Rating: 
Summary: Dynamite movie. Perfect snapshot of the '50s.
Review: ... This was Bogart's last performance, all right, & it was just about his best. He hit the target of the character of the burned-out over-boozed sports writer dead on, right down to the sad but dapper little bow-tie. Rod Steiger & Nehemiah Persoff & Felice Orlandi & Val Avery & Sammy White couldn't have been better. Watch their ensemble playing, especially in the early scenes. Watch Steiger at the hospital when Gus Dundee is dying, screaming righteously at the doctor & gesturing to Avery with a twitching hand motion to remove his hat. You don't see performances, nor direction, like that anywhere these days. Mark Robson is mostly forgotten now, but he apprenticed with Welles & Lewton & it shows & shines through here: in the acting, the lighting, the cinematography & especially the pace. Sure the plot is corny & predictable, but only because it's been recycled by far lesser talents a thousand times. This movie is not about now & it is not about today's attitudes or mores. It stands alongside On the Waterfront & Sweet Smell of Success as 1950s New York tabloid melodramas. And boy is it great!
Rating:
Summary: BRUTAL FOR IT'S ERA
Review: absolutely Bogart's greatest and valedictory performance. Bogart exited this life with his greatest performance. not only was this Bogart's best but this film also boasts a stellar ensemble of actors. this film dares to explore the criminal racketeering that once plagued the sport of professional boxing. the brutal realistic portrayals given by the actors is unsurpassed. from the intimidating performance by Steiger especially to the moral dilemma of Bogart is no less than incredible. an absolute must and imperative for one's film library. almost unbearable final fight to watch.as for the DVD, some artifacts present but overall a good transfer. the audio is stereo and also good.
Rating: 
Summary: Some guys can sell out; others just can't
Review: Bogart does both. Good story, good film. Good performances. Interesting. Well worth seeing. Good dvd.
Rating:
Summary: Bogart's last film...
Review: Harder They Fall is Humphrey Bogart's last performance on the silver screen before he passed away in 1957. He plays the character Eddie Willis, a former sportswriter, who is hired by Nick Benko (Rod Steiger), a shady boxing manager, to promote an incompetent giant boxer by the name Toro. In the process of promoting Toro, Eddie faces several humorous situations where he has to make the wrong moral choice in order to reach his goal of making a lot of money. Eddie's greed causes him to lose friendships, lie, and hurt people; however, he convinces himself that he must do this in order to achieve wealth. The process of learning the value of human life and money is an emotionally painful journey for Eddie, since he becomes burdened with the heavy feelings of guilt. Harder They Fall is an interesting film about greed and betrayal that is set in the boxing world. As the story unfolds the audience is offered high class drama that is carried by a well prepared cast, which offers a first-rate cinematic experience.
Rating:
Summary: Bogart's last film...
Review: Harder They Fall is Humphrey Bogart's last performance on the silver screen before he passed away in 1957. He plays the character Eddie Willis, a former sportswriter, who is hired by Nick Benko (Rod Steiger), a shady boxing manager, to promote an incompetent giant boxer by the name Toro. In the process of promoting Toro, Eddie faces several humorous situations where he has to make the wrong moral choice in order to reach his goal of making a lot of money. Eddie's greed causes him to lose friendships, lie, and hurt people; however, he convinces himself that he must do this in order to achieve wealth. The process of learning the value of human life and money is an emotionally painful journey for Eddie, since he becomes burdened with the heavy feelings of guilt. Harder They Fall is an interesting film about greed and betrayal that is set in the boxing world. As the story unfolds the audience is offered high class drama that is carried by a well prepared cast, which offers a first-rate cinematic experience.
Rating:
Summary: Playing The Game
Review: Humphrey Bogart stars as a former newspaper columnist who partners up with crooked fight manager/promoter Rod Steiger to act as a P.R. man for a South American fighter. "Toro" has impressive size, but little else going for him, and all of his fights have to be fixed for him to win. Bogart's wife Jan Sterling puts pressure on him to get out of the crooked business, and Bogart's own conscience weighs heavily on him. The Harder They Fall is not a glamourous look at the sport of boxing. It's tough and (pardon the pun) pulls no punches as it exposes the racket behind the sport. I was surprised by how tough the approach was, although I found the ending to be a bit of a letdown and not matching the rest of the film. Bogart is appropriately cynical and world weary, while Steiger shines in his performance as the man manipulating all. This film isn't going to leave you with a positive impression of sports promotion, but you will be impressed by its honest, realistic depiction of the game in and out of the ring. It makes you wonder if things have changed at all in the last fifty years.
Rating:
Summary: Playing The Game
Review: Humphrey Bogart stars as a former newspaper columnist who partners up with crooked fight manager/promoter Rod Steiger to act as a P.R. man for a South American fighter. "Toro" has impressive size, but little else going for him, and all of his fights have to be fixed for him to win. Bogart's wife Jan Sterling puts pressure on him to get out of the crooked business, and Bogart's own conscience weighs heavily on him. The Harder They Fall is not a glamourous look at the sport of boxing. It's tough and (pardon the pun) pulls no punches as it exposes the racket behind the sport. I was surprised by how tough the approach was, although I found the ending to be a bit of a letdown and not matching the rest of the film. Bogart is appropriately cynical and world weary, while Steiger shines in his performance as the man manipulating all. This film isn't going to leave you with a positive impression of sports promotion, but you will be impressed by its honest, realistic depiction of the game in and out of the ring. It makes you wonder if things have changed at all in the last fifty years.
Rating: 
Summary: Bogart/Steiger/Persoff
Review: In On The Waterfront writer Budd Schulberg exposed the racketeers in NYC harbor unions. This time around it's the racketeers and crooked managers in boxing, assisted by hiring Champion director Mark Robson for the boxing scenes. Perhaps this was controversial in 1956 but by now corruption is practically derigueur. The fact that the boxer being promoted by Rod Steiger is a "bum" ie a poor athlete and that all his fights are fixed as evidence of sport as showbusiness, is something Humphrey Bogart is aware of when he agrees to act as the boxer's press agent. When Schulberg's self-righteousness climaxes and Bogart thinks he can overcome life threats by the power of the written word, we know we're in a literary fantasy. It also doesn't help Bogart's position that he looks tired and ill, this being his last film. Or that Jan Sterling is cast as his wife when the only thing worth noting about her is how she can look 18 in one shot and 80 in the next. Steiger's method steamroll flattens Bogart's weary cynicism here and he easily steals the film, aided by Nehemiah Persoff as the book-keeper. Steiger actually recalls his Harry Cohn-like studio head from The Big Knife, doubly ironic since this is a Columbia film. And one can read his manipulation of the boxer as the way Cohn manipulated his star, Rita Hayworth, then discarded her. Robson overlights scenes, and pays homage to TV, as if acquiescing to the battle Hollywood waged against it's competitor. Of note is the use of the song "Blue Pacific Blues" from Miss Sadie Thompson in a party scene
Rating:
Summary: A great boxing movie that was also Bogart's last
Review: This is far from one of Bogart's best movies, but it is still well worth watching. In this film, he plays a washed-up sportswriter who has been hired as a PR man for gigantic South American boxer named Toro Morena. The problem is, Morena, despite his immense size, can't box at all. Bogart and Morena's crooked owner, magnificently played by Rod Steiger, manage to take him up the heavyweight ranks by fixing a string of fights. Of all the sports, none have inspired as many excellent films as boxing. In fact, there may be more first-rate boxing films than first rate films from all other sports combined. There are probably a good dozen very, very good fight films, and this belongs to their number. The tension in the film derives from the ultimate conflict between Bogart's inherent decency and Steiger's unmitigated exploitativeness. The two had great onscreen chemistry in their scenes together. They employed very different acting styles, Steiger being one of the first Method actors to enjoy success in the movies. Bogart was strictly old school, but he not only held his own, he dominated their scenes together. A couple of real life boxers played major roles in the film. Jersey Joe Alcott plays Toro Moreno's trainer. Toro Moreno himself was very loosely based on the career of Primo Canera (with the difference that Canera actually could box, the similarities being that he was a remarkably tall heavyweight who killed a man in the ring). Max Baer, former heavyweight champion and the father of Max Baer Jr. (Jethro on THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES), plays heavyweight champion Buddy Brannen. The irony in this is that Baer in real life became heavyweight champion by beating Primo Canera. The in-the-ring shots are among the finest that have ever been filmed in boxing pictures.
Rating:
Summary: A great boxing movie that was also Bogart's last
Review: This is far from one of Bogart's best movies, but it is still well worth watching. In this film, he plays a washed-up sportswriter who has been hired as a PR man for gigantic South American boxer named Toro Morena. The problem is, Morena, despite his immense size, can't box at all. Bogart and Morena's crooked owner, magnificently played by Rod Steiger, manage to take him up the heavyweight ranks by fixing a string of fights. Of all the sports, none have inspired as many excellent films as boxing. In fact, there may be more first-rate boxing films than first rate films from all other sports combined. There are probably a good dozen very, very good fight films, and this belongs to their number. The tension in the film derives from the ultimate conflict between Bogart's inherent decency and Steiger's unmitigated exploitativeness. The two had great onscreen chemistry in their scenes together. They employed very different acting styles, Steiger being one of the first Method actors to enjoy success in the movies. Bogart was strictly old school, but he not only held his own, he dominated their scenes together. A couple of real life boxers played major roles in the film. Jersey Joe Alcott plays Toro Moreno's trainer. Toro Moreno himself was very loosely based on the career of Primo Canera (with the difference that Canera actually could box, the similarities being that he was a remarkably tall heavyweight who killed a man in the ring). Max Baer, former heavyweight champion and the father of Max Baer Jr. (Jethro on THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES), plays heavyweight champion Buddy Brannen. The irony in this is that Baer in real life became heavyweight champion by beating Primo Canera. The in-the-ring shots are among the finest that have ever been filmed in boxing pictures.
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