Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956)

Directed by Robert Wise. Starring Paul Newman, Pier Angeli, Everett Sloane, Harold J. Stone, Eileen Heckart, Robert Loggia, Sal Mineo, Joseph Buloff, Sammy White.

Sincere but simplistic biopic of the early life of boxer Rocky Graziano (Newman), running from his childhood, through his delinquent years as part of a street gang and his dishonorable discharge from the army, up to winning the middleweight championship belt in the late-1940s. Ernest Lehman’s script hits all the predetermined marks with efficiency; Wise’s direction only really comes to life during the climactic bout, where Albert Akst’s editing and Joseph Ruttenberg’s Oscar-winning photography set a new standard for boxing ring filmmaking. In one of three different roles he inherited after James Dean’s passing, Newman sports a wobbly accent that struggles to convince as Italian-American (he sorta sounds like Tony Curtis trying to do Marlon Brando from Streetcar), but his budding star presence couldn’t be denied. Loggia’s film debut; look for Steve McQueen in a bit part early on as a street tough wielding a knife.

65/100