“You’ll always be one punch away.”

Plot Summary: A seemingly washed-up fighter (Robert Ryan) enters the ring for his last bout unaware that his manager has fixed the fight with gangsters.

Review:

Combining the potency of the boxing drama with the shadowy atmosphere and fateful sensibility of film noir, The Set-Up is one of the best film’s of the ’40s, a low-budget gem whose taut, spare narrative unfolds in real time, lending the film a heightened sense of urgency as it counts down to aging boxer Bill “Stoker” Thompson’s rendezvous with destiny. Stoker’s memorable introduction is film noir at its best: the camera pans from the rundown boxing arena, where an evening of bouts is just getting underway, to the Hotel Cozy across the street, then slowly moves toward an open window, pushes past the curtains blowing atmospherically in the night breeze, and finally enters the dingy room where Stoker, quickly established as a washed-up fighter who’ll “always be one punch away,” prepares to leave for what will prove to be his final fight. By the time Stoker enters the ring he’s completely alone - the hostile, bloodthirsty crowd wants to see him pummeled; his manager and trainer, having fixed the fight without his knowledge, hope he goes down as expected; and even his girl, who can’t stand to see him fight anymore, fails to show up for his match. A film noir figure of almost mythic tragedy, Stoker’s got nothing left to lose but his pride.

The fight itself is, if you’ll excuse the shameless pun, a knockout. Using three strategically placed cameras Wise creates one of the best boxing sequences of all time by taking us directly inside the ring with great power and immediacy, (Scorsese was so impressed by the fight sequence he consciously had to avoid copying it during the filming of Raging Bull!), while the aging, underdog Stoker attains almost heroic proportions in his long, grueling yet valiant struggle against his younger, quicker opponent.

Even more remarkable than the fight, however, is its immediate aftermath. Having refused to take a dive Stoker sneaks out the back door of the arena hoping to evade the enraged racketeers who think he welshed. From the alleyway he can see the light from his hotel room window, a tantalizingly close beacon of safety where his girl awaits his return in the hopes of beginning a new life. All that stands in his way are the gangsters. With its richly atmospheric chiaroscuro lighting, its claustrophobic alleyway setting, and its tight close-ups of Stoker’s sweaty, haunted face as he desperately tries to maneuver out of this trap, this extraordinary climax is a textbook example of the essential techniques of film noir, as if Wise shot the sequence anticipating that one day it would be studied by film students. By the time Stoker finally emerges from the shadows of the alleyway his boxing days are over, but although his hands may be broken, his integrity and pride are intact.

Posted on January 26th, 2008 by Mat Viola
Filed under: Reviews