1956 was a rough year for cinema goers used to seeing Humphrey Bogart grace screen several times a year. For nearly thirty years he had been a staple of the big screen, starting out in a few throwaway films before finding his niche as a gangster or other types of ne’er-do-wells. As his popularity grew he graduated through the ranks to lead gangsters and eventually to hero’s and anti-heroes. Several times a year there would be new Bogart films, most of them banking on the success of their lead actor. That would all stop in 1956. Bogart, diagnosed with esophageal cancer, was facing the real life possibility of his own death. While he survived into the following year, he didn’t survive long, succumbing to the illness in mid January of 1957. His final film, filmed as he was dying and in pain nearly constantly, is a true testament to his professionalism and determination, with many of his close-ups having to be filmed repeatedly in an unsuccessful attempt to hide how much his eyes were watering from the pain.
The film, in and of itself, is nothing too memorable. Bogart plays Eddie Willis, a reporter out of work when his paper goes under, who is offered a position as PR man for Toro Moreno, a towering boxer from Argentina. The problem is, Toro is inexperienced, has a glass jaw and no real strength in his punches. Boxing promoter Nick Benko (Rod Steiger) plans to use Toto’s hulking size as a gimmick to draw fans and pay his opponents to throw the fights. All of this is kept from Toro and his manager who honestly believe he is a talented boxer.
Eddie is not initially sold on the idea but the payday offered him convinces him to make a go at it, provided they focus on west coast fights where he has a better chance of selling Toro as an up-and-comer. The first fight goes badly wrong when the opponent changes his mind about throwing the fight and has to be drugged during the match. The gig is almost up right from the start but Eddie pulls a few strings to avoid having the Boxing Commission open an investigation. More and more fights are arranged in Toro’s favor but Eddie knows eventually Toro will have to face a true opponent, one not so willing to take a dive. Meanwhile, Benko is pulling a fast one behind the scenes, looking to pull as much money from this cash cow as he can, cheating Toro out of his due pay and setting him up for a fight he cannot possibly win.
Nothing new is explored in this film and if it weren’t for the ‘prestige’ of being Bogart’s final film it would probably not be well remembered. It has lots of pacing issues, running nearly twenty minutes too long. There is plenty of repetition, especially during the middle scenes, and nothing really comes as a surprise. Two things save it from complete mediocrity. The first is Bogart who sells the personal conflict his character faces. At first he is thinking primarily of the money he can make. He is down on his luck and this opportunity falls into his lap so he can’t help but jump on it. But as he gets to know Toro his conscience starts to cast doubt on his decisions and by the end he is no longer driven by how much he can make but the real drama of Toro, a man out of his element who only wants to earn enough money to take care of his poor family in South America. Acting as his support, as well as his conscious, is his wife, Beth (Jan Sterling), who stands by him but also reminds him of what is right and wrong.
The second thing that saves this film is Toro’s big fight with Gus Dundee. This comes midway through the film and is the second to last fight arranged for Toro. Gus has only recently fought the heavyweight champion, Brannen (Max Baer) and sustained severe injuries from the bout. He has a broken neck, painful headaches, and is only willing to take a dive to Toro so he can retire with some extra money. The fight is disturbing to watch as we can clearly see Gus struggle even to remain on his feet and it doesn’t take much to knock him down, permanently. The press, as well as Eddie, spin the story to make it look like Toro was just too strong for him but Brannen, who has just agreed to fight Toro to defend his title, wants the world to know it was himself that did the real damage and he intends to prove it in the ring with Toro.
A big weakness to the story is the poorly staged fights. Most of them are so bad it is impossible to believe an audience in the arena would buy Toro’s victories. This requires a suspension of disbelief too great for this film. It was probably filmed this way to remind filmgoers that Toro is not really a good fighter but it just doesn’t work. Neither opponent sells it well enough to be believable. This changes, though, when we get to the Dundee fight which is absolutely hard to watch, followed by the final bout with Brannen which is straight up brutal. Dispute the poorly staged fights, we never are out of Toro’s side of the ring and watching that final fight is heart wrenching. It is a combination of the beating Toro takes and the creative bookkeeping his manager keeps to guarantee most of the money goes to them and them alone that finally pushes Eddie to step back and examine just what he’s selling his soul for.
The film is not a classic. It is nowhere near Bogart’s best, but it is worth viewing. It is hard to watch Bogart, especially in the close-ups, because it is still apparent, even with all the attempts to hide it, that he is in pain. His performance hides it well and the intensity of his earlier roles is still very much there but his eyes still give away that he is not a well man anymore. Even without knowing the behind the scenes of this it is apparent that something is wrong with his health. The film released in May of 1956 and just over eight months later Humphrey Bogart was dead. Cinema would never be the same without this dedicated professional, determined to finish out his last picture, no matter how much he was in pain. It is a testament to his talent, his drive, and to his professionalism. He loved what he did and he did it for as long as he physically could and even though the film isn’t amongst his best, it stands as a good farewell to this tremendous actor whose legacy has long outshined his personal life.
Running Time: 109 minutes
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Rod Steiger, Jan Sterling, Mike Lane
Directed By: Mark Robson
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