[Source](https://www.filmaffinity.com/ve/filmimages.php?movie_id=253001)
Robert Wise, who was the editor of Citizen Kane and director of other great films that cinephiles remember, directed this B-movie that I would classify as a cult film because other later works about boxing noted its influence.
In just 72 minutes of enviable compositional power, such as is unlikely to be found among today's filmmakers, the dark world of the Twelve Strings and its most tragic misery is described in a plethora of words.
Wise opts for realism in his environmental descriptions to tell the heartbreaking story of a man of integrity who is able to defend his dignity to the last consequences.
[Source](https://www.filmaffinity.com/ve/filmimages.php?movie_id=253001)
The story has been told countless times, and lives on in the myriad ways that haunt today's much maligned sport, the story of a loser named Bill "Stoke" Thomson (the brilliant Robert Ryan), too old for boxing (35 years old). Just look at his face, battered by too many fights, barely enough to eat, a poor guy looking for luck that will never come.
Even his own manager didn't trust him, and he sold his honour behind his back, going down in the second round for 50 dollars.
As he waits for his distraught wife, Julie (Audrey Toth), in a dingy little hotel opposite the gazebo that gives this review its title, she, tired of her husband's horrible beatings, has asked him for the umpteenth time to change his life. Tired of touring cities and waiting for the good news that her husband has been putting off.
[Source](https://www.filmaffinity.com/ve/filmimages.php?movie_id=253001)
Wonderfully scripted, Wise, with his clean-cut looks and lion's heart, conveys the emotion and nobility of this "man on the loose" in the face of violence and fierce battles, in the face of the young promise sponsored by the Mafia.
He warns sadly, turning his eyes towards the empty chair where he awaits the support of his wife, so that our protagonist, despite the sadism and the noise of the audience, is not prepared to fail.
But he is not alone: his wife lurks near the transistor, unable to enter and watch her husband suffer.
Bill wants to win this battle and prove to himself that he is not finished yet and that he is worthy of Julie's love.
[Source](https://www.filmaffinity.com/ve/filmimages.php?movie_id=253001)
Robert Ryan gave a powerful and unforgettable performance that served as a benchmark for other actors stepping into the ring.
This is one of the best films ever made about the world of boxing and I highly recommend it.
