I don’t care for boxing and can’t remember the last time I watched a full bout. Oddly enough, I like boxing movies. 1949’s The Set-Up is among the best of the genre because it’s not about a plucky underdog winning the big fight, it’s about a boxer at the end of his rope.
The Set-Up takes place in the span of its 73 minute running time. It begins with this image of a clock on the seedy strip where the action unfolds.
Paradise City looks more like hell than heaven.
Robert Ryan plays Stoker Thompson, a pug who used to be good, but his skills are fading. He has a big problem: He doesn’t know how to do anything else; he’s always made his living with his fists. Audrey Trotter plays Ryan’s wife.
She loves him but wants him to quit while he still has his wits about him. She always attends his fights but balks at going to this one. He gives her a ticket, hoping she’ll watch his latest attempt to be a contender, instead of a bum. Oops, that’s On The Waterfront…
My countryman George Tobias plays Ryan’s trainer. He knows his meal ticket isn’t paying off anymore, so he takes a bribe for Ryan to take a dive. He has so little confidence in his boxer that the pay-off is a mere 30 bucks, which is around $400 in 2024 money. Talk about a cheap date. What can you expect from a sweaty Greek in a dank gym?
Tobias doesn’t tell Ryan about the bribe because he knows his fighter is honest. He’s not your typical Robert Ryan character: He’s a good guy who loves his wife and is terrified that he’s losing her. That’s why this is one of the actor’s favorites among his films.
Ryan wins the fight despite taking a beating. He’s more upset that Totter wasn’t there to cheer him on. That didn’t make him feel grate:
That pun was a groaner, but my readers have come to expect that from me. At least I didn’t say Ryan tottered out of the ring…
The end of the movie involves the fixers coming after Ryan. That’s all the story I’m willing to divulge. This feature is called pulp fiction, not pulp spoilers, after all.
The look of the movie is its strength. Director Robert Wise and cinematographer Milton Krasner brilliantly captured the smoky and sweaty milieu of the boxing game circa 1949. Notice the sweat on George Tobias and Percy Helton’s brows in this picture:
The sleazy fixers are equally sweaty when they confront our hero:
The acting in The Set-Up is phenomenal. I’ve already mentioned Robert Ryan’s excellence; Audrey Totter is equally good as the woman who loves him but isn’t sure she can stay with him.
The screenplay was written by Art Cohn who was a boxing writer. Hence the verisimilitude of the movie. One could even say the screenplay packs a punch…
Grading Time: The Set-Up is one of the best boxing movies ever made. It’s also a helluva film noir. I give it 4 stars and an Adrastos Grade of A-. It can be viewed on the TCM web site or in various permutations on the YouTube.
Now that we all reek of sweat and smoke, let’s raise the tone with some art. We begin with the American and French long sheets:
It’s time to join the quad squad. I have no idea what that means but it scans.
Let’s all go to the lobby to escape the smoke in the sleazy boxing arena.
It didn’t help. I still smell like an ashtray that hasn’t been emptied in 73 minutes.
The lobby cards are in color and plentiful:
Audrey Totter was a stand-up broad.
I was a bit gobsmacked that the trailer isn’t on YouTube. In lieu of that, let’s watch the opening sequence, which sets the stage for this sweaty and smoky classic:
Eddie Muller gets the last word with his Noir Alley intro and outro: