IMDb > The Set-Up (1949)

The Set-Up (1949) More at IMDbPro »

Overview

User Rating:
7.9/10   2,844 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 24% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Robert Wise
Writers:
Art Cohn (screenplay)
Joseph Moncure March (poem)
Contact:
View company contact information for The Set-Up on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
10 January 1950 (Portugal) more
Genre:
Film-Noir | Sport more
Tagline:
I Want a Man... Not a Human Punching Bag! more
Plot:
Against all odds, a worn down fading boxer, painstakingly clashes against his driven opponent, firmly refusing to accept the hearsay of a washed up career. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 2 wins more
NewsDesk:
(2 articles)
Jean-Jacques Beineix: The Hollywood Interview
 (From The Hollywood Interview. 14 July 2009, 4:20 PM, PDT)
Director Robert Wise Dies at 91
 (From IMDb News. 15 September 2005)
User Comments:
'Rocky' Before There Was A "Rocky' more (48 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Robert Ryan ... Stoker
Audrey Totter ... Julie
George Tobias ... Tiny
Alan Baxter ... Little Boy
Wallace Ford ... Gus
Percy Helton ... Red
Hal Baylor ... Tiger Nelson (as Hal Fieberling)
Darryl Hickman ... Shanley
Kenny O'Morrison ... Moore
James Edwards ... Luther Hawkins

David Clarke ... Gunboat Johnson
Phillip Pine ... Souza
Edwin Max ... Danny
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Additional Details

Parents Guide:
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Runtime:
72 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Black and White
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (RCA Sound System)
Certification:
Canada:18A | USA:Approved (certificate #13478) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-12 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) (cut) | UK:PG (video rating) (1987)
Company:
RKO Radio Pictures more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Based upon a narrative poem published in 1928 by Joseph Moncure March, who gave up his job as the first managing editor of "The New Yorker" to devote himself to writing. On the strength of it, he went to Hollywood as a screenwriter, remaining there for a dozen years. In 1948 he volunteered to work on this film, but was turned down. He was incensed that his black boxer Pansy Jones was changed into the white Stoker Thompson. more
Goofs:
Continuity: When Julie Thompson takes her walk from the gymnasium, she watches Pacific Electric interurban cars as they enter a subway tunnel. Car No. 707 is shown passing twice in a row. more
Quotes:
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.
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Fighters (1991) (TV) more

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User Comments

   (Comment on this title)
15 out of 24 people found the following comment useful.
'Rocky' Before There Was A "Rocky', 20 December 2005
8/10
Author: ccthemovieman-1 from Lockport, NY, United States

Fight scenes-wise, this was "Rocky" almost 30 years before there ever was a "Rocky." It was the same kind of unrelenting (and unrealistic in that no matter how bad the beating the good guy was getting, the good guy couldn't lose) boxing action that Sylvester Stallone likes so much.

But, don't get me wrong, I liked this film. It was good stuff. 'Rocky" was drama, romance while this was film-noir.....and solid film-noir, too.

Robert Ryan, playing a 35-year-old aging rank fighter, gives it his all against an up-and-coming kid, not knowing that he supposed to take a dive. He finally finds this out (his manager didn't tell him) and by then, he was not going give up trying against his opponent.

There are so many punches thrown in this four-round bout it will make your head swim. The best part of this film, to me, was the cinematography, which was outstanding. Kudos to director Robert Wise for the photography. There are a lot of nice facial closeups in here, all of which look sharp on the recent DVD transfer.

Humor is thrown into this film-noir as we see a variety of boxing fans, from the bloodthirsty woman to a fat man always eating to another guy acting out the action while in his ringside seat. They provide some much- needed respite from the grim story. Ryan, as he usually was, is interesting to watch. The ending of the film is a tough one and, I found tough to watch at times.

Note: the film was done in "real time" - a 72-minute period in the life of the boxer Ryan portrays.

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