Dueling Trailers: The Hustler (1961) and The Color of Money (1986)

I can't believe I've ever done only one of these dueling trailer posts—and a year ago at that. It should have become a running feature by now. Well, no time like the present to start. And I guess it's fitting that, since in my previous entry I discussed the trailers for the original Cape Fear and Scorsese's remake, I am now discussing the trailers for The Hustler and Scorsese's sequel, The Color of Money. By the way, seeing as I haven't seen either of these movies in ages, I will comment only on the trailers, not the films themselves.

The Hustler (1961)
dir. Robert Rossen


Break. A pool game is started. As the balls scatter across the table, the title wobbles into view. Got it—this movie's about a pool hustler. And then the jazzy score kicks in, accompanied by modernist drawings: pool cue and balls; legs approaching each other; a man smoking; the title again, this time over a clock. And then repeat, again and again, faster and faster; until the title burrows its way into your brain. What's that movie again? Oh yeah, Gabbo—er, I mean, The Hustler. By the time the trailer actually gets to movie footage, it's got us hooked; we'll buy whatever it's selling. It's a Madison Avenue trailer that couldn't be any more of its time.

[The Hustler trailer:]



The Color of Money (1986)
dir. Martin Scorsese


And now the eighties. Fuck concept, we've got stars. Before any footage, before the title is introduced, the ubiquitous deep-throated eighties trailer narrator bombastically announces, as their last names fly at us from the darkness, "Paul Newman, Tom Cruise—in a Martin Scorsese picture." And then pool, and Cruise. Lots of each. Oh yeah, there's Paul Newman, talking about how badass Cruise is at pool. All the while, bouncy, eighties, synthy, "we're gonna have fun" music plays. I wanna hang out with those stars. Can I buy a ticket right now? It's got us hooked.

[The Color of Money trailer:]