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The Harder They Fall

At the University

The harder we'll pan'em.

Last time we went to the U.T., Hitchcock and Harry and we had considerable trouble. If, this time, The Harder They Fall must fall, and fall it must, one can explain the phenomenon by saying there isn't too much to say that it doesn't say better itself. No viscous chestnut, The Harder They Fall pulls no punches in exposing the fight racket. Bogie gleefully battles out the old question of free will versus determinism in this thriller with metaphysical aspirations. The death of a boxer is seen as a boxer would see it. Any Bogie film is good; this one isn't. It has Rod Steiger, whose mock-murderous mood makes it a smash, and Jan Sterling, who could have been the sexually-repressed daughter of a prurient minister. As we said to our companion as we came out of the U.T., The Harder They Fall is a sweaty, brutal, and challenging social document..

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