IN PRAISE OF LOSERS

Following Waterfront, this week’s double bill theme is “In Praise of Losers”—tales of strivers who never made it on America’s ladder of success. With the neo-noir Fat City, Hollywood master John Huston (The Maltese Falcon) grabbed the new freedoms of the 70s and made one of his greatest films.

“I coulda had class…” It’s possible no scene in American cinema is more famous, and the rest of the film is a masterpiece too. Sweeping eight Oscars, Elia Kazan’s drama of New York life and mob corruption is one of Hollywood’s most immortal films, with Brando the pioneer of a new breed of acting.