The World is hooked on Movies where some of the stars are actually pool tables. Think how huge the movie ” The Hustler ” was with Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason in 1961. Yet despite the movies age, its an all time classic.
You might be surprised to learn that in the United States one of the first movies to come out based on the game of pool or as the primary component, came out in 1915 as a silent movie called Pool Shark starring W.C. Fields.
Even The Twilight Zone featured a show depicting a match between a hot shot pool player and a ghost champion from the past, with the stakes of the game being the hot shots life. This episode was called ” A Game of Pool ” stared Jack Klugman and Jonathan Winters.
To demonstrate how popular this episode was, it was re-made in 1988 with the same episode name, and using the original ending planned by the director.
Another Great Movie you may have missed was filmed in 1971 with Minnesota Fats playing himself. The movie was called ” The Player “.
1980 gave us ” The Baltimore Bullet “ with James Colburn and Omar Sharif.
Johnny Cash starred in the 1984 movie for TV ” The Baron and the Kid ” which also starred Johnny Cash’s wife – June Carter Cash.
The sequel to ” The Hustler ” was made in 1986 called ” The Color of Money “ And in case you forgot, Paul Newman was in this Outstanding movie along with none other than Tom Cruise.
But it didn’t stop there, America’s love of Pool brought about a flurry of movies over the years for example:
1989 ” Kiss Shot ” with Whoppi Goldberg, “Lemon Tree Tree House” in 1996, ” Running Out ” 2001, ” Pool Hall Junkies ” 2002, ” Behind the Nine ” 2003, ” Up Against the 8 Ball ” 2004, ” Shooting Gallery ” 2005, ” 9 Ball ” 2006 ” and 2007 brought us ” Turn the River “.
Pool Tables have a place in the American Pyche as evidenced by the Pool Hustler being the theme of many movies over the years.
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