Robert Ryan gives one of his best performances as Stoker, a washed up 35 year-old fighter, in this brutally realistic movie about the fight game that still packs a wallop even now more then fifty years after it's release.
Stoker gets beaten in as well as outside the ring by going all out to defeat Tiger Nelson, Hal Baylor, in a fight that was set-up for him to lose. The only thing that went wrong was that his greedy manager Tiny, George Tobias, didn't inform him about it in order to keep Stoker's share of the $50.00 he was paid off to have Stoker throw the fight. Thinking that he was so over matched against Nelson that he'd lose without even having to take a dive.
Robert Ryan, who was a national collegiate boxing champion at Dortmout and Loyola Collage for four years, is very effective in the fight scenes with Tiger Nelson giving as good as he takes against the much younger Nelson and dropping him for the full count. After it looked like that either he would be knocked out or the referee would have to stop the fight to keep him from being killed by the much younger and stronger opponent Tiger Nelson.
When the fight is over Stoker's manager takes off with the pay-off loot and Stoker, who knew nothing of the set-up, is cornered in the empty boxing arena and beaten again by Tiger Nelson but this time Nelson had the help of a few hoods that he didn't have in the ring when he fought Stoker by himself.
The only touch of humanity and kindness in this brutal and violent film is Stoker's wife Julie, Audrey Totter, with wanting him to quit the fight game before it ends up killing him.
In the movies final scene when Stoker staggers out of the boxing arena after being beating up by the mobsters, for not throwing the fight which his manager "forgot" to tell him to do, and collapses in the street like a skid-row drunk the sight of Julie holding his head in her arms and sobbing and crying for someone to call for an ambulance would make the hardest hearts in this brutal movie melt.
Stoker though beaten and his hands broken where he can never fight again leaves the fight business with his pride dignity and most of all his loving wife Julie, who stood by him during this whole ordeal,in tack and that makes for, if you can call something like that in this movie, a happy ending.
Stoker gets beaten in as well as outside the ring by going all out to defeat Tiger Nelson, Hal Baylor, in a fight that was set-up for him to lose. The only thing that went wrong was that his greedy manager Tiny, George Tobias, didn't inform him about it in order to keep Stoker's share of the $50.00 he was paid off to have Stoker throw the fight. Thinking that he was so over matched against Nelson that he'd lose without even having to take a dive.
Robert Ryan, who was a national collegiate boxing champion at Dortmout and Loyola Collage for four years, is very effective in the fight scenes with Tiger Nelson giving as good as he takes against the much younger Nelson and dropping him for the full count. After it looked like that either he would be knocked out or the referee would have to stop the fight to keep him from being killed by the much younger and stronger opponent Tiger Nelson.
When the fight is over Stoker's manager takes off with the pay-off loot and Stoker, who knew nothing of the set-up, is cornered in the empty boxing arena and beaten again by Tiger Nelson but this time Nelson had the help of a few hoods that he didn't have in the ring when he fought Stoker by himself.
The only touch of humanity and kindness in this brutal and violent film is Stoker's wife Julie, Audrey Totter, with wanting him to quit the fight game before it ends up killing him.
In the movies final scene when Stoker staggers out of the boxing arena after being beating up by the mobsters, for not throwing the fight which his manager "forgot" to tell him to do, and collapses in the street like a skid-row drunk the sight of Julie holding his head in her arms and sobbing and crying for someone to call for an ambulance would make the hardest hearts in this brutal movie melt.
Stoker though beaten and his hands broken where he can never fight again leaves the fight business with his pride dignity and most of all his loving wife Julie, who stood by him during this whole ordeal,in tack and that makes for, if you can call something like that in this movie, a happy ending.