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"Requiem for a Heavyweight" (1956), Written by Rod Serling, Directed by Ralph Nelson, and Broadcast Live on Playhouse 90


DonRocks

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The 1956 live broadcast of "Requiem for a Heavyweight" is one of the most amazing live broadcasts I've ever seen, no, make that *the* most amazing live broadcast I've ever seen on TV. It is so complex that it seems almost unbelievable that this was broadcast live - there were virtually no mistakes at all that I'm aware of.

This is pre-Twilight Zone Rod Serling, and is the work he said he was most proud of in his entire career.

You can probably find this in higher-quality video, but you can also watch it here for free:

They remade the teleplay into a movie in 1962 starring Anthony Quinn, Jackie GleasonMickey Rooney, and Julie Harris - and if you've ever wondered what it must have been like to fight Muhammad Ali in his prime, this is probably about as close as you'll ever come to knowing. <--- Click on this and watch the first few minutes of the video, trust me.

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I endorse Don's recommendation of the original TV version of "Requiem for a Heavyweight". Some of the best television of all time.

In case people don't recognize the cast:

Jack Palance ("Mountain" in Requiem) is the man who, at age 73, dropped down and did one-armed push-ups at the Academy Awards.

Keenan Wynn ("Maish" in Requiem) was a *very* prolific character actor, the son of Ed Wynn (below), and was in the Twilight Zone episode, "A World of his Own" (Season 1, Episode 36).

Kim Hunter ("Grace" in Requiem) played Stella (yes, that Stella) in "A Streetcar Named Desire" (1951).

Ed Wynn ("Army" in Requiem) was in two Twilight Zone episodes: "One for the Angels" (Season 1, Episode 2) and "Ninety Years without Slumbering" (Season 5, Episode 12).

If anyone has a link to some information about how they were able to perform this live (think about the scene with Mountain riding the train), please let us know.

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