TV Show/Movie Appeared:
The Harder They Fall (1956)
Actor/Actress:
Mike Lane
Position Portrayed:
Boxer
Why you should vote::
Out of love for Bogart? Maybe sympathy for the character?
Why you should not vote::
We have a patsy here, and someone completely used. Not exactly a triumphant role is it?
Loosely based on Italian Super Heavyweight Boxer, Primo Carnera, Toro Moreno is a lumbering Argentine who is on the rise on the Heavyweight scene. Broke Sportswriter Eddie Willis (Humphrey Bogart in his last movie role) is commissioned to write about Moreno, who he takes a liking to.
Unbeknownst to Moreno, the fights are all fixed to build him up as a credible challenger only so that his crooked promoter, Nick Benko (Rod Steiger) can make serious coin on the deal betting against his charge, who is soundly thrashed in the Championship fight.
Realistically, the story is more of Willis, and the empathy he feels towards Toro and how he would later write an expose of the boxing game. That fact alone may make this a difficult character to induct; no matter how bad you feel for the big lug!
