranks during the first day and night. After a particularly humiliating incident in the mansion incited by Bates' ditsy and floozy, much younger trophy wife Fancy (Teresa Ganzel), who literally introduces him at a dinner party as Eric's new "toy," Jack grows tired of the situation and leaves. The next day, Jack agrees to return only when U.S. Bates (with Morehouse as his proxy) offers Jack so much money to be Eric's live-in friend for one week, that Jack will not only pay back the bank and numerous bill collectors, but Jack will be able to pay back the entire mortgage on his house as well. Jack returns to the Bates estate, determined to teach Eric how a friend is supposed to be treated. Over the next several days, they slowly bond while participating in mini-cart racing, video games, and even fishing in a stream filled with piranha. Both Jack and Eric begin to open up to one another with stories about their personal lives. Jack tells Eric about him growing up poor and having to look out for oneself. Eric tells Jack about his mother's death when he was very young which his grumpy father tries to forget about by putting all his time in work and leaving no time for anything else while marrying again and again. Over time, Jack sees that Eric isn't the "bad seed" that he puts out to people, but just a mistreated and neglected boy who wants attention and whom is spoiled by his father. Used to getting things his way since all his father ever does is give him gifts and money (calling it love and affection) Eric throws fits when things do not go his way. Eric is so spoiled and hyper-competitive that he enjoys beating Jack at video games, mini-cart racing and board games a little too much. One day, when Jack begins winning at a two-person basketball game, Eric, seeing that he is losing, refuses to play anymore and walks off the court. When Jack scolds Eric for quitting because he is losing asks if he would like to tell Eric's father that he is a quitter as well as a sore loser. Eric replies with the most touching and dramatic line in the movie: "my father doesn't care what I am... as long as I stay out of his way." Another day later, Jack and Eric decide to start a newspaper of their own for fun. After witnessing multiple examples of Bates' cruelty to his housekeeping staff and workers, they dig up dirt on him, such as a story of how he won his elderly and long-suffering butler, Barkley (Wilfrid Hyde-White), in a game of billiards. Jack and Eric then break into Bates newspaper office after-hours as well as the factory to print their paper, but get discovered by the police. At a police station, Eric manages to create a diversion by setting off some firecrackers creating confusion and panic in which Jack and Eric quietly walk out of their jail cell, and out of the front door. Afterwards, Jack and Eric publish their paper, titled 'The Toy' and distribute free copies of it throughout the city. Morehouse finds a copy and, being the ever loyal toady that he is, shows it to Bates and he is outraged. Bates quickly calls Jack and Eric to his office to confront them both, but he keeps his anger in check. Bates orders Jack and Eric to shut down their paper which he sees as humiliating to him and the Bates dynasty. However, Eric is unapologetic and wants to continue the paper. To prove to his son that money can buy anything (including loyalty), Bates offers Jack a reporting job with his newspaper at the end of the week... which is what Jack wanted all along. When Jack accepts, Eric becomes upset and runs out of the office. Outside, Eric scolds Jack for selling out as all of the people that Bates does business with. Jack tells the boy that most men (especially disenfranchised African-American men such as himself) need jobs, just as his priority is to support himself and his wife. At the climax, an swanky outdoor party is held at the Bates estate, attended by prominent citizens who are supporters of a senator (Ray Spruell). They are unaware that members of the KKK are also in attendance. Jack's wife, Angela, tries to bring attention to this with her anti-Klan group that are camped on the Bates mansion in a protest demonstration, but Jack convinces her to leave. He learns the true reason for the party is to get the KKK Grand Wizard (Orwin Harvey) and Senator Newcomb together in a picture, which Bates would then use to blackmail the senator. Senator Newcomb's daughter Honey Russell (Linda McCann) is also in attendance at the party and is accompanied by her husband (Stocker Fontelieu) who is a local district attorney investing Bates for shady business deals and corruption, in which Bates is also hoping to get D.A. Russell a photo op with the Grand Wizard to blackmail him too to stop his investigation of his business activities. Jack and Eric team up one last time to disrupt the party and they crash the events on their mini go-carts where Jack announces to everyone about the Grand Wizard's identity. Jack embarrasses the Grand Wizard by causing him to fall into a bowl of chocolate fudge. The Grand Wizard throws a pie at Jack, but hits a policeman instead, leading to his arrest. Chaos ensues which leads to Jack and Eric driving their mini-carts around the party, knocking down tents, ruining displays, and people jumping out of the path of Jack and Eric's mini-carts into various desert trays which leads to a huge pie-throwing fight among the guests. Bates chases after Jack in a golf cart but ends up crashing into the pool. Jack saves him from drowning since Bates cannot swim, and it seems all is forgiven. That evening with the week up, Jack packs up and returns to his neighborhood to his wife, riding away on a bicycle while Eric sadly waves goodbye. The next day, while riding with Eric in a limousine to the airport to return to military school, Bates tries desperately to have a heart-to-heart talk with his son, but he is not very good at it. All Eric talks about is Jack and that he misses him. Bates tells Eric to forget about Jack. While on the runway to board Bates' private jet, Eric runs off, making his way to Jack's house. Jack refuses to let Eric live with him and gently admonishes Eric to give his father a chance. Bates shows up and offers the newspaper job to Jack again and promises Eric that next year for spring break he can spend one week with him and one with Jack, much to Eric's joy. After they leave, the senator's daughter, Honey Russell, shows up in another limo informing Jack that Fancy has recommended him to look after her son, Eugene, for a few weeks who is home from his own military academy on spring break. Eugene (Davis Hotard) peeks out from the top window and shoots Jack in the forehead with a toy dart... revealing that he is MORE spoiled and obnoxious then Eric. A crazed Jack runs away down the road in fear over this 'here-we-go-again' situation as the end credits roll.

Big Enos Burdett (Pat McCormick) is attempting to be elected as Governor of Texas against other candidate, John Coen (David Huddleson). After a figurative and literal "mudslinging" between the two, they are both confronted by the outgoing governor, and given a thorough tongue lashing. As Burdett is leaving the office he overhears the governor yelling at an assistant to take responsibility of transporting a crate of unknown content from Miami to the Republican Party convention in Dallas. Burdett then schemes to pick up the crate and deliver it to the convention. He enlists the help of Bandit (Burt Reynolds) and Cledus (Jerry Reed) to carry out the task. The early parts of the film feature Cledus attempting to convince the Bandit to "do it one last time." Unfortunately, in the time since their previous challenge in the original 'Smokey and the Bandit' film, the Bandit has split from his love-interest "Frog" (Sally Field) and become an alcoholic. The Bandit is said to be "the only man in the world to drink up a Trans Am,". Cledus seeks the help of Frog to encourage the Bandit to sober up and regain his fitness, since Big Enos has raised the stakes of the game to $400,000. Frog abandons her second attempt at wedding Buford T. Justice's son Junior (Mike Henry) to help. She is initially persuaded more by the money than her love for Bandit. She buys him a 1980 Turbo Trans Am "Son of Trigger"... powered by the Turbo 301, by trading in Junior's car. The middle sections of the film feature a madcap race across the United States as the trio once again tries to outrun and outwit Sheriff Justice (Jackie Gleason) and Junior. The team discovers that their cargo is in quarantine for three weeks, and they need to get it to Dallas in three days. When they break into the quarantine area to steal the crate, the mysterious cargo turns out to be an elephant (the mascot of the Republican Party) who they named Charlotte after Snowman remarked that she reminded him of his Aunt Charlotte and even smelled like her, too. When Cledus opens the crate containing the elephant, Charlotte races out, nearly trampling Frog. The Bandit saves the day by doing a backflip onto the elephant's back and riding the elephant out of the quarantine shed. Noticing a splinter was stuck in her foot, the Bandit removes it, and the elephant takes a shine to Bandit. On their way to Dallas, Cledus fears Charlotte is in poor health. They find an Italian doctor, played by Dom DeLuise, in the back of an ambulance stopped at the same gas station as they are. When the doctor, a gynecologist by trade, finds out it is an elephant he has to look at, he freaks out and nearly runs away. As the doctor attempts to refuse helping them, he sees his driver speed away in the ambulance, leaving him stranded. After the Bandit and Cledus bribe him with large amounts of money he gives in and agrees to ride in the truck with the elephant and examine her. Charlotte is later discovered to be pregnant, and eventually gives birth later in the film. As they try to make the Burdett's deadline, the doctor pleads with the Bandit for some time off the road so Charlotte can rest off of her feet. He reluctantly gives in twice, the first time wrapped up by Charlotte, the second time agrees on his own, Frog citing Bandit's desire to regain his lost fame of the past. She grows closer to him as she did in the past film. While at a restaurant, she sees him scribbling on a napkin a picture of Charlotte cradled by suspended netting in order to keep her off of her feet. She becomes furious and leaves. The Bandit follows and she says he does not care about the elephant and when he likes himself again would she then consider seeing him again. He later makes his drawing a reality, in a near drunken stupor. The doctor agrees the idea will work and agrees to press on. Unable to stop the Bandit and Cledus, Justice enlists the help of his two brothers, Reginald Van Justice from Canada, and Gaylord Justice (both also played by Jackie Gleason), from another part of Texas. Justice lures the Bandit into a valley, with a line of Mounties on one hill side, Texas Rangers on the other. Bandit orders Cledus to continue delivering Charlotte to Dallas. Cledus later returns, with a convoy of trucks to help destroy all of the police cars. Charlotte and the doctor watch the action from afar. After the mass destruction of police cars, only Buford, Gaylord, and Reginald come out relatively unscathed. Bandit and Cledus escape the valley by driving across a bridge of tractor trailers. As the Justice's follow, a trailer pulls out resulting in their cars falling down and being destroyed. However, Buford's car is still operable, though folded up in the middle and missing its doors and roof. Justice and Junior are cut off by a farm tractor, and they drive off the road, hitting an embankment by a pond, throwing Junior into the pond. When asked what he was thinking about, Buford simply says, "Retiring." The movie closes with Bandit informing Frog he liked himself again, that he didn't want to spend the rest of his life without her. When she asks about Burdett's bet, he informs her he blew it, and said they could still get there nonetheless, late though. He shows her Charlotte and her baby in circus-like chariots. Frog is overjoyed. Bandit asks Charlotte if it is OK to marry Frog, to which Charlotte responds loudly. They drive away with Charlotte and her baby in tow... and Buford still pursuing them in a bus.

Jack changes neighbors' house colors, buys shops, and a circus to please family. When his daughter Amberlyn time-travels to 1900s Texarkana during her father's mayoral campaign, Jack follows with the circus. If Jack Griffith's wife doesn't like the color of a neighbor's house, he'll arrange for it to be a house of a different color. If the owner of the ice cream parlor doesn't believe in selling triple banana splits for a penny, Jack will buy the establishment. And if Jack's little girl wants the pony in the circus parade, why not buy the entire circus! This last prank sends Amberlyn Griffith back to Texarkana c. 1900, where her father is running for his third term as mayor. Jack follows, bringing the entire circus. —Dale O'Connor <daleoc@interaccess.com>

MOUNTAIN RIVERA, a prizefighter, has come to the end of his days. Never capturing the heavyweight title he dreamed of, he loses to young upstart, CASSIUS CLAY. After the fight, a DOCTOR tells Mountain's manager, MAISH RENNICK, that any further fights will lead to a detached retina and blindness. Montana is through. The news comes as a shock to Maish and to Mountain's trainer, ARMY, who adores the big fighter. The three men have always been a kind of team, drinking together, playing cards, getting by in the fight world. Maish and Army break the news to Mountain. But Maish is in a bind. Maish has dropped a huge bundle of cash in the fight and he owes big to MA GREENY, a vicious female gangster with a group of THUGS at her side. Maish had better pay up or else. Mountain must now look for work in order to support himself, but he lacks skills. Further, the years of fights have left him disfigured and addled. Army takes him around applying jobs. A movie usher job doesn't pan out because he's too big for the uniforms. Thus, they head for the unemployment office, where sensitive counselor GRACE MILLER feels empathy for the big, lumbering but sweet old fighter. She suggests that he apply for a job counseling boys at a summer camp, arranging an evening interview. In the meantime, Maish feels the heat concerning his debt to Ma Greeny. As a way out, he talks to sleazy wrestling promoter, PERELLI, who thinks Rivera would be great for exhibition wrestling. It's all fake, requiring little physical abuse, but it does require a huge loss of dignity. Perelli wants to create a "character" for Rivera - dressing him up like a stereotypical Indian. Rivera feels emboldened by his interview with Mrs. Miller. He believes he could be a camp counselor. Army's happy for him. When Maish brings up the wrestling idea, however, Rivera feels slighted. He worships Maish, feeling that he owes him a lot, but he doesn't want to be treated like a "stumblebum." Army also objects. Maish agrees to forget about the wrestling idea, sending Army out for sandwiches. While he's gone, Maish takes Rivera out drinking, getting him drunk so as to sabotage his evening appointment with Mr. Reardon, who's hiring for the camp. Army's angry with Maish when he finds him in the bar. Realizing he's late for the appointment, Rivera stumbles out of the bar. He reaches the ritzy hotel where Reardon is staying, but Rivera's so drunk he can barely walk. He goes up to Reardon's floor, but can't remember the room number. He shambles about, knocking on doors, calling out Reardon's name, finally knocking over a room service cart. Miss Miller comes out of Reardon's door, shocked and saddened by what she sees. Humiliated, Rivera runs out of the hotel. But Miss Miller comes to the ramshackle room where Rivera stays. She tries to get him to believe in himself, but Rivera knows he's only fooling himself. The two briefly become intimate with a kiss, but when Rivera begins to make love, she pulls away. Rivera thinks she should leave, and she does after each says a gentle farewell. She runs into Maish on the way down, confronting him for double-crossing Rivera and getting him drunk. Maish responds with a blast of cynicism. The first wrestling match goes on as planned. They dress Rivera up in his costume. But the big fighter still clings to what's left of his dignity, refusing to go on. Ma Greeny walks in with her THUGS. When it's clear to Rivera that they're going to kill Maish if Rivera walks, the big fighter agrees to go on. Maish thanks him, but it's clear that his association with Rivera and Army, also in attendance, has forever been corrupted. Outside, Maish runs into a YOUNG FIGHTER hopeful, but Maish blows up at him, his cynicism now at a boiling point. He tells the kid to go home and forget about it, as there are only eight champs in the world, the rest ending up lost and ruined, as Rivera. As a saddened Army watches, Rivera dons his humiliating outfit, then faces the crude, bloodthirsty CROWD

An up-and-coming pool player plays a long-time champion in a single high-stakes match. "Fast" Eddie Felson is a small-time pool hustler with a lot of talent but a self-destructive attitude. His bravado causes him to challenge the legendary "Minnesota Fats" to a high-stakes match, but he loses in a heartbreaking marathon. Now broke and without his long-time manager, Felson faces an uphill battle to regain his confidence and his game. It isn't until he hits rock bottom that he agrees to join up with ruthless and cutthroat manager Bert Gordon. Gordon agrees to take him on the road to learn the ropes. But Felson soon realizes that making it to the top could cost him his soul, and perhaps his girlfriend. Will he decide that this is too steep a price to pay in time to save himself? —<jgp3553@yahoo.com> With his friend Charlie Burns, "Fast" Eddie Felson has long earned whatever money he has as a pool shark, he and Charlie traveling the country hustling new unsuspecting targets at each stop. Against Charlie's wishes, Eddie wants to give up his anonymity to prove that he is the best by taking on the best, namely Minnesota Fats whose home pool hall is the Ames in New York City. Eddie knows he's talented, but gambler Bert Gordon, who Eddie meets at the Ames and who can also see that Eddie is talented, believes that Eddie needs more than talent to beat Fats. Bert wants to take Eddie under his wing to finance Eddie's challenge, not only against Fats, but against all comers, in turn showing Eddie the character that he is inherently missing to be the best. The price?: a seventy-five percent cut. As Eddie decides what to do with regard to Bert's proposal, Eddie begins a relationship with Sarah Packard, a woman who has as self-destructive tendencies as Eddie, she who is not averse to imbibing first thing in the morning. Being involved with Bert and Sarah may be incompatible in Eddie's current life, especially as Bert and Sarah see different things that Eddie needs for fulfillment, which do not include the other person. —Huggo Pool-hall America: a merciless macho world where success demands absolute ruthlessness and coming second means a personal hell of inadequacy and doubt. Fast Eddy is the young hopeful on the way to challenging past master of the green baize Minnesota Fats for his world title. —J.Arnold Free <arnold@mayahtt.ca> Eddie Felson is arrogance personified. He is an expert pool player and spends his time along with partner Charlie Burns hustling a few dollars from unsuspecting dopes. He decides that the time has come to play in the big leagues and challenges renowned pool player Minnesota Fats. In a forty-hour marathon, Felson hits both highs and lows: part way through the match he's up $18,000 but doesn't know when to quit. He drinks too much and loses everything, including his confidence in his game. Slowly, he regroups and with the help of his girlfriend, Sarah Packard, builds up his self-esteem. Ignoring Sarah's advice however, his driving ambition once again takes over leading to tragedy in his personal life and a re-match with Minnesota Fats. —garykmcd