MovieChat Forums > The Harder They Fall (1956) Discussion > Fate of first opponent

Fate of first opponent

posted 17 years ago by seanspotatobusiness
8 replies | jump to latest

Did the first (uncooperative) opponent get killed? Black and white made it hard to tell, but I figure since the camera focussed on the water, that I was supposed to see blood in it.

[–] hawks_senator 17 years ago

I thought it was water and he did get killed.
Anyone else care to touch on this matter?

"It was to be announced at the Party Congress on Monday. As you know, the Premier loves surprises."

[–] VagrantThorn 15 years ago

Seemed to me the manager doused the towel with chloroform (or the like) and knocked him out.. Pretty clumsy sequence, to me, but, with the towel being thrown in so quickly, easily explainable given the suspicion it aroused..

You're a Mormon...Next to you, we ALL have a drinking problem.

[–] rosarypliers 15 years ago

Although it is difficult to prove, because it is b/w I think the water is supposed to be bloody. I mean, you see two henchmen entering the shower and one of them is carrying a knife. I doubt they merely threatened Sailor Rogazzo or whatever his name was.

[–] gribfritz2 12 years ago

If it didn't look like blood on your TV, it also didn't look like blood back in theaters in 1956. I also saw no blood. Someone asserted that there was a knife. It looked more like a small billy club, truncheon, etc... Not to mention the fact that you can hear the guys hitting him as he struggles. If it were a knife, there wouldn't be many "thud" sounds.

I was expecting to see the water turn darker at some point to show blood, but it doesn't happen. I think the camera on the water is just to show that they're ridding themselves of the guy. Washing him away, in a sense. Unclear whether they killed, but I think that would actually be too much, logically. A fight looks fixed, then the next day the guy ends up dead, would be a bit like Steiger just putting a big bullseye on himself to say look what I did. More likely, they just beat the crap out of the guy to get their point across.

[–] davidwile 12 years ago

Hey folks,

Gribfritz has it right all the way. There was no knife; it was a truncheon they used on the guy, and Gribfritz' point about "washing him away" is also well taken. When they beat him with the truncheon, the end result is that he would also look the way he should have looked had he been truly beaten by Toro. Other fighters in the know would think twice and three times before trying to cross the mob in future fights.

Gribfritz hit it on the head.

Best wishes,
Dave Wile

[–] rosarypliers 12 years ago

I'll have to re-watch it. I'd swear I saw Vince folding a blade out of something…and if it was a truncheon, it was the tiniest I've ever seen. But, then again, psychologists claim we see what we want to see.
I agree that offing Rigazzo would not have been a wise idea at that point…but I also doubt Vince and Frank are eligible for Mensa. I don't recall the scene before very well, but I think Max told Vince and Frank that they should take care of Rigazzo, or something to that effect, which rather suggests roughing him up instead of killing him.
So, what happened to him? It's just one of several questions that are left open. We don't know what happened to Agrandi, either.

[–] Rich359 12 years ago

Vince takes out a billy club, and you see the water turning dark as it flows to the drain. They would not have killed him, this was a televised fight in the 50's, not durning Al Capones time.

[–] rosarypliers 12 years ago

I really have to re-watch…