The Hustler (1961)

This is an imperfect-but-creditable movie. Fast Eddie Felson (Paul Newman) is an arrogant pool hustler, who’ll strip anyone of their money in a pool game. Facing off against the legendary champion Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason), he knows it’s all on the line. At the local bus terminal, Eddie meets Sarah (Piper Laurie), an alcoholic who attends college classes twice each week, and he moves in with her.

A hustler is someone who disguises their pool skills in order to lure someone into making an unfair bet. The film is based on the 1959 novel by Walter Tevis. The three words Sarah writes on the bathroom mirror with lipstick are: perverted, twisted, and crippled, referring to the people Eddie associates with and specifically the one who abused her. Much of the action was filmed at two now-defunct pool halls, McGirr's and Ames Billiard Academy in New York City.