In the decade following The Misfits, John Huston managed to complete only a handful of mainly European productions. Fat City marked his return to work in this country and to his focus on the hard-bitten promises held out by the American West. Set in central California within the working-class environs of migrant laborers and drifters, Fat City presents the story of two smalltime boxers—one on his way up (Bridges) and the other struggling for one more payday (Keach). Huston’s vision radiates out from this central tale to capture the humanity that binds a community, which resides somewhere beneath the harsh economic realities of life and the indomitable belief in the possibility of redemption that remains at the heart of the American dream.