MovieChat Forums > Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962) Discussion > Jack Dempsey Shook My Hand and Willie Pe...

Jack Dempsey Shook My Hand and Willie Pep I Can't Find

posted 9 years ago by avalonrock
1 reply | jump to latest

When I was a little kid in the 1930s, Jack Dempsey came to my town, Charlottetown,
PEI, Canada. He was mobbed in the local arena. I could hardly see him so my
father's friend picked me up and held me over the crowd as he said loudly,
"Jack - a friend of yours wants to shake your hand". Jack smiled at me reaching out his gigantic hand shaking my little hand very gently. When I saw Jack Dempsey
in this movie, "Requiem", his hand still looks big to me 75 years later (25 years
later when movie made).
By the way, where is Willie Pep, former featherwight boxer champion, in this movie? I don't know what he looks like or what part he played in this movie.
"Requiem for a Heavyweight" is an excellent movie which I've seen a few dozen times - I used to think that Gleason played a fink but now I realize that he was
a real friend to Quinn pointing out the harsh realities of life. The key scene
in the movie is the 3 minutes on the stairway when Gleason meets Harris. What
a scene !!!

[–] drella15 9 years ago

Pep is in the bar scene, where Mountain, in recounting an old fight, goes overboard as a result of his dementia pugilism. I think there might be several other famous real boxers in the bar scene. I recall my late Dad, an old Brooklyn fight fan, naming a few during one of our viewings when I was a kid. In fact, I came here, looking for the real fighters' names.