SOMEBODY UP THERE LIKES ME (1956)

Socko bio-pic of ‘40s boxer Rocky Graziano, a major influence for Martin Scorsese’s RAGING BULL/’80 which perhaps explains why it gets overlooked in the canon of classic pugilist pics.*  Unexpectedly tough & violent even by current standards (young Rocky was borderline sociopath), with ring action that aims not to dazzle in the Scorsese hyper-drive manner, but to convince in the fashion of BODY AND SOUL/’47 or THE SET-UP/49.   The latter also from director Robert Wise, but more classic noir than the naturalism seen here, abetted by cinematographer Joseph Ruttenberg dropping his signature gloss & glamor for grit.  As Rocky, Paul Newman found himself (and his audience) in his third at bat, getting the call after James Dean unexpectedly died.  Newman must have known it was his big chance and he grabs the role like a lifeline.  As method actors go, Newman indicates like mad, but he makes this thug’s progress count, backed by a fest of entertaining turns by red-meat actors.  Sal Mineo especially winning as a loser BFF; Pier Angeli adorable as the girl who sees something good in him; really everybody just right in a huge cast.  (Glance around to spot rising young actors in the backgrounds.)  Rarely thought of as a team, but scripter Ernest Lehman did three more with Wise: EXECUTIVE SUITE/’54, WEST SIDE STORY/’61; THE SOUND OF MUSIC/’65; that makes them four for four.

DOUBLE-BILL/LINK:  *Even more overlooked, William Wyler’s boxing scam pic THE SHAKEDOWN/’29, largely because it was long unavailable.  Now easy to find, and a total charmer with some remarkable ring action, especially when you consider that as a silent pic, Wyler can’t lean on aural body blows from a soundtrack to cover faked punches.  Turn down the sound on any boxing pic to see just how much of the fighting is really ‘sold’ by the soundtrack.  https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2021/05/the-shakedown-1929.html

ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: Kudos to the film’s art designers & set decorators, that tenement flat Rocky grows up in is a dead ringer to the ones on display at the NYC Tenement Museum . . . only dirtier.