Containing two of the big time film noir players, 1949’s The Set-Up follows down and out boxer Stoker Thompson (Robert Ryan) as he prepares for his next bout. Ryan, who starred in 15 film noirs throughout his career, perfectly encapsulates the aging veteran, with his domineering height, craggy athletic look, and pained eyes that show the seemingly endless struggles he has had in the ring.
His long suffering wife, Julie, is played by Audrey Totter. The dame, who passed away back in 2013 at the age of 95, took on 14 very different roles in the bleak genre. The attractive blonde is less femme fatale in this one, this time showing her range as the pained woman who can no longer watch her husband take beatings night after night.
Directed by Robert Wise (West Side Story, The Sound of Music, Star Trek: The Motion Picture and The Day the Earth Stood Still, to name but a few of his many varied directorial efforts), he tells the fateful story in real time (a rare thing, especially in this era – coming just after Hitchcock’s 1948 film Rope and just before Zinnemann’s 1952 western High Noon). The filmmaker bookmarks the tale by showing the same clock at both the beginning and end. Not introducing us to our two main characters off the bat, we promptly learn that Stoker’s manager Tiny (George Tobias) and trainer Red (Percy Helton) have been paid off by gangster Little Boy (Alan Baxter) – by way of his lackey, ensuring that their boxer takes a dive.
Following this, we are introduced to a bevy of individuals who are heading into the fight. Wise capably tackles the scene in one extended take, letting the action occur without editing – flowing really well while never distracting us, making it feel like we are part of the amped up audience just prior to the fights.
Stoker and Julie are resting in their hotel room across the street. Despite the fact that his body is battered, bruised and constantly ailing, the veteran boxer still feels like he can win the evening’s bout against youthful Tiger Nelson (Hal Fieberling). Julie pleads with her husband to give it up, citing that he couldn’t even remember her name following his last fight. Ending on a sour note, Stoker hands her the ticket, though she claims that she cannot put herself through one more evening.
We are then taken inside the arena where we watch the toll it takes on the athletes. As Stoker prepares for his fight, we see other boxers who have had earlier bouts return, either jubilantly or in pained discombobulation – either way, horribly injured. It is a bird’s eye view into the carnage that the human body endures in the name of sport.
Finally, Stoker makes his way into the ring, still unaware that he is supposed to take a fall – as his team believes he will lose anyway (as he has done so many times before), which will allow them to split the payday between them. Seeing it as his final shot at making a living, that is, if he wins this fight, he very well could headline one more event – bringing in huge amounts of moolah and then becoming a successful trainer in his own right.
Feeling more like documentary (or a real event), the match is chock full of adrenaline. Looking utterly real, the crowd plays a large part as they sweat and shout just outside the ring. Some watch in horror, while others holler for more violence, most cheering for the young gun, other than a few passionate fans who still care for the twenty year vet. It is both entertaining and rivetting to watch the masses, with Little Boy having an ominous glint in his eye and an ever-present grimace, while a blind man listens to his friend’s commentary and a heavyset man has a new snack in his hands every time the camera flashes on him. Just as vital as the audience is the one empty seat, with Stoker praying for his beloved wife’s arrival to push him on.
As the bout is going on, Julie meanders through the city, trying to survive another one of her husband’s beatings. Nothing can release the tension, with even radios playing the fight in the background reminding her of his possible impending doom.
Though Stoker does not know it (at first), he is placed in a lose/lose scenario. Will the man win the fight and somehow avoid the gangsters he will have (inadvertently) crossed, or will he lose in one or both horrid ways?
Highly influential to the boxing genre, The Set-Up is an allegory for life; capturing the perseverance, work and fight it takes to continue to pull yourself up and attempt to succeed in life, it also highlights the love and struggles found between a caring couple. Though Stoker clearly loves his wife, his career drives him forward, despite the lady’s apprehensions. It has driven Julie to live in constant fear, with perhaps its best representation being when we see her blurred reflection in a clock as she anxiously waits for her husband to return following the match – symbolizing her frantic, mile-a-minute worry. All of this could fall flat if not for Ryan and Totter, who bring so much depth out of the material, making the pair feel real – hooking us from the first time Wise transports us, by way of his camera, through the window and into the couple’s intimate bedroom space.
Though it has some film noir elements, it is missing the typical femme fatale, as well as certain atmospheric features from the genre. It combines certain noir characteristics within a searing boxing drama, succeeding as both.
The Set-Up is a classic boxing film. It is held in high esteem by many in the industry, including Martin Scorsese, who actually provides the commentary on the DVD along with Robert Wise – with it clearly being an influence on the making of Raging Bull. Wise wisely trims all of the fat, as this real-time motion picture is just seventy-two minutes in the life of a boxer. Feeling authentic, the conclusion very well may highlight an anguished ending as well as a possible chance at redemption. So, see this classic film noir to discover whether this man, who’s built like a brick house, can withstand another beating.