On this day in movie history - The Set-Up (1949 movie & novel):

The Set-Up

directed by Robert Wise,

written by Art Cohn,

based on the book-length narrative poem by Joseph Moncure March,

was released in the United States on March 29, 1949.
Music by C. Bakaleinikof and Roy Webb.

Cast:

Robert Ryan, Audrey Totter, George Tobias, Alan Baxter, Wallace Ford, Percy Helton, Hal Fieberling, Darryl Hickman, Kenny O'Morrison, James Edwards, David Clarke, Phillip Pine, Arthur 'Weegee' Fellig.

Recommended reading:

The Set-Up

By Joseph Moncure March.

Filmed as The Set-Up (1949), directed by Robert Wise.

The Lost Classic by the Author of The Wild Party.

Illustrated by Erik Kriek.

Book-length narrative poem.

Published by Korero Press.

First published 1928.

Hardcover.

ISBN-10: 1912740087

ISBN-13: 978-1912740086

Description:

"A ringside seat at a heavyweight bout is what is offered by Mr. March in this astonishing narrative… episodes that make the blood boil, and the hair rise…tragic pathos so deep as almost to defeat any faith in man." – New York Times Book Review, upon original 1928 publication.

"It’s a cross between a graphic novel and a heavily illustrated epic poem. It has the feel of a lost treasure one would find on a back shelf of some forgotten bookstore. And yet, somehow it seems crisp and new. . . . If you can imagine there was a month-long collaboration where Eric Powell, Charles Burns and Will Eisner were all locked in a studio together, you will be able to envision exactly what this art looks like. Kriek’s illustrations employ black and grey tones with a moody effect. And he’s not handcuffed into any formal page layout or size. Some illustrations are full pagers, some are spot illustrations in weird shapes, and some overflow to two pages. There are no word balloons, and as this is a poem, there’s great flexibility and freshness to each and every page layout." – Pop Culture Squad.

"So prolifically illustrated it reads like a graphic novel. Striking artwork." – Bud's Art Books.

"The tale is told in relentless rhyme and pitiless beats presaging modern Hip Hop culture. This is dawn-era storytelling with classical themes delivered as primordial Rap in its purest, most primal form." – Comics Review.

Written in 1928, The Set-Up is a long narrative poem about the boxing underworld - a hard-boiled tragedy told in syncopated rhyming couplets. When the work was first published it made the bestseller list, and in 1949 it was turned into an award-winning film featuring Robert Ryan and Audrey Totter. This reprinting of the original, unchanged 1928 poem features dynamic, specially commissioned artwork by Erik Kriek that vividly conveys the story of Pansy, an up-and-coming black prize fighter who takes on all comers. When he was in the ring, "It was over before you knew it. He'd carve you up like a leg of mutton. And drop you flat with a sock on the button." Pansy's complicated love life leads to a spell in prison and his career subsequently takes a nosedive; but he continues to box until the fateful night his fight managers and opponent triple-cross him and he meets a grisly end at the hands of a vengeful gang.

On this day in movie history - Bad Day at Black Rock (1955):

Bad Day at Black Rock

directed by John Sturges,

written by Millard Kaufman and Don McGuire,

was released in the United States on January 13, 1955.
Based on the short story Bad Time at Honda by Howard Breslin,

published in The American Magazine (1947).
Music by André Previn.

Cast:

Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan, Anne Francis, Dean Jagger, Walter Brennan, John Ericson, Ernest Borgnine, Lee Marvin, Russell Collins, Walter Sande, Walter Beaver, Billy Dix, Mickey Little, K.L. Smith, Robert Griffin, Harry Harvey, Bobby Johnson, Francis McDonald.

On this day in movie history - On Dangerous Ground (1951 movie & novel):

On Dangerous Ground

directed by Nicholas Ray and Ida Lupino,

written by A. I. Bezzerides and Nicholas Ray,

based on the novel Mad with Much Heart by Gerald Butler,

was released in the United States on December 12, 1951.
Music by Bernard Herrmann.

Cast:

Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan, Ward Bond, Charles Kemper, Anthony Ross, Ed Begley, Ian Wolfe, Sumner Williams, Gus Schilling, Frank Ferguson, Cleo Moore, Olive Carey.

Mad with Much Heart

By Gerald Butler.

First published 1945.
ASIN: B0006AQZEY
Published by: Rinehart & company, inc.
Hardcover.

Description:

Filmed as On Dangerous Ground (1951), directed by Nicholas Ray and Ida Lupino.

Born on this day – Robert Ryan:

Robert Ryan

Actor

November 11, 1909 – July 11, 1973

On this day in movie history - The Racket (1951 movie & books):

The Racket

directed by John Cromwell,

written by William Wister Haines and W.R. Burnett,

based on the play by Bartlett Cormack,

was released in the United States on October 25, 1951.
Music by Paul Sawtell.

Cast:

Robert Mitchum, Lizabeth Scott, Robert Ryan, William Talman, Ray Collins, Joyce MacKenzie, Robert Hutton, Virginia Huston, William Conrad, Walter Sande, Les Tremayne, Don Porter, Walter Baldwin, Brett King, Richard Karlan, Tito Vuolo, Milburn Stone.

Recommended reading:

The Racket

By Bartlett Cormack.

A play in three acts.
ASIN: B0BPM49P6T
Published by Samuel French.
Published 1928.

Adapted to film in 1928 and 1951.

The play The Racket is also available in the following anthology:

Strictly Dishonorable and Other Lost American Plays

Edited by Richard Nelson.

Paperback.
Published 1993.
Published by Theatre Communications Group.
ISBN 13: 9780930452551
ISBN 10: 0930452550
ASIN: 0930452550

Contents: Strictly Dishonorable by Preston Sturges; The Racket by Bartlett Cormack; The Ghost of Yankee Doodle by Sidney Howard and A Slight Case of Murder by Howard Lindsay and Damon Runyon.

On this day in movie history - The Outfit (1973):

The Outfit

directed and written by John Flynn,

based on the novel by Richard Stark,

was released in the United States on October 19, 1973.
Music by Jerry Fielding.

Cast:

Robert Duvall, Karen Black, Joe Don Baker, Robert Ryan, Timothy Carey, Richard Jaeckel, Sheree North, Felice Orlandi, Marie Windsor, Jane Greer, Henry Jones, Joanna Cassidy, Tom Reese, Elisha Cook Jr., Bill McKinney, Anita O'Day, Archie Moore, Tony Young, Roland La Starza, Edward Ness, Roy Roberts, Toby Andersen, Emile Meyer, Roy Jenson, Philip Kenneally, Bern Hoffman, John Steadman, Paul Genge, Francis De Sales, James Bacon, Army Archerd, Tony Trabert, Lee de Broux, Raven Grey Eagle, Bob Harks, Charles Knapp, Mike Ragan, Jeannine Riley, George Savalas, Jeffrey Sayre, Arthur Tovey, Ralph Volkie.