Bill 'Stoker' Thompson from THE SET-UP (1949)

Film noir and its losers...

Image from classicfilmnoir.com

Some of the most brutal noirs of the 1940s came from the man who would go on to win Best Director Oscars for West Side Story (1961) and The Sound of Music (1965), a fact that amazes me every time I think about it. Much like Anthony Mann, who went from noirs to Westerns, Robert Wise went from noirs to dramas and musicals, and is undoubtedly more celebrated for the latter two, but there is something to be said for his noirs. Born to Kill (1947) is one of the few I can barely sit through, due to its immensely evil nature, I Want To Live! (1958) is equally devastating, and The Set-Up (1949) breaks your heart.

Written by Art Cohn, based on a poem (yes) by Joseph Moncure March, The Set-Up follows Bill 'Stoker' Thompson, played by Robert Ryan, an aging boxer who is set to take on an up-and-coming boxer by the name of Tiger Nelson (Hal Fieberling). Stoker's manager Tiny (George Tobias) thinks he's going to lose so he takes a bribe from a mobster who wants Tiger to win. Meanwhile, Stoker's wife Julie (Audrey Totter) thinks he should forfeit, as she fears for his life.

Boxing is a recurring motif in film noir. Its physical brutality serves as a metaphor for what's going on underneath, usually showing the character at their lowest. In The Set-Up, this is no exception. Stoker and Julie want a better life for themselves. They just want to live their lives and be happy. Stoker reminds her of what they could do what the money; he suggests that cigar stand in Union City they've always talked about. But Julie just wants her Bill alive and well.

‘Oh Bill... maybe you can go on taking the beatings, I can't.’ Julie Thompson

Julie has been supportive of him throughout his career. She has always put him first, and she stands by him no matter what, even when she can't physically watch the fight. And Stoker knows this. He's fighting for both of them. He wants to win for both of them. The odds are against him, but he is still going for it. He is a 'loser' in everyone's eyes, but not hers, and certainly not ours.

Throughout the film, you feel for both Stoker and Julie. He really should have listened to her. He's 35, he is way past his prime, and virtually everybody wants him to lose. But the fighter in him gets the better of him. So, when the time comes, we watch, horrified, as one of the most meticulously detailed fight scenes in cinema happens right in front of our eyes.

‘Well that's the way it is, you're a fighter, you gotta fight.’ Bill ‘Stoker’ Thompson

The outcome of the fight is surprising, but the ending is even more surpising. One of the few happy endings of film noir, The Set-Up reminds us of the power of love. It reminds us that there are people in our lives will always be by our side, no matter what. Julie's love for Stoker is one of the most remarkable displays of love in film noir and Stoker's inclusion in the Losers of Film Noir is, if anything, ironic.

We bid farewell to Bill 'Stoker' Thompson and The Set-Up (1949). Our next loser is a loud-mouthed know-it-all from the wrong side of the tracks. The film is Detour (1945), the actress is Ann Savage and the loser is... simply, Vera.

See you on the sunny side of the street.