John Garfield, the Jewish Brando of the 1940s, born March 4, 1913

Hoberman: “Jewish audiences recognized Garfield as their first Hollywood leading man. Hollywood recognized that, given his emotional volatility, rapid-fire sarcasm, and confrontational sexual charisma, Garfield was a new sort of screen presence—a Brando before Brando.”

http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-arts-and-culture/125598/the-jewish-brando

Force of Evil is an odd little film: ideal running length, maybe the best fraternal relationship depicted on film.

Gentleman's Agreement comes to life whenever he drops a quip.

i didn't know FoE had been cut substantially pre-release.

the last film he did, He Ran All the Way w/ Shelley Winters, is a good one.

Never thought Postman quite stood with Double Indemnity or The Big Sleep or the best noirs of the era, but Garfield's very good.

^^ agreed

Watched Force of Evil for the first time ever (Olive DVD). Some of the cinematography's definitive, probably as good as you'll ever see in a noir. I liked it...but I think it's way off for David Thomson to call it better than On the Waterfront. (A couple of months ago in TNR.) Scorsese provides a little intro, and you can clearly see how the brother relationship influenced Mean Streets and Raging Bull.

it's certainly less sentimental (eg, phony in the last 3 minutes) than OtW.

I love Waterfront's ending--sentimental, I'll agree, but to me heroic and stirring. I count Malden as the film's only weakness (either his performance or the character, not sure which or if it matters).

needed to kill Terry Malloy at the end (like his real-life model)

Gentleman's Agreement comes to life whenever he drops a quip.

― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, March 6, 2013 9:51 AM (1 week ago) Bookmark

yeah definitely

title just reminds me that i only just learned that kim stanley was called the female brando, or at least theres a biog on her by that name

Kim Morgan's centennial appreciation

http://sunsetgun.typepad.com/sunsetgun/2013/03/though-i-frequently-discuss-actors-i-loveam-in-love-with-ive-not-delved-into-that-simmering-gorgeous-genius-of-masculine.html

on Dust Be My Destiny

http://moviemorlocks.com/2014/06/24/on-the-road-dust-be-my-destiny-1939/

One of my mum's favourites :)

The Breaking Point, one of his best, now out on Criterion

https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/4805-the-breaking-point-all-at-sea

The Breaking Point just aired on TCM on Saturday — goddamn what a great movie, and Garfield is terrific in it. No bad performances at all, from anyone.

Love that movie.

yeah, i expect Garfield to be great every time, but not Phyllis Thaxter.

Haven't read the source material, and probably never will given Eddie Muller's description of it during the TCM intro, but I definitely prefer it The Breaking Point to Hawks' take on it.

Michael Curtiz understood lighting, eh?

Never thought Postman quite stood with Double Indemnity or The Big Sleep

James Agee outright panned Postman when it was released. Nowhere as good as Ossessione. Needed sweat and grit.