Rating: 
Summary: Actor's showcase
Review: "Requiem for a Heavyweight" is as much a film about boxing as "Taxi Driver" is about cab driving. Gloves are the departure point for the pummeling Anthony Quinn takes as he is forced into civilian life after close to twenty years of taking brutal jabs to the head. Galumphing across back alleys and the corridor of a posh hotel, he insists that he could've been a contender once, and would triumph if his mob consorting manager (Jackie Gleason) would allow him one more fight. Mickey Rooney, Quinn's trainer, on being told that Quinn might go blind should he take any more blows to the head, puts his foot down, forcing Gleason into a corner with the mob, with his only way out in the spectacle of Quinn wrestling for an oily impresario in the circus-like company of dwarves and costumed behemoths. Rod Serling's screenplay (teleplay?) thankfully skirts sentimentality. The scenes of Quinn's bumbling courtship of social worker Harris ring with an authenticity that is moving; here we have a Kaspar Hauser figure whose adult life has been circumscribed by the ropes of a prizefighting ring, suddenly cast out of his Garden and forced to wander the land. Not only are his social skills not up to par, but his speech has been mangled by having his teeth kicked in so many times. Into his life wanders someone who wants to make a difference, who sees the humanity, who knows that without a compass he may wind up as just another gutter bum. Just watch the scene when Harris comes into the blue collar bar where Quinn is drinking - watch as they share a beer, like two teenagers on a first date, giddy and starry eyed, alone against the universe. That is the sweetest moment in a film whose finale, while humiliating, shows the depths of Quinn's altruism.
Rating:
Summary: A Knockout Cast in a Knockout Story
Review: 'Requiem for a Heavyweight' is not only one of the great forgotten boxing pictures, it's also one of those movies that has almost vanished. Thankfully this DVD release will help keep this great film alive. Anthony Quinn superbly plays Mountain Rivera, a 37 year old fighter who risks losing his eyesight if he continues to fight. His manager (Jackie Gleason), his trainer (Mickey Rooney), and a new-found lady friend (Julie Harris) all have different ideas about Mountain's future. Just what CAN a fighter do after 17 years in the ring? While most of the drama takes place outside the ring, Rod Serling's script delivers tension, conflict and suspense in way you wouldn't expect from a 1962 film. You can almost see the characters thinking about where they are, where they're going, and how Mountain Rivera can and does affect their lives. The brilliance of the film's cast is electrifying. Every actor is in absolutely tip-top form. These performances are a real pleasure to watch. This film contains no weak links. Other reviewers have commented on the several different versions of the film. The film originally aired on television on a show called "Playhouse 90." This is the only version I have seen, so I have no other standard for comparison. I suppose it's possible, but I don't see how any version could top this one. Well worth your time and money. Approx. 90 minutes in black and white
Rating:
Summary: A Knockout Cast in a Knockout Story
Review: 'Requiem for a Heavyweight' is not only one of the great forgotten boxing pictures, it's also one of those movies that has almost vanished. Thankfully this DVD release will help keep this great film alive. Anthony Quinn superbly plays Mountain Rivera, a 37 year old fighter who risks losing his eyesight if he continues to fight. His manager (Jackie Gleason), his trainer (Mickey Rooney), and a new-found lady friend (Julie Harris) all have different ideas about Mountain's future. Just what CAN a fighter do after 17 years in the ring? While most of the drama takes place outside the ring, Rod Serling's script delivers tension, conflict and suspense in way you wouldn't expect from a 1962 film. You can almost see the characters thinking about where they are, where they're going, and how Mountain Rivera can and does affect their lives. The brilliance of the film's cast is electrifying. Every actor is in absolutely tip-top form. These performances are a real pleasure to watch. This film contains no weak links. Other reviewers have commented on the several different versions of the film. The film originally aired on television on a show called "Playhouse 90." This is the only version I have seen, so I have no other standard for comparison. I suppose it's possible, but I don't see how any version could top this one. Well worth your time and money. Approx. 90 minutes in black and white
Rating: 
Summary: A Great Movie assembled by a butcher !!
Review: (DVD) I agree with Mr. Rapchak. In addition to the missing scenes he outlines, there are other missing scenes near the beginning of the movie. The bar scene after Gleason is worked over by mob muscle; Quinn wandering the street, meeting a down-and-out ex-fighter/boozer and tussling with his boss, broken up by Gleason and Rooney. Quinn trying to get a moving van job...etc. There's no warning on the DVD cover that it does NOT contain the movie Requiem For A Heavyweight but rather selected scenes from the real movie. On the back of the DVD case however there are two pictures from scenes in the movie...they are among the scenes that are NOT included on the DVD. That strikes me as deceptive. I have seen the entire movie on satellite TV and the Columbia/Tri-Star version is a rip off. If you want to see the real Requiem For A Heavyweight then you'll be very disappointed with this butchered version of the movie. Maybe the VHS version will have the complete movie; I don't know.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Movie assembled by a butcher !!
Review: (DVD) I agree with Mr. Rapchak. In addition to the missing scenes he outlines, there are other missing scenes near the beginning of the movie. The bar scene after Gleason is worked over by mob muscle; Quinn wandering the street, meeting a down-and-out ex-fighter/boozer and tussling with his boss, broken up by Gleason and Rooney. Quinn trying to get a moving van job...etc. There's no warning on the DVD cover that it does NOT contain the movie Requiem For A Heavyweight but rather selected scenes from the real movie. On the back of the DVD case however there are two pictures from scenes in the movie...they are among the scenes that are NOT included on the DVD. That strikes me as deceptive. I have seen the entire movie on satellite TV and the Columbia/Tri-Star version is a rip off. If you want to see the real Requiem For A Heavyweight then you'll be very disappointed with this butchered version of the movie. Maybe the VHS version will have the complete movie; I don't know.
Rating: 
Summary: I can't help feeling I'm missing part of the movie
Review: As someone else mentioned this DVD is missing at least a few scenes than the version that is sometimes played on TV. I purchased this DVD after viewing a portion of the movie on TV - What I saw on TV that made the biggest impression on me, was a scene towards the very end of the movie. Jackie Gleason confronted by the up and coming boxer and his handler gives one of the most powerful speeches of the movie, and some of the most memorable acting I've ever seen. He chides these two for believing that they could be a champion for believing that they'll turn out any different than the Mountain, and rejects their offer to be their manager. Not only was the speech powerful, the acting superb but also the scene gives insight into the future of Gleason's character. Maish, has learned his lesson, he isn't going to be manager another boxer for 17 year while chasing the ghost of a championship. He is still a bum who betted against his own fighter, but the story goes to great lengths to make Gleason more than just a one-dimensional rotten manager, and this final scene brings that point home. I don't why these scenes were excluded. Maybe this is the original release version - but then why weren't they included as extras on the DVD? I don't know. I hope that at some point, this movie, with the missing scenes is released on DVD. If it is I will happily buy that version - While this DVD is crisp and clean, while the story is still great and the acting perfect - to know that these other scenes are missing, particularly the one I mentioned, well in this case this DVD isn't enough - Complete its a 5 stars - incomplete its still great - but I can't help feeling I'm missing an important part of the movie without it including these scenes - so I am giving it 3 stars - to draw attention that something is missing from this movie - and not as a reflection of the movie that is on the DVD which is still great -
Rating:
Summary: An excellent film that should be COMPLETE!
Review: C'mon, guys!!! This is the age of DVD "extra-mania" with every sort of outtake, alternate scene, missing scene, lost scene, director's cut,, etc etc being an ESSENTIAL part of a film's legacy as preserved in the DVD format. In the case of the moving and powerful "Requiem" (and I agree with the customer who feels that the Jackie Gleason/Julie Harris staircase scene belongs at the top of the all-time list of great movie scenes), the film was obviously released in several different versions. The confusion begins,in fact, immediately after the staircase scene. There are AT LEAST THREE SCENES from the latter part of the film that are NOT INCLUDED on the DVD: 1.) Gleason's encounter with the vile Ma Greeny in the hallway when he tells her he'd "like to run into her when you're not grafted to that torpedo..." (referring to her big thug/bodyguard). 2.) A lengthy (and painful) scene where Quinn is training to be a wrestler, and the moronic Pirelli (Stan Adams, the only actor to reprise his role from the 1956 TV original version) signals Quinn's wrestling partner to intentionally gouge his bad eye, whereupon Quinn beats the crap out of the guy..... 3.) Gleason's final speech on the rotten world of Prize Fighting which he delivers to the young wanna-be..... If Serling ultimately wanted these scenes cut, WHY IN THE WORLD were they ot included as EXTRAS??? I have old video copies of late-night, local TV airings of this film that are FAR MORE COMPLETE than this state-of-the-art DVD release. What a pity---to see such a cool film treated so poorly (the audio is also very low on this disc; I had to jack the TV volume all the way up to get a decent signal).
Rating:
Summary: An acting tour de force!
Review: I am reviewing the VHS version of this film because the DVD is edited and omits several key scenes. I was bitterly disappointed in the DVD and would not recommend it. However, I enthusiastically recommend the VHS version. This film is one of the great forgotten masterpieces. Rarely do you see such depth of emotion as displayed by the three leading characters: Anthony Quinn, Mickey Rooney and Jackie Gleason. This is undoubtedly Quinn's greatest and most poignant performance, he delivers a knock out interpretation of the brain-damaged Mountain Rivera. Make-up and a false nose disguises Quinn's good looks and he resembles a drunken Victor MacLagen here. Mickey Rooney, always seriously underrated, is magnificent as Mountain's assistant. And Jackie Gleason is perfection as the greasy, sleazy manager. The scene of him on the stairwell with Julie Harris is one of the great moments in cinema history. What a movie! I'm at a loss to explain why this brilliant film is not universally recognized as one of the great movies ever made. The acting is superb, the screenplay gripping and the ending will mesmerize you. A thinking man's flick, to be sure. This is definitely a keeper.
Rating:
Summary: addendum on "Requiem" missing ending
Review: I submitted a review of this movie earlier today--"There Were Giants in Those Days." This is meant as possible addendum to my review, if the review's okay. One of the customer reviews concerns the missing ending of the movie. I've found Rod Serling's reading version of the script, published by Bantam in 1962. The ending of the reading version does indeed have a scene with Maish telling this would be fighter how tough a "game" it is, and how "the good's great--the bad stinks." He tells the young man they will try him out, and Army resignedly agrees. This version ends with Maish hearing the catcalls and laughter at Mountain in the wrestling ring, as the manager puts his head in his hands and weeps. This final scene I remember was either added to or edited out of its various television runs because of commercial time and to fit a two hour time slot. Over the years, the film has been edited in different ways, with various scenes missing or kept intact, or added. And yes it is very frustrating. I saw the movie first on TV, not at the theatre. The part of the scene I mention that has been excised, where Army tells Maish he will rot in hell, I've seen in every version, save this one on DVD. I hope I've been of some help.
Rating:
Summary: addendum on "Requiem" missing ending
Review: I submitted a review of this movie earlier today--"There Were Giants in Those Days." This is meant as possible addendum to my review, if the review's okay. One of the customer reviews concerns the missing ending of the movie. I've found Rod Serling's reading version of the script, published by Bantam in 1962. The ending of the reading version does indeed have a scene with Maish telling this would be fighter how tough a "game" it is, and how "the good's great--the bad stinks." He tells the young man they will try him out, and Army resignedly agrees. This version ends with Maish hearing the catcalls and laughter at Mountain in the wrestling ring, as the manager puts his head in his hands and weeps. This final scene I remember was either added to or edited out of its various television runs because of commercial time and to fit a two hour time slot. Over the years, the film has been edited in different ways, with various scenes missing or kept intact, or added. And yes it is very frustrating. I saw the movie first on TV, not at the theatre. The part of the scene I mention that has been excised, where Army tells Maish he will rot in hell, I've seen in every version, save this one on DVD. I hope I've been of some help.
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