The Set-Up
| The Set-Up | |
|---|---|
 Promotional Poster | |
| Directed by | Robert Wise |
| Written by | Poem: Joseph Moncure March Screenplay: Art Cohn |
| Produced by | Richard Goldstone Dore Schary |
| Starring | Robert Ryan Audrey Totter George Tobias |
| Cinematography | Milton R. Krasner |
| Edited by | Roland Gross |
| Music by | C. Bakaleinikoff |
| Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
Release dates | March 29, 1949 |
Running time | 72 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Set-Up (1949) is an American film noir boxing drama directed by Robert Wise and featuring Robert Ryan and Audrey Totter. The screenplay was adapted by Art Cohn from a 1928 poem written by Joseph Moncure March. The film is shot in what appears to be real time. The drama features Robert Ryan, Audrey Totter, and others.[1]
The film tells about the boxing underworld, the tank-town circuit led by mobsters where up-and-comers get their chops and has-beens rent themselves out as human punching bags.
Plot
Stoker Thompson (Ryan) is a has-been boxer. His once-promising fighting career has come crashing to the end. Tiny (George Tobias), Stoker's manager, is sure he will continue to lose fights, so he takes money for a "dive" from a mobster, but is so sure that Thompson will lose that he doesn't tell the boxer about the set-up.
Mid-way through the vicious four-round boxing match with the much younger and heavily-favored Tiger Nelson (Hal Baylor), Stoker learns about the fix. Even though he learns that Little Boy (Alan Baxter), a feared gangster is behind the set-up, Thompson refuses to give up the fight and mushes on.
In the end, he defeats Nelson, but Little Boy has Stoker's right hand broken as punishment.
Background
Ryan was a real-life undefeated boxing champion in his years at Dartmouth College.[2]
Famed New York photographer Arthur 'Weegee' Fellig has a cameo as the timekeeper in the film.
Cast
- Robert Ryan as Bill "Stoker" Thompson
- Audrey Totter as Julie Thompson
- George Tobias as Tiny
- Alan Baxter as Little Boy
- Wallace Ford as Gus
- Percy Helton as Red
- Hal Baylor as "Tiger" Nelson
- Darryl Hickman as Shanley
- Kenny O'Morrison as Moore
- James Edwards as Luther Hawkins
- David Clarke as Gunboat Johnson
- Phillip Pine as Tony Souza
- Edwin Max as Dann
- Arthur 'Weegee' Fellig as timekeeper of match
Critical reception
When the film was released in its day The New York Times reviewed the drama and lauded the picture's screenplay and the realistic depiction of the boxing milieu; they wrote, "This RKO production...is a sizzling melodrama. The men who made it have nothing good to say about the sordid phase of the business under examination and their roving, revealing camera paints an even blacker picture of the type of fight fan who revels in sheer brutality. The sweaty, stale-smoke atmosphere of an ill-ventilated smalltime arena and the ringside types who work themselves into a savage frenzy have been put on the screen in harsh, realistic terms. And the great expectations and shattered hopes which are the drama of the dressing room also have been brought to vivid, throbbing life in the shrewd direction of Robert Wise and the understanding, colloquial dialogue written into the script by Art Cohn."[3]
Notable quote
- Red: I tell you, Tiny, you gotta let him in on it.
- Tiny: How many times I gotta say it? There's no percentage in smartenin' up a chump.
Awards
Wins
- Cannes Film Festival: Best Cinematography, Milton R. Krasner; FIPRESCI Prize, Robert Wise; 1949.
Nominated
- British Academy of Film and Television Arts: BAFTA Film Award, Best Film from any Source, United States; 1950.
Remake
In 2002, Variety magazine reported that Sidney Lumet had adapted a remake of The Set-Up, which he would direct; Benjamin Bratt was attached to star as the boxer, with James Gandolfini also attached and Halle Berry in negotiations.[4]
However, that package fell apart, and in 2004 it was reported that the remake would be directed by Franc. Reyes (who had directed Empire).[5][6]
In 2005 it was reported that Reyes would begin shooting in April 2005 in Los Angeles and Las Vegas.[7]
References
- ^ The Set-Up at IMDb.
- ^ American Film Institute web site, The Set-Up page, 2007.
- ^ The New York Times. Film review of The Set-Up, March 30, 1949. Last accessed: December 14, 2007.
- ^ Variety. "Lumet 'Set-Up' again, Helmer fighting for dream team in remake," September 19, 2002. Last accessed: December 14, 2007.
- ^ Movieweb. "Franc Reyes set to remake The Set Up," September 17, 2004. Last accessed: December 14, 2007.
- ^ National Association of Latino Independent Producers. "Latinos in The Industry, News" September 22, 2004. Last accessed: December 14, 2004.
- ^ Movieweb. "Franc Reyes set to remake The Set Up," January 28, 2005. Last accessed: December 14, 2007.
External links
- The Set-Up at IMDb.
- The Set-Up at AllMovie.
- The Set-Up at the TCM Movie Database.