Poetry is an unusual literary source for Hollywood films. One such rarity is The Set-Up, a 1928 narrative poem by Joseph Moncure March. In 1949 it was adapted into a feature film, directed by Robert Wise, nowadays celebrated as one of the best sports films and a classic of the film noir genre.
The plot unfolds over one evening in the fictional Paradise City, where 35-year-old washed-up boxer Bill "Stoker" Thompson, played by Robert Ryan, is scheduled to fight the much younger and less experienced "Tiger" Nelson (played by Hal Baylor). Stoker's loyal wife Julie, played by Audrey Totter, pleads with him to quit boxing, but he ignores her pleas and steps into the ring. Unbeknownst to him, the match has been fixed by local mobster Little Man (played by Alan Baxter), and his greedy manager Tiny (played by George Tobias), convinced that Stoker would lose anyway, keeps this information from him. As the brutal match unfolds, Stoker's fighting skills surpass expectations, leading to a potential victory that could ironically be his downfall.
Joseph Moncure March was reportedly appalled by the film's deviations from his original poem, including the change from a black to a white protagonist, altering the character's marital status from bigamist to devoted husband, and "sweetening" the dark ending. However, despite these changes, The Set-Up remains one of the more authentic boxing films of its time, thanks in part to the screenwriting debut of Art Cohn, a sportswriter who drew inspiration from real-life personalities in the boxing world. Both Robert Ryan and Hal Baylor were accomplished amateur boxers, bringing a level of authenticity to the fight scene that was masterfully choreographed by stuntman and former professional boxer Johnny Indrisano.
It was the direction by Robert Wise that proved to be the critical ingredient in the film's success. Wise, an accomplished editor who had worked with Orson Welles on Citizen Kane, opted for a real-time narrative approach, which was rare and demanding at the time. This decision, driven partly by penny-pinching from studio owner Howard Hughes and partly by a commitment to realism, resulted in a relatively short film. Wise's concept works nearly perfectly, balancing plot and character exposition with fine acting.
The film's dark portrayal of the boxing world is evident in scenes showing Stoker waiting for his turn in the dressing room, witnessing his colleagues return from the ring either victorious or beaten. This, coupled with Julie's aimless wandering through the city and the obliviousness of the younger generation to her husband's plight, creates a strong atmosphere of fatalism. The lack of conventional music adds to the realism, and it's only at the very end, when Julie tries to turn her husband's final defeat into victory, that the film veers into more traditional Hollywood territory.
In many ways the antithesis of Rocky and other Hollywood sports films featuring underdogs, The Set-Up found modest success at the Cannes Film Festival and box office, and is considered ahead of its time in its unflinching portrayal of the boxing milieu. Its pessimism would have made it more characteristic of the New Hollywood era, and it is somewhat unsurprising that Martin Scorsese, a legend of New Hollywood, considers it one of his favourite films, to which he paid homage in his celebrated boxing drama The Raging Bull. However, the excellent atmospheric black-and-white cinematography by Milton R. Krasner firmly places the film in the film noir era, as does the presence of Audrey Totter as Stoker's wife, delivering strong chemistry with Ryan in one of his rare starring roles.
RATING: 9/10 (++++)
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