If you, like me, enjoy a real rock'em/sock'em boxing film with realism so brutal and gritty that it plays out like a slice of Film Noir, then The Set-Up (from 1949) is your ringside seat to 4 hard-hitting rounds of pulverizing action, non-stop.
Filmed in its entirety on an indoor set that represented a grubby, downtown section of the fictional Paradise City, The Set-Up is an overlooked gem that is truly rough, mean and rugged filmmaking at one of its finest hours.
Washed-up boxer, "Stoker" Thompson, who, at 35, still believes that he can lick his opponent (this time it being the 23 year-old pug, "Tiger" Nelson), is unknowingly set-up by his unethical manager to take a dive, which, in turn, will profit ruthless gangster, Little Boy, who's got some big bucks riding on "Tiger" to win the match.
During 4 grueling rounds of sweaty, face-smashing, gut-punching action, Stoker (and his amazing ability to endure "Tiger" Nelson's lightning-fast wallops) earns the unanimous vocal support of the blood-thirsty spectators who at first had venomously rooted against him.
Filmed in stark b&w, The Set-Up has a running time of only 72 minutes.
This unsparing story and its savage look at the delusional dreams of one palooka's world of boxing, was directed by Robert Wise who went on to filmmaking greatness with such classic motion pictures as The Day The Earth Stood Still, West Side Story and The Andromeda Strain.
Filmed in its entirety on an indoor set that represented a grubby, downtown section of the fictional Paradise City, The Set-Up is an overlooked gem that is truly rough, mean and rugged filmmaking at one of its finest hours.
Washed-up boxer, "Stoker" Thompson, who, at 35, still believes that he can lick his opponent (this time it being the 23 year-old pug, "Tiger" Nelson), is unknowingly set-up by his unethical manager to take a dive, which, in turn, will profit ruthless gangster, Little Boy, who's got some big bucks riding on "Tiger" to win the match.
During 4 grueling rounds of sweaty, face-smashing, gut-punching action, Stoker (and his amazing ability to endure "Tiger" Nelson's lightning-fast wallops) earns the unanimous vocal support of the blood-thirsty spectators who at first had venomously rooted against him.
Filmed in stark b&w, The Set-Up has a running time of only 72 minutes.
This unsparing story and its savage look at the delusional dreams of one palooka's world of boxing, was directed by Robert Wise who went on to filmmaking greatness with such classic motion pictures as The Day The Earth Stood Still, West Side Story and The Andromeda Strain.