WHAT THE CRITICS SAID
'The Harder They Fall...is a first-rate film noir-style drama, which culminates in a brutal scene in a boxing ring. Every thwack and sickening thud makes you shudder.'
RADIO TIMES
'Visceral and vital, this tightly-written dramatisation of Budd Schulberg's novel by actor and playwright Kerry Shale will have you gripped from the start... This is about as close as radio gets to film noir and the whole production team should be congratulated...It's a tough but equally terrific listen.'
Jane Anderson,
RADIO TIMES
'Kerry Shale's adaptation of Budd Schulberg's classic boxing novel is an atmospheric, radio film noir with Tim Blake Nelson utterly convincing as Eddie.'
Stephanie Billen,
THE OBSERVER MAGAZINE
'The story at its heart...is compelling melodrama that makes it hard to turn off...Dominic Chianese is outstanding as a crooked fight promoter.'
Paul Donovan,
THE TIMES
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The Harder They Fall1x60'
Starring Tim Blake Nelson (from the Coen Brothers’ hit movie, "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?") and Dominic Chianese (“Uncle Junior” in "The Sopranos"), this Radio 4 Friday play is a disturbing dramatisation of Budd Schulberg's classic boxing novel. Recorded at Sound on Sound Studios, New York City, with a cast of Broadway actors, it was adapted by actor/writer Kerry Shale and directed by Andy Jordan.
The style of the piece is classic film-noir - full of hard-boiled humour, period vernacular and a creeping sense of impending doom. "The Harder They Fall" is a larger than life story of greed, violence and lust, ripped straight from a period tabloid, brutal and unforgiving, rancid with racketeers. Full of the sounds of popping flashbulbs, boozy bars and the smack of leather on flesh, it re-creates a Saturday afternoon black and white movie on 21st Century radio.
Professional prize-fighting (“show business with blood”, as Schulberg famously wrote) has always been, by its very nature, dramatic. "The Harder They Fall" was published in 1947, during the fight game’s most corrupt and colourful years. Arthur Miller called it “the most accurate novel ever written about boxing”. "The Harder They Fall" was filmed in 1956 with Humphrey Bogart and Rod Steiger in the leading roles.
Director: Andy Jordan Writer: Budd Schulberg Adaptor: Kerry Shale Producer: Helen Chattwell
EDDIE LEWIS...............Tim Blake Nelson NICK LATKA..................Dominic Chianese BETH REYNOLDS...........Allison Daugherty VINCE VANETTI.............Kerry Shale DANNY DONOGHUE.......Peter Gerety 'DOC' ZIGMAN...............Peter Appel TORO MOLINA...............Yul Vazquez Other parts are played by Holly Cate, Dominic Hawksley, Paula Pizzi and members of the cast.
With thanks to Church Street Boxing Gym, New York City
Broadcast: 30th September Broadcaster: |
