Amazon.com video review:
Robert Wise, who directed the classic boxing noir The Set-Up in
1948, also made this 1956 biopic about the life of Rocky Graziano, a
one-time
juvenile delinquent from New York's back streets who became World
Middleweight
Champion. Paul Newman, though in the thick of his mannered, Method approach
to
acting in those days, is wonderful as the impoverished young Graziano, who
finds success in the ring through a combination of talent, hope, and
tenacity.
The script by Ernest Lehman is layered with well-meaning
social-consciousness
and observations about the effects of poverty, but that is less impressive
than cinematographer Joseph Ruttenberg's outstanding footage of fight
scenes.
Steve McQueen and Robert Loggia made their screen debuts with this film.
--Tom Keogh
