The Harder They Fall on DVD (1956)

A Great Swan Song

Lord Pie from Canterbury, England , 06/11/2004

This was Bogart's last film. Sick with cancer (they operated on him a while back to remove part of his throat), Bogart pulls it together one last time to deliver a brilliant performance of a sportswriter dealing with the corruption in the box racket. No cliches or playful one liners as in his other films, The Harder They Fall reflects a somber and ponderous mood that seems to be in Bogart himself.

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A knockout

Leon Collins from London , 12/03/2006

Ranks with Body and Soul and Raging Bull as one of the best films about boxing. Unlike other boxing films it deals with the seedy corrupt fight promoters and hangers on rather than a single boxer protagonist. Bogart, in his final role as a sports writer who sells out, holds his own against the upcoming Rod Steiger as a crooked promoter. A great film for Bogie to bow out on.

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Powder-puff punch.

Chester Dent from London, England [Highly rated reviewer] , 12/01/2007

A typically astute and tough performance from Bogart in his final film; a fairly solid boxing drama based on the career of the 1933-34 Heavyweight Champion Primo Carnera. A washed-up sports hack gets sucked into the crooked world of boxing promoter Nick Benko (a fine Rod Steiger performance) and struggles to maintain his dignity in this foul enviroment where money rules. The fight scenes are rather unconvincing but the film succeeds in highlighting the corrupt world of American boxing during the period and as a parable of human kindness.

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The End of an Era

Jo Dumbrill from Essex, England , 22/02/2007

I love all Bogart's movies and this was a superb performance from a great star who was sadly dying of cancer, and this proved to be his last film as he died the following year.

What makes it unique, apart from his swansong, is that he still maintains enough screen presence to carry the film off. Bogart's style of acting had almost come to an end and there were newer and more powerful actors emerging such as Marlon Brando and Rod Steiger. In fact Steiger gives an incredible performance here that was to pave the way for later actors like Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro to follow.

But ultimately it remains a classic Bogart movie and one is left knowing we will never see his like again

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The End of an Era

Jo Dumbrill from Essex, England , 22/02/2007

I love all Bogart's movies and this was a superb performance from a great star who was sadly dying of cancer, and this proved to be his last film as he died the following year.

What makes it unique, apart from his swansong, is that he still maintains enough screen presence to carry the film off. Bogart's style of acting had almost come to an end and there were newer and more powerful actors emerging such as Marlon Brando and Rod Steiger. In fact Steiger gives an incredible performance here that was to pave the way for later actors like Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro to follow.

But ultimately it remains a classic Bogart movie and one is left knowing we will never see his like again

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Powder-puff punch.

Chester Dent from London, England [Highly rated reviewer] , 12/01/2007

A typically astute and tough performance from Bogart in his final film; a fairly solid boxing drama based on the career of the 1933-34 Heavyweight Champion Primo Carnera. A washed-up sports hack gets sucked into the crooked world of boxing promoter Nick Benko (a fine Rod Steiger performance) and struggles to maintain his dignity in this foul enviroment where money rules. The fight scenes are rather unconvincing but the film succeeds in highlighting the corrupt world of American boxing during the period and as a parable of human kindness.

Read all highest rated reviews