TCM watch party spotlights The Set Up (1949)

moviesJun 7, 202669695

TCM's Noir Alley and linked watch parties are reappraising Robert Wise's 1949 boxing noir The Set-Up, spotlighting Robert Ryan's lead turn and the film's stark real-time finale. Robert Ryan plays aging fighter Bill "Stoker" Thompson, and Milton Krasner's high-contrast black-and-white cinematography frames the climactic ring sequence presented almost entirely in continuous real time. Martin Scorsese recorded audio commentary for the film's Blu-ray and studied The Set-Up while preparing Raging Bull, highlighting the film's influence on later boxing movies. The renewed attention underscores The Set-Up's unflinching moral center and technical daring, explaining why noir fans and filmmakers still study it today.

CondimentGrrl aka Marcy

@condimentgrrl.bsky.social

I love a good I’LL SHOW ALL OF YOUSE fiery monologue. #NoirAlley #TCMParty #TheBlueDahlia

6345d ago

CT Million

@ctmillion.bsky.social

Alan Ladd somehow made a retreating hairline look good. I'm trying to learn from him. #TheBlueDahlia #NoirAlley #TCMParty

5645d ago

GinnyinSC3

I think you mean “receding.” Retreating makes it sounds like it’s moving back from the offensive line in a military action. 😂😉

WomanoftheYear3

He was also only 5'6", too. Still sexy as hell.

Lee Hawn 🏳️‍🌈3

So handsome. I love his hair too. #TheBlueDahlia #NoirAlley #TCMParty

ElizabethLiesl3

It's the eyebrows, wavy hair and blue eyes 🫠

Jauntworks Studio Noir Illustration-Erik J Kreffel2

Alan Ladd makes all us 5’6” guys feel like we could be stars too😅 #TCMParty #NoirAlley

Gregory Maupin2

At this point I'm *giving* lessons on the subject. To Richard Deacon. #TheBlueDahlia #NoirAlley #TCMParty

James Venturini

@jamesventurini.bsky.social

Was the guy he just strangled meant to look like the screenwriter? #TheBlueDahlia #NoirAlley #TCMParty

1745d ago

A Nick Charles

@nickcharles.bsky.social

57 but the actor was 52?! A mere house detective?! 9 1/2 years military cop. 3 deployments. 6 years as a fed. 11 years as a private detective. 48 years old. Can’t imagine being that age and ragged. #NoirAlley #TheBlueDahlia #TCMParty 🕵️‍♂️🍸

A man wearing a black shirt seated on a black leather sofa. Framed “Thin Man” posters and photos hang from the wall. A bookcase is behind him. He wears glasses. Has gray hair. Beard. May be handsome. Who knows.

2145d ago

Gregory Maupin6

I looked it up too, and at 52 I can feel if not better than at least less Fully Grizzled than Will Wright! #TheBlueDahlia #NoirAlley #TCMParty

Andrija Popovic4

You wear the years in style. "Dad" lets the years wear him.

Andrija Popovic

@andrian6.bsky.social

One of the great boxing noirs ever created - #TheSetUp is a showcase for Robert Ryan's amazing range. #TCMParty

1845d ago

Pam Newman6

Ahhh, so wonderfully said, and my feelings exactly about #TheSetUp and Robert Ryan. This is one of my favorite noirs,..actually, one of my very favorite films over all. #TCMParty #TwoForOne

BookHoarder2

Probably my favorite boxing movie.

Gayer Than Thou 🏳️‍🌈

@gayerthanthou.bsky.social

I would like an alternate movie that’s Charlotte, Lisa and June Vale, and Deb McIntyre. They sail the world corrupting architects and sailors and everyone in between. #NowVoyager #TCMParty

1945d ago

Gregory Maupin3

Why do I feel like the Princess Centimillia figures into this cinematic universe? #TCMParty

Muse of Ire2

Sounds good, but leave June out of it, poisonous little monster

Aldo Gandia

@aldobarkeeper.bsky.social

Robert Wise directed the shot. Milton R. Krasner shot it. Robert Ryan acted it out. And, @eddiemuller.bsky.social helped make it iconic #TheSetUp #TCMParty with dead ends

1745d ago

Leaving FilmStruck

@leavingfilmstrk.bsky.social

I just love Ryan and Totter together. They're so real. #TheSetUp #TCMParty

1745d ago

Phyll Indablank

@phyllindablank.bsky.social

#TheSetUp is an exception to the rule bc Julie is consumed with worry/care #TCMParty

1445d ago

🎞️🎥✨celluloidsoul

@celluloidsoul.bsky.social

What's not top notch about this special effect?!!! 😙👌 #BlitheSpirit #TCMParty

Elvira and Ruth as ghosts, sitting on the bridge waiting for Charles to drive along.

1544d ago

dwayneadd.bsky.social

@dwayneadd.bsky.social

Two of the defining images in all of classic era film noir IMO. Yet, when Julie says, "we both won", she is correct. Stoker will never fight again, yet he kept his self-worth and honor to himself and to her. What a film. 👏 #TCMParty #TheSetup

1345d ago

Van Stanwyck

@vanstanwyck.bsky.social

That's Weegee, the noirest of all photojournalists, playing the ringside timekeeper. Even though it's a tiny part, I think it holds outsized meaning in this film where clocks mark real time. #TheSetUp #TCMParty

1545d ago