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The Set-Up | 
| Director: Robert Wise
Actors: Robert Ryan, Audrey Totter, George Tobias, Alan Baxter, Wallace Ford
Studio: Turner Home Ent
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.98
Buy New: $17.99
You Save: $1.99 (10%)
New (35) Used (23) from $2.80
Rating:  26 reviews
Sales Rank: 56334
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 72 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: DT6748D
ISBN: 078064638X
UPC: 053939674828
EAN: 9780780646384
ASIN: B000244EZ6
Theatrical Release Date: March 29, 1949
Release Date: July 6, 2004
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
This riveting, gut-punching boxing picture plays out in something close to "real time." We are locked in with an over-the-hill pug (Robert Ryan) as he arrives at an arena for a match against a younger opponent. What he doesn't know yet is that his crooked manager has agreed to throw the fight for some gangsters--so Ryan has more than one battle on his hands as each bruising round goes by. At a lean, mean 72 minutes, The Set-Up manages to load the essential film noir themes into one potent package, excitingly delivered with no breathing room. Director Robert Wise would go on to make such mega-productions as The Sound of Music, which only makes you appreciate his economy here. And the movie's a fine showcase for tall, craggy Robert Ryan, one of the great under-sung actors in American movies, who was a boxer himself before becoming an actor. --Robert Horton
Product Description
Over-the-hill boxer Stoker Thompson thinks he can still win a bout despite doubts from his wife and his manager. He goes into his next fight determined to beat his opponent not realizing his manager has taken money from a tough gambler for having Stoker take a dive. Played out in real time.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 053939674828
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| Customer Reviews: Read 21 more reviews...
 Realistic slice of the boxer's life August 8, 2008
Dennis W. Wong
Although this film came out between the other 2 boxing films, "Body & Soul" & "Champion", in many ways this film outshines these two classics. First off, it features the late Robert Ryan in a rare sympathetic role as Stoker, a washed up 35 yr old boxer who longs for one great match. How he achieves this despite the fact that his crooked manager, George Tobias, and the various obstacles thrown at him form the crux of this film. But also what director Robert Wise shows us in the brief 71 minute running time is the reactions of the spectators, the fear in a young boxer's face as he awaits his first match and the double dealings of the fight management. With this role and his break out performance as the bigoted soldier, Montgomery in "Crossfire", Ryan proved himself to be an "actors actor" or as Ernest Borgnine stated in his recent autobiography, a craftsman of the first order. This film also influenced Martin Scorsese and in his commentary to the DVD, to be specific, in the making of his "Raging Bull". Recommended for film noirists and boxing fans.
A Story About the Fight Game January 11, 2008
Acute Observer (Jersey Shore)
The film begins with a boxing match. One man is knocked down. At the "Ringside Cafe" a deal is made with the manager of a boxer; this fight will be fixed. Stoker Thompson is 35, an old man in the boxing game. Julie doesn't want Bill to continue getting beat. The film shows the reaction of the audience to the fight. The film underlines the tawdriness of this business. One boxer has been in the game too long. Julie walks around this shadowy urban neighborhood, and does not go to the fight.
Tiger Nelson seems to have the advantage over Stoker Thompson. The first two rounds are about even. The film shows the character of the customers. Stoker is knocked down in the 3rd round, but gets up at the count of nine. Stoker's manager tells him to lay down and take the count. "Little Boy" wants a fix. But the unexpected happens. The fight crowd empties the arena, Stoker's manager and trainer disappear too. Stoker dresses and leaves; he is scared. Little Boy's men take their revenge. Stoker can't fight again. Bill and Julie both won that night. [This ending is ironic.]
Urban Allegory December 2, 2007
Douglas Doepke (Claremont CA USA)
More than a movie, this is an urban nightmare. A vision of some never, never land of unending shadows, cheap neons, and throngs of delirious pleasure seekers. They crowd "Dreamland" and the "Fun Arcade" or slip into the burger joint for a greasy slab, while overhead a band blares out a feverish tune. Soon the delirium spreads into the dark as far as the eye can see. And through it all, weaves the camera, in and out, as though we too are trapped in the inferno.
Except that the real pleasure-seekers crowd around a cone of shrunken light. Beneath the bulb, rounds of sweaty hopefuls beat their brains out for a few bucks and the roar of blood-lust delight. There's the fat guy stuffing his mouth with each hammer blow, the timid housewife shrieking in ecstatic release, and the office guy shadow-boxing with the boss's kisser. Even the blind man pitches to and fro to the pulse of the savage rhythms. And in the middle, there's an old guy, beaten and bloodied, trying to salvage some dignity before he checks out for the last time. Likely, he's the only one who cares. Yeah, it's a great little movie, maybe the best ever on boxing with an atmosphere so thick, the proverbial knife can cut it. With an iconic Robert Ryan, an over-scrubbed Audrey Totter, and a reptilian Alan Baxter. Pick it up.
The Set-Up June 25, 2007
John Farr
Robert Wise's taut, bruising drama tackles the merciless world of boxing with heavy cynicism but great empathy for the men whose bodies are nothing more than bettors' chips. Ryan, a real-life college boxing champion, is exceptional playing the 35-year-old fighter--an "old man in this business," as his wife reminds him--determined to whip a mobster's punk. And Baxter, whose pinched smirk conveys a world of menace, couldn't be more sinister, especially in the crushing finale. Wise intercuts the bloody, heart-catching real-time bout (a major influence on "Raging Bull") with unflattering shots of the audience--a woman screaming for blood, an obese fellow stuffing his mouth--satirically expressing his own fury without a single word of dialogue.
Watch it back to front with Cinderella Man March 28, 2007
Merlin Douglas Larsen (West Jordan, Utah United States)
It really is essentially the same kind of story, including the wife-boxer husband dynamic, and the broken right hand!
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this 1949 film noir classic. I have always enjoyed Robert Ryan. So that was a plus, and he didn't disappoint: his boxing experience made the fights very realistic.
This movie is interesting for a variety of reasons. It has no musical score. The plot is raw and the dialogue spare. It uses a "minute is a minute" approach (like in "High Noon"). I especially enjoyed the character sketches of half a dozen or so spectators: the woman who professes to be disgusted by boxing, then gets into it with disgusting intensity; the blind man who changes his allegiance; the penny-ante hood and his loud-mouthed moll; the guy who shadow boxes from his seat; the fat man who is seen eating something different each time the camera comes back to him. Cinematography was first class. The quality of the DVD I watched was also very good. It was from the boxed set of five film noir DVDs, which includes "Out of the Past".
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