Noir Climbs In The Ring
80 Savage Minutes That Is The Set-Up (1949)
Boxing as the grim game movies would disdain
until Humphrey Bogart finally called for the sport's outlawing in The Harder
They Fall. Was this partly one industry wanting to get rid of competition that
was the other? After all, small arenas in "tank towns" and elsewhere
drew crowds that weren't attending theatres, so why not relieve them of a less
healthy choice? Boxing being a grubby business, a lot of people saw bouts on
screen who wouldn't dream of attending an actual match (myself included), that
gulf widened as filmmakers increasingly associated the "sport" with
both organized and petty crime. For purposes of The Set-Up, director Robert
Wise extended criticism to watchers as well, his camera scanning over blood
thirst among men and women in the stands. The idea apparently was to make any
of us ashamed to look at fights, let alone support human suffering, and the
underworld, by paid attendance to matches. Critics hailing The Set-Up noted
parallel with gladiatorial combat where merciless crowds gave thumbs-down to
fallen warriors.
Things got to a point where boxing itself was an
affront to civilized conduct, reason I suppose why we have less nightly
bouts in those tank towns that are presumably still on the map (but what about
brutal bare-knuck matches held nightly in gather spots nationwide, and broadcast as often to TV viewing?). The Set-Up got into a grudge match of
its own when UA's Champion was set to open and RKO boss Howard Hughes
sniffed infringement on part of creative crew of that ring drama. There was
basis to the flap, Champion director Mark Robson having been at RKO till recent,
and with access to The Set-Up's script in development. Court decision was for
RKO, and UA had to trim offending portions from Champion. On-canvas UA would call Hughes a big
bully, which he probably was (remember the kibosh HH put on Red River's
original ending), and a bad sport besides for rushing out The Set-Up just ahead
of Champion's bow. All of that is forgot now, and we're left with apple-orange
that is these two, both with considerable merit, and available to HD-viewing
(The Set-Up via Warner Instant, Champion on Blu-Ray).
Some non American posters (it seems that they have access to a mold and mostly reordered the elements)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cartelespeliculas.com/galeria/albums/userpics/10385/The_Set-Up_fr.jpg
http://www.cartelespeliculas.com/galeria/albums/userpics/10385/The_Set-Up_usa_ita.jpg
http://www.cartelespeliculas.com/galeria/albums/userpics/10385/NOUS_AVONS_GAGNE_CE_SOIR959.jpg
Here are some non American posters for CHAMPION:
http://www.cartelespeliculas.com/galeria/albums/046/g36ho6el.jpg
http://www.cartelespeliculas.com/galeria/albums/035/g3efrKCi.jpg
http://www.cartelespeliculas.com/galeria/albums/035/hHekqqE%3D.jpg
And here is one from Argentina for THE HARDER THEY FALL (the boxer in the film was from there):
http://www.cartelespeliculas.com/galeria/albums/018/23p87297018.jpg
Boxing in Argentina used to be a staple on television up until the nineties although it is still appearing in cable channels and occasionally broadcasting stations when somebody is trying to become a champion.
However, in the old days of broadcasting there was an expert gentleman handling the broadcast called Ulises Barrera. He was a terrific journalist and did not accept neither corruption of any kind and always was alerting everybody that the sport can and has created tragic consequences. He was like this all time. He was very down to earth and, in fact, boxing was actually not his favorite sport at all.
Bouts used to take place in the Luna Park in downtown Buenos Aires up until the end of the eighties. At the time, the owner of the stadiums decided to disassociate himself with the sport because refused to accept the corruption that has been affecting boxing. Since then, the Luna Park almost never has staged any of these events.
Remember well viewing THE SET-UP in 35mm with Audrey Totter in attendance.
ReplyDeleteHard to believe anyone could give burly Robert Ryan such a beating.
I would like to point out that in Jean Rouch's LES MAITRES FOUS there is a THE SET-UP poster clipped from a newspaper tacked to the wall of a Ghanaian village hut!
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