The Harder They Fall

The Harder They Fall

No Punches Pulled! If you thought "On The Waterfront" hit hard... wait till you see this one!

NR 1956 · 109 min · ★ 7.2 · Drama

Jobless sportswriter Eddie Willis is hired by corrupt fight promoter Nick Benko to promote his current protégé, an unknown Argentinian boxer named Toro Moreno. Although Moreno is a hulking giant, his chances for success are hampered by a powder-puff punch and a glass jaw. Exploiting Willis' reputation for integrity and standing in the boxing community, Benko arranges a series of fixed fights that propel the unsophisticated Moreno to #1 contender for the championship. The reigning champ, the sadistic Buddy Brannen, harbors resentment at the publicity Toro has been receiving and vows to viciously punish him in the ring. Eddie must now decide whether or not to tell the naive Toro the truth.

Directed by Mark Robson · Written by Philip Yordan

Your Rating

Where to Watch

Rent or Buy

Cast

Humphrey Bogart Eddie Willis
Rod Steiger Nick Benko
Jan Sterling Beth Willis
Mike Lane Toro Moreno
Max Baer Buddy Brannen
Jersey Joe Walcott George
Edward Andrews Jim Weyerhause
Harold J. Stone Art Leavitt, TV sportscaster
Carlos Montalbán Luís Agrandi
Nehemiah Persoff Leo
Felice Orlandi Vince Fawcett
Herbie Faye Max

Make it a double feature

3h 34m together

The Harder They Fall

Trial

Both from Mark Robson.

More from Mark RobsonSee all →

The Magnificent Ambersons

The Magnificent Ambersons · 1942

The Magnificent Ambersons

MovieDramaRomance

The spoiled young heir to the decaying Amberson fortune comes between his widowed mother and the man she has always loved.

Bright Victory

Bright Victory · 1951

MovieDramaRomance

A soldier blinded in war returns home and attempts to adjust to civilian life.

Von Ryan's Express

Von Ryan's Express · 1965

Von Ryan's Express

Von Ryan's Express stars Frank Sinatra as a POW colonel who leads a daring escape from WWII Italy by taking over a freight train, but he has to win over the British soldiers he finds himself commanding.

Hell Below Zero

Hell Below Zero · 1954

Hell Below Zero

MovieAdventureAction

Duncan Craig signs on a whaling ship, partly because his own business deal has fallen through, partly to help Judie Nordhall find her father. Rumor has it that her father may have been murdered by Erik Bland, son of her father's partner and her one-time lover. Duncan and Erik find themselves on rival whaleboats and, ultimately, on an ice floe.

Trial

A Mexican boy accused of rape and murder becomes a pawn for Communists and red-baiters. A courtroom drama set in 1947 and underlying post-WW2 acute problems facing the USA such as stormy race relations and the growing threat of local communism.

Cat People

Cat People · 1942

MovieMysteryHorror

A Serbian émigré in Manhattan believes that, because of an ancient curse, any physical intimacy with the man she loves will turn her into a feline predator.

The Inn of the Sixth Happiness

The Inn of the Sixth Happiness · 1958

The Inn of the Sixth Happiness

All her life, Englishwoman Gladys Aylward knew that China was where she belonged. Unqualified to be sent as a missionary, Gladys works as a domestic to earn to send herself to a poor, remote village. There, she eventually lives a full and happy life: running the inn, acting as 'foot inspector', advising the local Mandarin, and even winning the heart of mixed-race Captain Lin Nan. Gladys discovers her real destiny when the country is invaded by Japan and the Chinese children need her to save their lives.

I Walked with a Zombie

I Walked with a Zombie · 1943

I Walked with a Zombie

MovieMysteryHorror

A nurse in the Caribbean turns to voodoo in hopes of curing her patient, a mindless woman whose husband she's fallen in love with.

Peyton Place

Peyton Place · 1957

MovieDramaRomance

In the outwardly respectable New England community of Peyton Place, shopkeeper Constance McKenzie tries to make up for a past indiscretion -- which resulted in her illegitimate daughter Allison -- by adopting a chaste, prudish attitude towards all things sexual. In spite of herself, Constance can't help but be attracted to handsome new teacher Michael Rossi. Meanwhile, the restless Allison, who'd like to be as footloose and fancy-free as the town's "fast girl" Betty Anderson, falls sincerely in love with mixed-up mama's boy Norman Page.

Champion

Champion · 1949

An unscrupulous boxer fights his way to the top, but eventually alienates all of the people who helped him on the way up.

The Prize

The Prize · 1963

MovieMysteryThriller

A group of Nobel laureates descends on Stockholm to accept their awards. Among them is American novelist Andrew Craig, a former literary luminary now writing pulp detective stories to earn a living. Craig, who is infamous for his drinking and womanizing, formulates a wild theory that physics prize winner Dr. Max Stratman has been replaced by an impostor, embroiling Craig and his chaperone in a Cold War kidnapping plot.

Bedlam

MovieDramaThriller

London, 1761. St. Mary's of Bethlehem, a sinister madhouse, is visited by wealthy people who enjoy watching the patients confined there as if they were caged animals. Nell Bowen, one of the visitors, is horrified by the deplorable living conditions of the unfortunate inhabitants of this godforsaken place, better known as Bedlam.

From the Terrace

From the Terrace · 1960

From the Terrace

MovieDramaRomance

Alfred Eaton, an ambitious young executive, climbs to the top of New York's financial world as his marriage crumbles. At the brink of attaining his career goals, he is forced to choose between business success, married to the beautiful, but unfaithful Mary and starting over with his true love, the much younger Natalie.

The Leopard Man

The Leopard Man · 1943

The Leopard Man

MovieHorrorMystery

When a leopard escapes during a publicity stunt, it triggers a series of murders.

The Seventh Victim

The Seventh Victim · 1943

The Seventh Victim

MovieHorrorMystery

After young Mary Gibson discovers that her older sister Jacqueline has disappeared, she leaves her boarding school and heads to New York City to track down her sibling. But Mary gets drawn deeper into the mystery.

The Falcon's Brother

The Falcon's Brother · 1942

The Falcon's Brother

MovieCrimeMystery

A gentlemanly detective known as The Falcon calls on his brother to help him stop the Nazis from assassinating a key diplomat.

More Like This

Tokyo Fist

Tokyo Fist · 1995

MovieActionDrama

A businessman, Tsuda, runs into a childhood friend, Kojima, on the subway. Kojima is working as a semiprofessional boxer. Tsuda soon begins to suspect that Kojima might be having an affair with his fiancée Hizuru. After an altercation, Tsuda begins training rigorously himself, leading to an extremely bloody, violent confrontation.

Requiem for a Heavyweight

Requiem for a Heavyweight · 1962

Requiem for a Heavyweight

After suffering a brutal defeat and being told he can no longer fight, 37-year-old, scar-ridden prizefighter Louis 'Mountain' Rivera struggles to find a new direction in life.

Southpaw

Southpaw · 2015

MovieActionDrama

Billy "The Great" Hope, the reigning junior middleweight boxing champion, has an impressive career, a loving wife and daughter, and a lavish lifestyle. However, when tragedy strikes, Billy hits rock bottom, losing his family, his house and his manager. He soon finds an unlikely savior in Tick Willis, a former fighter who trains the city's toughest amateur boxers. With his future on the line, Hope fights to reclaim the trust of those he loves the most.

Fighting Spirit - Mashiba vs. Kimura

Fighting Spirit - Mashiba vs. Kimura · 2003

Fighting Spirit - Mashiba vs. Kimura

MovieAnimationComedy

Kimura finally has his championship match. It takes place at the annual champion carnival. But now he must face the intense champion, Mashiba for the Junior Lightweight championship.

Big George Foreman

Big George Foreman · 2023

Big George Foreman

MovieHistoryDrama

Fueled by an impoverished childhood, George Foreman channeled his anger into becoming an Olympic Gold medalist and World Heavyweight Champion, followed by a near-death experience that took him from the boxing ring to the pulpit. But when he sees his community struggling spiritually and financially, Foreman returns to the ring and makes history by reclaiming his title, becoming the oldest and most improbable World Heavyweight Boxing Champion ever.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter