The Set-Up (1949)
December 2, 2024 7:39 AM - Subscribe
Bill "Stoker" Thompson (Robert Ryan), a 35-year-old has-been boxer, is about to take on a 23-year old, mob-controlled, opponent called Tiger Nelson, at the Paradise City Arena. His wife, Julie (Audrey Trotter), fears that this fight may be his last and wants him to forfeit the match. Stoker's manager is sure he will continue to lose fights, so he takes money for a "dive" from a mobster. He is so certain of Stoker's failure that he does not inform the boxer of the set-up. The film is presented as 72 minutes of "real time" continuous action.
Not to be confused with this film or this film or this film or this film or this film.
Also starring George Tobias, Alan Baxter, Wallace Ford, Percy Helton, Hal Baylor, Darryl Hickman.
Directed by Robert Wise. Screenplay by Art Cohn, based on Joseph Moncure March's narrative, book-length 1928 poem "The Set-Up." Produced by Richard Goldstone for RKO Radio Pictures. Cinematography by Milton R. Krasner. Edited by Roland Gross. Music by C. Bakaleinikoff.
85% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Currently available for digital rental and purchase in the US. JustWatch listing.
Not to be confused with this film or this film or this film or this film or this film.
Also starring George Tobias, Alan Baxter, Wallace Ford, Percy Helton, Hal Baylor, Darryl Hickman.
Directed by Robert Wise. Screenplay by Art Cohn, based on Joseph Moncure March's narrative, book-length 1928 poem "The Set-Up." Produced by Richard Goldstone for RKO Radio Pictures. Cinematography by Milton R. Krasner. Edited by Roland Gross. Music by C. Bakaleinikoff.
85% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Currently available for digital rental and purchase in the US. JustWatch listing.
One of the great Film Noir. And it is 75 minutes.
posted by Ashwagandha at 8:35 AM on December 2, 2024
posted by Ashwagandha at 8:35 AM on December 2, 2024
So great, lean and mean. I'm a Robert Ryan guy, and this is one of his best. Didn't realize until now the wife was played by Audrey Trotter, not Gloria Grahame(Who was in another great Ryan movie, Crossfire).
Joseph Moncure March, who wrote the poem this was based on, also wrote The Wild Party, a narrative poem that was banned in Boston for its raciness and was republished in the nineties with illustrations by Art Spigelman of Maus.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 12:22 PM on December 2, 2024 [1 favorite]
Joseph Moncure March, who wrote the poem this was based on, also wrote The Wild Party, a narrative poem that was banned in Boston for its raciness and was republished in the nineties with illustrations by Art Spigelman of Maus.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 12:22 PM on December 2, 2024 [1 favorite]
The Wild Party in that Art Spiegelman edition is great, I still think about his introductory anecdote about William S. Burroughs being able to recite it from memory. And his description about the "perfunctory frontispiece" by Reginald Marsh in the edition that he (Spiegelman) had found second-hand.
That's the only reason I've heard of The Set-Up, and the reason I clicked on this Fanfare entry. Sorry for the derail.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 1:49 PM on December 4, 2024 [1 favorite]
That's the only reason I've heard of The Set-Up, and the reason I clicked on this Fanfare entry. Sorry for the derail.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 1:49 PM on December 4, 2024 [1 favorite]
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It's the non-fighting scenes that are the heart of the movie, though, particularly the scenes with Stoker and his wife and in the training room with Stoker and the other fighters.
The real-time thing never ever plays as a gimmick. Everything flows extremely well, and occasional shifts in POV make sure we never get stuck on anything mundane.
This has been ripped off many times over the years, but it still played as very fresh and authentic to my eyes.
A great, great little film.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:44 AM on December 2, 2024