Billiards in TV & Movies

Larry

• 2 min read

I just did an IMDB plot search for "billiards" and found a few shows and movies that I'd like to watch some day.  I've copy/pasted the links and descriptions here...

  1. A 1973 episode of Gunsmoke called Cowtown Hustler where "an old drifter, named Joshua Pinch, passes through and hustles several cowboys in a pool game. He learns that the drifter's real name is Moses Darby, a former world champion billiards player. Rope proposes a partnership with the old hustler. Darby accepts, and along with Sally, they head for Dodge City to seek their fortune."
  2. A 1915 short film called Pool Sharks where "two ardent suitors for the hand a pretty young woman carry their fight from an picnic to a test of skill in an indoor pool hall. After a series of unbelievable trick shots, the fight degenerates into billiardthrowing, which involves an innocent bystander."
  3. A movie that comes out in 2013 called 9-Ball where a 10 year old girl, obsessed with pool, sees her dad get dramatically murdered.  He uses his last words to tell her "Gail. Have faith, you will be a champion."
  4. A 1952 documentary called Columbia World of Sports 4801: The Willie Hoppe Story which is the story of Willie Hoppe, world-champion billiard player for more than fifty years, even into his seventies. Commentator Bill Stern describes Hoppe's abilities as the camera catches the match played at the New York Athletic Club, which Hoppe easily wins while playing against a much-younger opponent. The reel concludes with Hoppe demonstrating some of the tricks he can perform with a pool cue and a ball.
  5. A 1945 documentary called Champion of the CueIn this edition of Columbia's "Sport Reels" (production number 7801), regular series narrator Bill Stern, employing his usual the-fate-of-the-world-hangs-in-the-balance style, talks while pocket billiard (pool shooter) champion Willie Mosconi (who was what Minnesota Fats claimed to be, but wasn't) demonstrates his cue skills, with many of the shots shown in slow motion.
  6. A 1939 short film called Take a CueDespite the school just having won an important basketball game, its students are more interested in one of its teachers, namely Charles C. Peterson, who teaches them in the fine art of playing billiards. He teaches them how to properly hold the cue, gauge the correct distance from knuckle to cue ball, and create the proper spin on the cue ball to position it properly for the next shot. He then demonstrates some seemingly impossible trick shots. Feeling the limelight has been unfairly taken away from him, Homer, the school's star basketball player, tries to thwart Peterson's attempt at making shots, while showing that he himself can make them.