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For the trope about {{Professional Gambler}}s who play others for money, [[{{Hustler}} click here.]] Not to be confused with ''Film/{{Hustlers}}'' from 2019, or the 2021 game show ''The Hustler''.
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For the trope about {{Professional Gambler}}s who play others for money, [[{{Hustler}} click here.]] Not to be confused with ''Film/{{Hustlers}}'' from 2019, or the 2021 game show ''The Hustler''.
Hustler''. ''Definitely'' not to be confused with ''[[{{Filth}} Hustler]]'' [[{{Filth}} Magazine]].
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* OhCrap: Eddie's non-verbal reaction to seeing that the game he'll be playing in Kentucky is not pool but three-cushion billiards, which requires a totally different approach.
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* GlassesPull: Bert is the kind of guy who wears sunglasses in a pool hall indoors, but he pulls them off when he sees Eddie walk in for what turns out to be the climactic rematch with Minnesota Fats.
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* TheTeaser: This was an early example of a Hollywood movie with a pre-credits sequence, a rarity at the time.
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* TheTeaser: This was an early example of a Hollywood movie with a pre-credits sequence, a rarity at the time.[[note]]An even earlier example is the 1939 film adaptation of ''Literature/OfMiceAndMen''.[[/note]]
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* DeathByAdaptation: [[spoiler:Sarah, who doesn't even go to Kentucky with Eddie and Bert, nor does she sleep with Bert in the novel - she and Eddie just break it off. In the movie, she kills herself - see DrivenToSuicide below]].
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The movie was nominated for nine UsefulNotes/AcademyAward nominations, but [[AwardSnub only won two]] (Art Direction and Cinematography). Newman played "Fast Eddie" Felson again in the 1986 sequel, ''Film/TheColorOfMoney'', and [[ConsolationAward won an Oscar as Best Actor]], making him one of six actors who have been nominated for an Oscar twice for playing the same character.[[note]]The other five being Creator/PeterOToole, Creator/AlPacino, Creator/BingCrosby, Creator/CateBlanchett and Creator/SylvesterStallone.[[/note]] In 2008, it was ranked #6 on the American Film Institute's list of the 10 Greatest Sports Films of all time.
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The movie was nominated for nine UsefulNotes/AcademyAward nominations, but [[AwardSnub only won two]] (Art Direction and Cinematography). Newman played "Fast Eddie" Felson again in the 1986 sequel, ''Film/TheColorOfMoney'', and [[ConsolationAward won an Oscar as Best Actor]], making him one of six actors who have been nominated for an Oscar UsefulNotes/AcademyAward twice for playing the same character.[[note]]The other five being Creator/PeterOToole, Creator/AlPacino, Creator/BingCrosby, Creator/CateBlanchett and Creator/SylvesterStallone.[[/note]] In 2008, it was ranked #6 on the American Film Institute's list of the 10 Greatest Sports Films of all time.
* LactoseOverLiquor: Even though he frequents bars and pool halls, Bert's beverage of choice is milk.
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* TheTeetotaler: Even though he frequents bars and pool halls, Bert's beverage of choice is milk.
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[[redirect:Film/TheHustler]]
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->'''Bert:''' I don't think there's a pool player alive shoots better pool than I saw you shoot the other night at Ames [against Minnesota Fats]. You got talent.\\
'''Eddie:''' So I got talent. So what beat me?\\
'''Bert:''' Character.
''The Hustler'' is a 1961 drama film directed by Robert Rossen, [[TheFilmOfTheBook adapted from]] the 1959 novel of the same name by Walter Tevis. It stars Creator/PaulNewman, Creator/JackieGleason, Creator/PiperLaurie, and Creator/GeorgeCScott.
"Fast Eddie" Felson (Newman) is a talented but overconfident and undisciplined pool hustler who tries to prove himself by challenging legendary pool player "Minnesota Fats" (Gleason). After Felson loses to Fats, he takes up with the heavy drinking Sarah Packard (Laurie) and starts a relationship with unscrupulous manager Bert Gordon (Scott) that ultimately proves costly both professionally and personally.
The movie was nominated for nine UsefulNotes/AcademyAward nominations, but [[AwardSnub only won two]] (Art Direction and Cinematography). Newman played "Fast Eddie" Felson again in the 1986 sequel, ''Film/TheColorOfMoney'', and [[ConsolationAward won an Oscar as Best Actor]], making him one of six actors who have been nominated for an Oscar twice for playing the same character.[[note]]The other five being Creator/PeterOToole, Creator/AlPacino, Creator/BingCrosby, Creator/CateBlanchett and Creator/SylvesterStallone.[[/note]] In 2008, it was ranked #6 on the American Film Institute's list of the 10 Greatest Sports Films of all time.
For the trope about {{Professional Gambler}}s who play others for money, [[{{Hustler}} click here.]] Not to be confused with ''Film/{{Hustlers}}'' from 2019, or the 2021 game show ''The Hustler''.
----
!!''The Hustler'' provides examples of:
* TheAce: Minnesota Fats is unquestioningly recognized by everyone as the best pool player ever.
* TheAlcoholic: Sarah drinks almost constantly to dull the pain of being a BrokenBird.
* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: As good as Fast Eddie may be at pool, he will not be satisfied until he has beaten the one player he sees as his possible superior, Minnesota Fats. Minnesota Fats was even the TropeNamer at one point.
* BadassBoast: This little gem after [[spoiler: Eddie beats Fats, and Bert demands what he believes is his share.]]
--> '''Fast Eddie:''' Boy, you better, you tell your boys they better kill me, Bert. They better go all the way with me, 'cause if they just bust me up, I'll put all those pieces back together again, then so help me... So help me God, Bert, I'm gonna come back here and I'm gonna kill you.
* BadGuysPlayPool: Kinda the point.
* BigBad: Bert Gordon.
* BrokenBird: Sarah. She even walks with a slight limp, due to [[spoiler:her childhood bout of polio]].
* ByronicHero: "Fast Eddie" Felson is a milder example. He's obsessed with beating "Minnesota Fats" and proving himself the best pool player, despite the destructive effect it has on his life.
* CallingYourShots: Eddie and Fats are playing 14.1 straight pool and call their shots, as the rules require.
* TheCameo: Jake La Motta, at the point where he'd destroyed his boxing career and personal life and turned to being a nightclub entertainer, plays a bartender.
* CreatorCameo: Willie Mosconi, 15-time winner of the World Straight Pool Championship, was the film's technical advisor. He trained Paul Newman on pool techniques, and has a cameo during the first match as the bystander who holds the stake money.
-->'''Fats:''' Willie, hang on to that.
* CripplingTheCompetition: 'Fast Eddie' Felson has his thumbs broken by a pool shark who doesn't like being hustled.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Both Eddie and Sarah have this; she even lampshades it when they first meet.
-->'''Sarah:''' Eddie, look, I've got troubles... and I think maybe you've got troubles. Maybe it'd be better if we just leave each other alone.
* DeadpanSnarker: Bert
* DesperatelyCravesAffection: Sarah, whose desperation is only held in check by her constant drinking. It becomes more obvious when she starts falling in love with Eddie.
-->'''Sarah:''' I love you.\\
'''Eddie:''' You need the words?\\
'''Sarah:''' Yes, I need them very much. If you ever say them I'll never let you take them back.
* DisappearedDad: Sarah, whose father left her when she was seven. Her only contact with him are the monthly checks he sends her.
* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Eddie eventually beats Minnesota Fats, but only because he drove Sarah to suicide with his obsessive drive to play pool, and he realizes at the end that it's a meaningless victory.]]
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler: Sarah, after she's been rejected by Eddie and slept with Bert.]]
* DrowningMySorrows: This is Sarah's favorite pastime when she first meets Eddie.
* DysfunctionJunction: Eddie and Sarah bond with each other over their various dysfunctional pasts.
* GracefulLoser: Minnesota Fats graciously accepts his defeat, if only because Eddie was going off the rails and decided that Bert Gordon was the real enemy. Eddie comes off as a good winner to him at the end, too.
* GrayRainOfDepression: Eddie takes Sarah out to dinner, then tells her that he will be leaving town for a little while. Fearing that he's dumping her, Sarah bolts out of the restaurant and into a downpour.
* HisOwnWorstEnemy: Eddie, full stop. It's illustrated in his first game against Minnesota Fats; despite being ahead $18,000, Eddie still insists on playing -- whereupon Fats utterly ''demolishes'' the drunken, sleep-deprived Eddie, winning everything back, and then completely cleans out Eddie and Charlie.
* HopeIsScary: Sarah Packard has been scorned and rejected so many times that she holds herself back when she starts falling for Eddie.
* {{Hustler}}: Eddie, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin of course.]]
* HustlingTheMark: Being a pool shark, Eddie frequently does this.
* InNameOnly: The film is a reasonably close adaptation of the book of that name. They each have a sequel called ''Film/TheColorOfMoney'', but the film and the novel have almost nothing in common.
* AnInsert: Willie Mosconi served as technical advisor and performed some of the trick shots, though not for Creator/JackieGleason who made all his own shots.
* LargeHam: George C. Scott, previewing [[Film/DrStrangelove a future role.]]
--> "You owe me ''MONEY!''"
* LikeASonToMe: Charlie sees Eddie as this, having managed him since he was sixteen.
* ManipulativeBastard: Bert Gordon, a dangerously subtle version. ''Everything'' he says and does is used to manipulate and control others -- there are no innocuous comments anywhere. Worse, even after the other characters ''know'' not to trust him, he's still able to goad them to his ends and ultimately [[spoiler: drive Sarah to commit suicide]].
* MonochromeCasting: Nearly everyone in the movie is Caucasian -- the few exceptions are a mute black man at Ames' pool hall who sweeps the floor, and a black gambler and his family at the races.
* MythologyGag: While at the Kentucky Derby, the race announcer lists some of the horses racing. One of them is named "Stroke of Luck", a proposed alternate title for the film.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Inverted -- RealLife pool player Rudolf "New York Fats" Wanderone claims that Minnesota Fats is based on him. After the film was released, he adopted the nickname for himself and became better known by it than the movie character.
* NoMoreHoldingBackSpeech: It's clear from the beginning that although Fast Eddie is a talented pool player, his attitude is holding him back. It's no surprise that he eventually gets his speech. Now, how he gets it, on the other hand...
* PreAsskickingOneLiner: After more than 24 hours of straight pool playing against Minnesota Fats, Eddie is exhausted and rather drunk. Then Fats, well-groomed and smiling, says, "Eddie, let's play pool." Fats proceeds to utterly destroy him at the table.
* PrecisionFStrike: This was one of the first mainstream films to use the word "bastard" (Sarah calls Burt one).
* ProfessionalGambler: While Eddie is one to a degree, he's dwarfed by Bert, whose entire lifestyle is built around his gambling wins.
* ProneToTears: Sarah has been rejected and scorned so many times that she needs to drown her sorrows to get through the day. Needless to say, she's prone to this trope whether drunk or sober.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Eddie gives one to Bert at the end:
--> I loved her, Bert. I traded her in on a pool game. But that wouldn't mean anything to you. Because who did you ever care about? Just win, win, you said, win, that's the important thing. You don't know what winnin' is, Bert. You're a loser. 'Cause you're dead inside, and you can't live unless you make everything else dead around ya.
* SecondPlaceIsForLosers[=/=]ToBeAMaster: This is Eddie's primary motivation throughout the film -- it's not enough that he's already a great pool player, he ''must'' defeat Minnesota Fats and have Fats acknowledge him as the best.
-->'''Eddie:''' You can't see it, can you, Charlie? I mean, you've never been able to see it. I came after ''him.'' And I'm gonna get him. I'm goin' with him all the way. The pool game is not over until Minnesota Fats says it's over.
* SellOut: What Eddie does when he agrees to let Bert manage him.
* SharpDressedMan: Minnesota Fats shoots pool wearing a nicely fitted three-piece suit and a big carnation in his lapel. During his first marathon match with Eddie, he actually pauses to shave.
* TheSocialExpert: This is Bert Gordon's most important skill as a ManipulativeBastard; he can quickly size up someone and identify their innermost weaknesses. He's so good that even after losing a fortune to Eddie in a marathon session of pool, Minnesota Fats cheerfully agrees to keep playing just because Bert identified Eddie as a "loser" -- and then proceeds to win it all back.
* SolemnEndingTheme: Most of the movie is devoid of any sort of music or background theme, but the end credits are accompanied by a mournful jazz piece.
* SuddenlyShouting: Bert is calm, collected individual, right up until the final game.
-->You owe me '''MONEY'''.
* TheTeaser: This was an early example of a Hollywood movie with a pre-credits sequence, a rarity at the time.
* TechnicianVsPerformer: Refined, calm Minnesota Fats compared to arrogant, spontaneous Eddie Felson.
* TheTeetotaler: Even though he frequents bars and pool halls, Bert's beverage of choice is milk.
* TragicDream: Eddie wants to beat Minnesota Fats and be recognized as the best pool player ever. [[spoiler:He eventually succeeds, but derives no pleasure from it.]]
* TragicHero: Eddie. His FatalFlaw is his [[AmbitionIsEvil ambition]] to beat Minnesota Fats, which blinds him to everything else.
* TheUnfettered: According to Bert, this is what Minnesota Fats becomes when he plays, which allows him to be a top-tier pool player. Eddie eventually learns the same skill [[spoiler:after Sarah's death.]]
* ViolenceDiscretionShot: Eddie is dragged into the restroom before his thumbs are broken. However, you still hear his pained screams and see his face pressed against a window.
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->'''Eddie:''' Fat man, you shoot a great game of pool.
