The Set-Up (1949 film)
Encyclopedia
For 2011 Set Up see here
The Set-Up (1949
) is an American
film noir
boxing drama directed by Robert Wise
and featuring Robert Ryan
and Audrey Totter
. The screenplay was adapted by Art Cohn
from a 1928 poem
written by Joseph Moncure March
. The film is about the boxing underworld.
), Stoker's manager, is sure he will continue to lose fights, so he takes money for a "dive" from a mobster, but is so sure that Thompson will lose that he doesn't tell the boxer about the set-up.
At the beginning of the fourth and last round of the vicious boxing match with the much younger and heavily-favored Tiger Nelson (Hal Fieberling), Stoker learns about the fix. Even though he learns that Little Boy (Alan Baxter), a feared gangster, is behind the set-up, Thompson refuses to give up the fight and mushes on.
In the end, he defeats Nelson, but Little Boy has Stoker's right hand broken as punishment.
Additional cast
called "one forgotten and now unseeable film after another"), RKO did not ask him to adapt his own poem.
The screen adaptation including a number of changes from the poem. The boxer's name was changed from Pansy Jones to Stoker Thompson; his race was changed from black to white, he went from being a bigamist to being devotedly married, and Jones' beating and subsequent death on a subway track was turned into an alley beating and a shattered hand. In a commentary accompanying the DVD for the film, Robert Wise attributes the change in race to the fact that RKO had no Afro-American star actors under contract. Although the film did have an African American actor (James Edwards) in a minor role as a boxer, Edwards was not a "star" under the then existing studio rules. March later commented on the changes for an Ebony
interview, saying:
The prizefight in the adaptation features an exchange of blows between Stoker and his opponent that is very close to the original, though the opponent's name is changed.
Dore Schary
, the uncredited executive producer who apparently got the project going at RKO before his 1948 move to MGM, is credited with giving the film a real time narrative structure
, three years before the device was used in High Noon
. Prior to The Set-Up, Richard Goldstone's production credits had been limited to a half-dozen Our Gang
comedy shorts.
reviewed the drama and lauded the picture's screenplay and the realistic depiction of the boxing milieu
; they wrote, "This RKO production...is a sizzling melodrama. The men who made it have nothing good to say about the sordid phase of the business under examination and their roving, revealing camera paints an even blacker picture of the type of fight fan who revels in sheer brutality. The sweaty, stale-smoke atmosphere of an ill-ventilated smalltime arena and the ringside types who work themselves into a savage frenzy have been put on the screen in harsh, realistic terms. And the great expectations and shattered hopes which are the drama of the dressing room also have been brought to vivid, throbbing life in the shrewd direction of Robert Wise and the understanding, colloquial dialogue written into the script by Art Cohn
."
Jefferson Hunter in a summer 2008 essay for The Hudson Review
, said:
Nominated
had adapted a remake of The Set-Up, which he would direct; Benjamin Bratt was to star as the boxer, with James Gandolfini also attached and Halle Berry in negotiations. Reports of a remake re-appeared in 2004, identifying Franc. Reyes
as the director.
The Set-Up (1949
1949 in film
The year 1949 in film involved some significant events.-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:*Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello...
) is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
boxing drama directed by Robert Wise
Robert Wise
Robert Earl Wise was an American sound effects editor, film editor, film producer and director...
and featuring Robert Ryan
Robert Ryan
Robert Bushnell Ryan was an American actor who often played hardened cops and ruthless villains.-Early life and career:...
and Audrey Totter
Audrey Totter
Audrey Mary Totter is an American actress and former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract star of Austrian-Slovene and Swedish descent...
. The screenplay was adapted by Art Cohn
Art Cohn
Art Cohn was an American sportswriter, screenwriter and author.Cohn was born in New York, New York. He was a sportswriter and sports editor for the Oakland Tribune newspaper who published the sports column The Cohn-ing Tower. He also wrote for the Long Beach Press-Telegram...
from a 1928 poem
1928 in literature
The year 1928 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Ford Madox Ford publishes Last Post. It is the final book of a four-volume work titled Parade's End published between 1924 and 1928....
written by Joseph Moncure March
Joseph Moncure March
Joseph Moncure March was an American poet and essayist, best known for his long narrative poems The Wild Party and The Set-Up.- Life :...
. The film is about the boxing underworld.
Plot
Stoker Thompson (Ryan) is a 35-year-old has-been boxer. Tiny (George TobiasGeorge Tobias
George Tobias was an American character actor.-Early life and career:Born to a Jewish family in New York, he began his acting career at the Pasadena Playhouse in Pasadena, California. He then spent several years in theater groups before moving on to Broadway and, eventually, Hollywood...
), Stoker's manager, is sure he will continue to lose fights, so he takes money for a "dive" from a mobster, but is so sure that Thompson will lose that he doesn't tell the boxer about the set-up.
At the beginning of the fourth and last round of the vicious boxing match with the much younger and heavily-favored Tiger Nelson (Hal Fieberling), Stoker learns about the fix. Even though he learns that Little Boy (Alan Baxter), a feared gangster, is behind the set-up, Thompson refuses to give up the fight and mushes on.
In the end, he defeats Nelson, but Little Boy has Stoker's right hand broken as punishment.
Cast
- Robert RyanRobert RyanRobert Bushnell Ryan was an American actor who often played hardened cops and ruthless villains.-Early life and career:...
as Bill "Stoker" Thompson - Audrey TotterAudrey TotterAudrey Mary Totter is an American actress and former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract star of Austrian-Slovene and Swedish descent...
as Julie Thompson - George TobiasGeorge TobiasGeorge Tobias was an American character actor.-Early life and career:Born to a Jewish family in New York, he began his acting career at the Pasadena Playhouse in Pasadena, California. He then spent several years in theater groups before moving on to Broadway and, eventually, Hollywood...
as Tiny - Alan Baxter as Little Boy
- Wallace FordWallace FordWallace Ford was an English film and television actor who, with his friendly appearance and stocky build later in life, appeared in a number of film westerns and B-movies....
as Gus - Percy HeltonPercy HeltonPercy Helton was an American film and television actor.One of his most memorable supporting roles was playing a drunken Santa Claus in Miracle on 34th Street. He also appeared in small but memorable roles in Criss Cross , The Set-Up , Kiss Me Deadly and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid...
as Red - Hal Fieberling as "Tiger" Nelson
- Darryl HickmanDarryl HickmanDarryl Gerard Hickman is an American film and television actor, former television executive, and child star of the 1930s and 1940s.-Early life:...
as Shanley - Kenny O'Morrison as Moore
- James EdwardsJames Edwards (actor)James Edwards was an African American actor in films and television. His most famous role was as Private Peter Moss in the 1949 film Home of the Brave, in which he portrayed a soldier experiencing racial prejudice while serving in the South Pacific during World War II...
as Luther Hawkins - David ClarkeDavid Clarke (actor)David Clarke was an American Broadway and motion picture actor.A native of Chicago and graduate of Butler University, Clarke was most well known for his film noir roles as a character actor....
as Gunboat Johnson - Phillip PinePhillip PinePhillip Pine was an American film and television actor, writer, director, and producer....
as Tony Souza - Edwin Max as Dann
Additional cast
- Arthur 'Weegee' FelligWeegeeWeegee was the pseudonym of Arthur Fellig , a photographer and photojournalist, known for his stark black and white street photography....
- New York photographer has a cameo as the timekeeper
Background
In 1947, almost two decades after March's poem was published, RKO paid March a little over a thousand dollars for the rights. Although March had had nearly a decade of Hollywood writing credits during the 1930s (working on what a 2008 essay in The Hudson ReviewThe Hudson Review
The Hudson Review is a quarterly journal of literature and the arts. It was founded in 1947 in New York by William Ayers Arrowsmith, Joseph Deericks Bennett, and George Frederick Morgan. The first issue was introduced in the spring of 1948...
called "one forgotten and now unseeable film after another"), RKO did not ask him to adapt his own poem.
The screen adaptation including a number of changes from the poem. The boxer's name was changed from Pansy Jones to Stoker Thompson; his race was changed from black to white, he went from being a bigamist to being devotedly married, and Jones' beating and subsequent death on a subway track was turned into an alley beating and a shattered hand. In a commentary accompanying the DVD for the film, Robert Wise attributes the change in race to the fact that RKO had no Afro-American star actors under contract. Although the film did have an African American actor (James Edwards) in a minor role as a boxer, Edwards was not a "star" under the then existing studio rules. March later commented on the changes for an Ebony
Ebony (magazine)
Ebony, a monthly magazine for the African-American market, was founded by John H. Johnson and has published continuously since the autumn of 1945...
interview, saying:
- not only [did they throw] away the mainspring of the story, they evaded the whole basic issue of discrimination against the Negro.... Hollywood’s attitude to the Negro in films has been dictated all too often by box-office considerations: they are afraid of losing money in the Jim Crow SouthJim Crow lawsThe Jim Crow laws were state and local laws in the United States enacted between 1876 and 1965. They mandated de jure racial segregation in all public facilities, with a supposedly "separate but equal" status for black Americans...
.
The prizefight in the adaptation features an exchange of blows between Stoker and his opponent that is very close to the original, though the opponent's name is changed.
Dore Schary
Dore Schary
Isadore "Dore" Schary was an American motion picture director, writer, and producer, and playwright who became head of production at MGM and eventually president of the studio...
, the uncredited executive producer who apparently got the project going at RKO before his 1948 move to MGM, is credited with giving the film a real time narrative structure
Narratology
Narratology denotes both the theory and the study of narrative and narrative structure and the ways that these affect our perception. While in principle the word may refer to any systematic study of narrative, in practice its usage is rather more restricted. It is an anglicisation of French...
, three years before the device was used in High Noon
High Noon
High Noon is a 1952 American Western film directed by Fred Zinnemann and starring Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly. The film tells in real time the story of a town marshal forced to face a gang of killers by himself...
. Prior to The Set-Up, Richard Goldstone's production credits had been limited to a half-dozen Our Gang
Our Gang
Our Gang, also known as The Little Rascals or Hal Roach's Rascals, was a series of American comedy short films about a group of poor neighborhood children and the adventures they had together. Created by comedy producer Hal Roach, the series is noted for showing children behaving in a relatively...
comedy shorts.
Critical reception
When the film was released The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
reviewed the drama and lauded the picture's screenplay and the realistic depiction of the boxing milieu
Milieu
Milieu is the word for environment in French, and, for hundreds of years, also in Dutch, Swedish, English, and other languages that were strongly influenced by French culture and French language, primarily during the 17th and 18th centuries....
; they wrote, "This RKO production...is a sizzling melodrama. The men who made it have nothing good to say about the sordid phase of the business under examination and their roving, revealing camera paints an even blacker picture of the type of fight fan who revels in sheer brutality. The sweaty, stale-smoke atmosphere of an ill-ventilated smalltime arena and the ringside types who work themselves into a savage frenzy have been put on the screen in harsh, realistic terms. And the great expectations and shattered hopes which are the drama of the dressing room also have been brought to vivid, throbbing life in the shrewd direction of Robert Wise and the understanding, colloquial dialogue written into the script by Art Cohn
Art Cohn
Art Cohn was an American sportswriter, screenwriter and author.Cohn was born in New York, New York. He was a sportswriter and sports editor for the Oakland Tribune newspaper who published the sports column The Cohn-ing Tower. He also wrote for the Long Beach Press-Telegram...
."
Jefferson Hunter in a summer 2008 essay for The Hudson Review
The Hudson Review
The Hudson Review is a quarterly journal of literature and the arts. It was founded in 1947 in New York by William Ayers Arrowsmith, Joseph Deericks Bennett, and George Frederick Morgan. The first issue was introduced in the spring of 1948...
, said:
- All through The Set-Up, we see confirmed the oldest of truisms about film, that it tells its stories best in images, in what can be shown—a crowd’s blood lust, the boxers’ awareness of what’s coming to them in the end—as opposed to what is spoken or narrated.
Notable quote
- 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.
Awards
Wins- 1949 Cannes Film Festival1949 Cannes Film FestivalThe 3rd Cannes Film Festival was held on September 2-17, 1949. No festival was held in 1948.- Jury :The entire jury for this festival were French.*Georges Huisman *Jules Romains *Mme...
: Best Cinematography, Milton R. Krasner; FIPRESCIFIPRESCIThe International Federation of Film Critics is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world for "the promotion and development of film culture and for the safeguarding of professional interests." It was founded in June 1930 in...
Prize, Robert Wise; 1949.
Nominated
- British Academy of Film and Television ArtsBritish Academy of Film and Television ArtsThe British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
: BAFTA Film Award, Best Film from any Source, United States; 1950.
Remake
In 2002, Variety magazine reported that Sidney LumetSidney Lumet
Sidney Lumet was an American director, producer and screenwriter with over 50 films to his credit. He was nominated for the Academy Award as Best Director for 12 Angry Men , Dog Day Afternoon , Network and The Verdict...
had adapted a remake of The Set-Up, which he would direct; Benjamin Bratt was to star as the boxer, with James Gandolfini also attached and Halle Berry in negotiations. Reports of a remake re-appeared in 2004, identifying Franc. Reyes
Franc. Reyes
Franc. Reyes is a film director of Puerto Rican descent. In 2002 he won the ALMA Award for Emerging Filmmaker. Films he has directed include Empire, which opened the New York International Latino Film Festival, and Illegal Tender.-External links:**...
as the director.