Requiem for a Heavyweight

Anthony Quinn gives an outstanding performance as the vulnerable, aging heavyweight prizefighter, Mountain Rivera. Originally written as a teleplay by Rod Serling for the Playhouse 90 series, this gripping drama opens with Mountain fighting and losing to an up-and-comer, Cassius Clay (played by Muhammad Ali himself.) When the doctor tells Mountain and his handlers - his loyal trainer Army (Mickey Rooney) and his somewhat dubious manager Maish (Jackie Gleason) - that one more punch to the head could injure Mountain permanently, Mountain must face the challenges of working and living in the every-day world. He meets Grace Miller (Julie Harris,) a benevolent job counselor, who stirs in him the prospects of life and love outside the gritty world of boxing. But when Maish, who owes money to a dangerous gangster, convinces Mountain to help him make some quick cash in a rigged wrestling match, Mountain humiliates himself out of loyalty to Maish, sacrificing his own chance for happiness.