#24: The Set-Up (Robert Wise, 1949)

Released: March 29, 1949

Director: Robert Wise; Screenplay: Art Cohn based on a poem by Joseph Moncure March; Cinematography: Milton R. Krasner; Music: C. Bakaleinikoff; Producer: Richard Goldstone; Studio: RKO Radio Pictures

Cast: Robert Ryan (Bill “Stoker” Thompson), Audrey Totter (Julie Thompson), George Tobias (Tiny), Alan Baxter (Little Boy), Wallace Ford (Gus), Percy Helton (Red), Hal Baylor (“Tiger” Nelson), Darryl Hickman (Shanley), Kenny O’Morrison (Moore), James Edwards (Luther Hawkins), David Clarke (Gunboat Johnson), Phillip Pine (Tony Souza), Edwin Max (Dann)

- “I’m just one punch away…”

A film noir based on a… poem? This tidbit of trivia was news to me and something that I learned only when typing out the short credits section that opens each post in the countdown. I realize that this observation adds very little to the actual entry, but I found it fascinating nonetheless and thought I’d bring it to everyone’s attention. Surely it is the only noir to be based on a poem? There’s a trivia question for someone reading this. Is there another film noir that is adapted from or based on a poem? I am unaware of another example.

Now, back to more pertinent things… when Body and Soul checked in at #34 in the countdown, I said that I only knew of two other boxing films that topped that Robert Rossen gem – Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull and Robert Wise’s The Set-Up. I still place Scorsese’s 1980 release at the top, but The Set-Up sits not too far behind it. But they are masterpieces for entirely different reasons. Where Raging Bull is extensive, stretching out to cover the rise and fall of virtually Jake LaMotta’s entire career, The Set-Up has a much more narrow scope. It shows a little over an hour in the life of an over-the-hill heavyweight, but its succinctness is a key component of what makes it great. Telling a complete, fulfilling story in just 72-minutes is a task that very few could successfully pull off. The Set-Up manages to do it because everything about it is as tight as a dead-heat – direction, photography, script, acting. Everything.


The story is an incredibly simple one. Stoker Thompson (Robert Ryan) is a boxer in the twilight of his career. He was once an up-and-coming prospect, but now in his mid-thirties he is nothing but a name opponent for young fighters. Everyone but Stoker recognizes this fact – his wife begs him to quit working as the equivalent of a human punching bag, while his manager Tiny (George Tobias) gives him fights and then accepts bribes as if Stoker is taking a dive rather than simply losing because he is past his prime. In Stoker’s mind, he is only one punch away from being back in title contention. So he continues fighting, in hopes that he will muster one more great performance that will land him a final payday to retire on. On this night, though, he runs into trouble when Tiny again accepts a payoff from feared gangster Little Boy (Alan Baxter) for Stoker to drop his fight against Tiger Nelson (Hal Baylor). But rather than let Stoker in on the fix, Tiny is so sure that Stoker will lose anyway that he pockets the entire payoff for himself and never lets his fighter know. So when Stoker endures all the punishment that Nelson can hand out and then begins to win the fight, the rest of his night – and possibly life – are put in jeopardy.

Sorry to repeat myself, but I am still amazed at how air-tight this movie is. The movie unfolds in real time – as evidenced by the opening and closing shots of a clock – so there is not screen time to fill in gaps in Stoker’s story or allow background for any of the characters. Even so, nearly everyone that is encountered in the film feels like a fully-developed personality, as Wise and the actors are very quickly able to make them come alive. After just a single conversation we know what makes Stoker tick. Tiny comes across as the sleazy manager that one would expect in the fight game of the 1940s. By spending time in the shared dressing rooms of the stadium, Wise introduces the different personalities of the fighters of the era. These are actually my favorite scenes in the film. Some of the fighters are delusional, like Stoker, dreaming of being “just one punch away.” We meet a baby-faced amateur who is scared stiff to be making his pro debut. One contemplative pug reads a Bible as he waits for his fight, prompting a cornerman to joke about him “making book on the hereafter.” And we also see the inherent danger of the sport, as one overmatched fighter is dragged back to the dressing room in dreadful shape. The audience only sees these characters for brief bursts, but everything is made to count, and we learn enough about them to care. It is a testament to the strength of Art Cohn’s screenplay that this holds true for every character in the film.


Robert Wise and cinematographer Milton Krasner probably deserve some credit for this element as well, but I’ll give them props in how they magnificently flesh out the feel of a fight town. Paradise City at night comes alive, with everyone bustling to and from the stadium as the night’s fights are beginning. Krasner manages to evoke both a smalltown and menacing feel to the city streets – he makes great use of shadows, light and dark contrasts, and unceasingly flashing lights. Everything happens at night and Wise and Krasner make sure that this fact is never forgotten. The crane shot that starts the film is textbook moviemaking. And the fight scenes are intense and dramatic. The brilliance of the work of Wise and Krasner cannot be overstated. This is one of the best look films of the decade, which thankfully has a wonderful DVD release form Warner Brothers so that it can really be taken in and appreciated.

I don’t want to give the actors short shrift, but I have to keep this to a reasonable length in comparison to the other essays! Robert Ryan really does turn in an outstanding performance. Where he normally played brooding characters in noirs, here his Stoker is a much more likable hero and Ryan is equally as adept. Still, no matter how good the performances, I remain transfixed by the taut technical components of the entire film. Some might dispute this claim (I know Sam loves West Side Story!), but I think that The Set-Up tops anything that Robert Wise ever directed. It is noir, sports, and drama at the highest level. I'll close with some beautiful shots from the gut-wrenching conclusion.

#46: Nobody Lives Forever (Jean Negulesco, 1946)

Released: November 1, 1946

Director: Jean Negulesco; Screenplay: W.R. Burnett based on his novel “I Wasn’t Born Yesterday”; Cinematography: Arthur Edeson; Music: Adolph Deutsch; Producer: Robert Buckner; Studio: Warner Brothers

Cast: John Garfield (Nick Blake), Geraldine Fitzgerald (Gladys Halvorsen), Walter Brennan (Pop Gruber), Faye Emerson (Toni Blackburn), George Coulouris (Doc Ganson), George Tobias (Al Doyle), Robert Shayne (Chet King), Richard Gaines (Charles Manning), Richard Erdman (Bellboy), James Flavin (Shake Thomas), Ralph Peters (Windy Mather)

Here is a personal favorite and yet another film that I consider to be incredibly under-viewed and underappreciated. Since it has no official DVD release, this is one of the first noirs that I ever actively sought a burnt copy of. I became a huge fan of John Garfield after seeing him in The Postman Always Rings Twice and Body and Soul, and then I read about this 1946 release and became very fascinated. Being a complete novice in terms of going about acquiring unreleased movies, it took a little research, but I eventually tracked down a copy and felt vindicated after thoroughly loving it. It is another virtuoso performance from Garfield, who stands out from what could otherwise be viewed as textbook characters. On the strength of his performance alone, Nobody Lives Forever deserves a spot in this countdown. It just so happens that I love a few other elements as well, which accounts for such a high placement.

Nick Blake (John Garfield) is injured in World War II and is discharged after being wounded. Returning to New York City, Nick begins to survey his hometown. Before leaving for the war, Nick had become a major player in the city’s underworld, running various scams and rackets and amassing a small fortune that he left in the care of his girlfriend Toni (Faye Emerson). When he and longtime pal Al Doyle (George Tobias) check up on Toni, they learn that she used that money to set up herself up in a club with a new partner. Extorting a payoff from this new club, Nick and Al decide to take their profits and leave for Los Angeles and live a peaceful life of luxury. But simply stepping away from their old lives is not easy, as even in L.A. they run into old grifter acquaintances like Pop Gruber (Walter Brennan) and Doc Ganson (George Coulouris). Ganson entices Nick to come in on a scam to fleece a widow out of her inherited fortune. Nick agrees, but only if he can run it. He thus begins wooing Gladys Halvorsen (Geraldine Fitzgerald), but inexplicably begins to genuinely fall for her. When he tries to pull out of the scheme rather than hurt Gladys, things begin to spiral out of control – Toni suddenly shows up from New York and Ganson decides to finish the scam on his own terms.


Released the same year as The Best Years of Our Lives and earlier countdown selection Somewhere in the Night, this film covers similar territory. The uncertainty of where one fits in a postwar society is addressed at every turn. Nick feels it doubly, as not only is he a returning veteran, but also a career criminal that suddenly no longer has a solidified position in the underworld. This insecurity is only reinforced when Nick decides to leave New York and seek a fresh start in Los Angeles. Even in L.A. he is reminded of how unsettled things are – former friend and mentor Pop Gruber, a onetime high roller, is reduced to petty scams and work as a pickpocket, and former rackets heavy Doc Ganson sits around a local bar dreaming up schemes that he never seems able to pull off. It is as if Nick wants desperately to move on to new things in his life, but he can’t ever quite completely break away from his sordid New York City roots.

This is not a particularly dark film, especially in comparison to other noirs of the era. Although there is plotting done in traditional smoke-filled backrooms, the majority of the story takes place outdoors on beaches or in a posh resort. The focus on the developing relationship between Nick and Gladys, along with lighthearted moments peppered throughout the story (particularly coming from George Tobias’ good-natured Al Doyle), has the movie at times leaning toward straight drama. But the existential journey of Nick Blake, along with the darkened conclusion on a foggy dock, is enough to qualify with my malleable definition.


The legend is that Humphrey Bogart was originally offered the lead and turned it down, which then allowed it to pass to Garfield. It’s another of those fortuitous breaks that I enjoy pointing out in Hollywood history. I love Bogey, but I don’t know that he could have bettered Garfield’s performance here, as the character seems perfectly written for him.