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72-401: The film was a more lighthearted remake of the 1933 non-musical movie One Sunday Afternoon , directed by Stephen Roberts and starring Gary Cooper . Unlike that earlier picture, it was a hit. In 1948, Walsh directed a third version of the story, also called One Sunday Afternoon , featuring early 20th-century songs combined with original musical numbers. The movie runs as a long flashback in

144-428: A Clifford Odets play, The Big Knife . "I have nothing to hide and nothing to be ashamed of. My life is an open book. I am no Red. I am no 'pink.' I am no fellow traveler. I am a Democrat by politics, a liberal by inclination, and a loyal citizen of this country by every act of my life." Long involved in liberal politics, Garfield was caught up in the communist scare of the late 1940s and early 1950s. He supported

216-410: A blend of nitrous oxide and oxygen. The story of their past is told in flashback while the anesthetic is taking effect. In the present, Biff turns off the oxygen—and Virginia appears. She is now a harridan who dresses and acts like a prostitute. Clearly she makes Hugo's life a misery. Grimes rushes to restore the oxygen and pulls the tooth. Barnstead comes to, oblivious to his close call and oblivious to

288-558: A boxer", and more specifically John Garfield as he appeared in Body and Soul . The protagonist in Thomas Pynchon 's novel Inherent Vice , Larry "Doc" Sportello, discusses Garfield's film appearances throughout the detective story. The John Prine song "The Late John Garfield Blues" is inspired by Garfield. The actor is also mentioned by Prine in "Picture Show", a song in the musician's Grammy Award-winning album The Missing Years . In

360-435: A cinematic impact difficult to conceive in retrospect. As biographer Lawrence Swindell put it: Garfield's work was spontaneous, non-actory; it had abandon. He didn't recite dialogue, he attacked it until it lost the quality of talk and took on the nature of speech ... Like Cagney , he was an exceptionally mobile performer from the start of his screen career. These traits were orchestrated with his physical appearance to create

432-735: A drama school that was part of The Heckscher Foundation and began to appear in their productions. At one of the latter, he received back-stage congratulations and an offer of support from the Yiddish actor Jacob Ben-Ami , who recommended him to the American Laboratory Theatre . Funded by the Theatre Guild , "the Lab" had contracted with Richard Boleslavski to stage its experimental productions and with Russian actress and expatriate Maria Ouspenskaya to supervise classes in acting. Former members of

504-416: A film called Taxi but would not even begin talks unless the investigation concluded in his favor. Three actor friends, Canada Lee , Mady Christians and J. Edward Bromberg , had all recently died after being listed by the committee. On the morning of May 20, Garfield, against his doctor's strict orders, played several strenuous sets of tennis with a friend, mentioning the fact that he had not been to bed

576-524: A gas-lit comedy, laced with sentimental romance, about a fellow who thinks he's been played for a chump, but, in the end, discovers that he's the winner." Crowther also liked the supporting performances of George Tobias and Jack Carson . On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an aggregate score of 100% based on 9 critic reviews, with an average rating of 7.8/10. The entertainment trade publication Variety liked it as well: "Cagney and de Havilland provide topnotch performances that do much to keep up interest in

648-433: A living and to provide even marginal comfort for his small family. When Garfield was five, his brother Max was born. Their mother never fully recovered from what was described as a "difficult" pregnancy and birth. She died two years later, and the young boys were sent to live with various relatives, all poor, scattered across the boroughs of Brooklyn , Queens and The Bronx . Several of these relatives lived in tenements in

720-418: A name-above-the-title vehicle for him titled They Made Me a Criminal (1939). Before the success of Daughters , Garfield had made a B movie feature called Blackwell's Island (also 1939). Not wanting their new star to appear in a low-budget film, Warners ordered an A movie upgrade by adding $ 100,000 to its budget and recalling director Michael Curtiz to shoot newly scripted scenes. Garfield's debut had

792-524: A new theater collective, calling it simply " the Group ", and Garfield lobbied his friends hard to get in. After months of rejection, he began frequenting the inside steps of the Broadhurst Theater where the Group had its offices. Cheryl Crawford noticed him one day and greeted him warmly. Feeling encouraged, he made his request for apprenticeship. Something intangible impressed her, and she recommended him to

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864-419: A nostalgic part—any part—to take him away from the gangsters he was now loathe [sic] to play." A property on the lot that might fill that bill was One Sunday Afternoon . It had started early in 1933 as a successful Broadway play by James Hagan and had been adapted later that year by Paramount as a vehicle for Gary Cooper . It was "the only real flop of Cooper's stellar and carefully orchestrated career"—and

936-556: A particular star's strengths and worked to capitalize on those strengths in terms of finding vehicles that would appeal to the public—and hence make the studio money. The forces that prevented him from getting high quality roles were really the result of the combined willpower of the Warner Bros., the studio system in general, and the general public, which also had its own perception of how Garfield (or Cagney or Bogart for that matter) should appear on screen. A notable exception to this trend

1008-481: A screen persona innately powerful in the sexual sense. What Warners saw immediately was that Garfield's impact was felt by both sexes. This was almost unique. His "honeymoon" with Warners over, Garfield entered a protracted period of conflict with the studio, with Warners attempting to cast him in crowd-pleasing melodramas like Dust Be My Destiny (also 1939) and Garfield insisting on quality scripts that would offer challenges and highlight his versatility. The result

1080-476: A section of East Brooklyn called Brownsville , and there, Garfield lived in one house and slept in another. At school, he was judged a poor reader and speller, deficits that were aggravated by irregular attendance. He would later say of his time on the streets there, that he learned "all the meanness, all the toughness it's possible for kids to acquire." "If I hadn't become an actor, I might have become Public Enemy Number One ." His father remarried and moved to

1152-497: A security guard, who was shot in the leg. Hugo blamed Grimes, who served two years in prison. Amy and her mother took in washing to survive. She lied to Grimes about it and spent her hard-earned money on a correspondence course in dentistry. In the present, Grimes is consumed with the desire for revenge. The now-wealthy Hugo has a dental emergency and comes to see Grimes, who—under the influence of several drinks with his buddy, Snappy—comes close to killing his old rival while administering

1224-517: A speech therapy class taught by a charismatic teacher named Margaret O'Ryan. She gave him acting exercises and made him memorize and deliver speeches in front of the class and, as he progressed, in front of school assemblies. O'Ryan thought he had a natural talent and cast him in school plays. She encouraged him to sign up for a citywide debating competition sponsored by The New York Times . To his own surprise, he took second prize. With Patri and O'Ryan's encouragement, he began to take acting lessons at

1296-457: A standard feature-player agreement—seven years with options—in Warner's New York office. Many in the Group were livid over what they considered his betrayal. Elia Kazan 's reaction was different, suggesting that the Group did not so much fear that Garfield would fail, but that he would succeed. Jack Warner 's first order of business was a change of name to John Garfield. After many false starts, he

1368-467: A time. After the war, Garfield starred in a series of successful films such as The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) with Lana Turner , Humoresque (also 1946) with Joan Crawford , and Gentleman's Agreement (1947), an Oscar-winning Best Picture. In Gentleman's Agreement , Garfield took a featured, but supporting, part because he believed deeply in the film's exposé of antisemitism in America. He

1440-439: A tough guy. "I loved working with Raoul. He seemed to understand perfectly the characters we were playing, and to understand, too, the 'actor' approach to them. It was a happy, harmonious set, a happy picture to make." The screenwriters too found Walsh a good boss. Julius Epstein said he "was great. He was very businesslike. He didn't change a word on The Strawberry Blonde . Some writers complained about Walsh. My experience with him

1512-449: Is excellent as the pugnacious and proud little guy who 'don't take nothing from nobody' cause that's the kind of hairpin he is. Olivia de Havilland is sweet and sympathetic as the girl he marries and Rita Hayworth makes a classic 'flirt' of the one who got away." Part of it also came from the screenplay by Casablanca writers Julius J. and Philip G. Epstein : they took "the little play, One Sunday Afternoon ... and fashioned from it

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1584-515: Is so large and she has so much hair that it will practically be impossible to put a wig on her. Whatever color you decide on, she will be happy to have it made that color. Then at the end of the picture, we will dye it back to its natural color." This film marked the first time Hayworth was seen as a redhead and the only time that audiences heard her real singing voice. The shooting of Strawberry Blonde began on October 21, 1940. Wallis and Walsh quickly came to problems. The producer thought his director

1656-615: The Chicago Reader included the film in his unranked list of the best American films not included on the AFI Top 100 . Strawberry Blonde was released on both VHS and in a DVD edition through the Warner Archive Collection . One Sunday Afternoon (1933 film) One Sunday Afternoon is a 1933 American pre-Code romantic comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Roberts and starring Gary Cooper and Fay Wray . Based on

1728-707: The Committee for the First Amendment , which opposed governmental investigation of communist activity in Hollywood. When called to testify in 1951 before the House Committee on Un-American Activities , which was empowered to investigate communist infiltration in America, Garfield refused to name Communist Party members or followers, testifying that, indeed, he knew none in the film industry. Garfield rejected communism and, just prior to his death in hopes of redeeming himself in

1800-627: The Moscow Art Theatre , they were the first proponents of Konstantin Stanislavski 's 'system' in the United States, which soon developed into what came to be known as " the Method ". Garfield took morning classes and began volunteering time at the Lab after hours, auditing rehearsals, building and painting scenery, and doing crew work. He would later view this time as beginning his apprenticeship in

1872-516: The West Bronx , where Garfield joined a series of gangs. Much later, he would recall: "Every street had its own gang. That's the way it was in poor sections ... the old safety in numbers." He soon became a gang leader. At this time, people started to notice his ability to mimic well-known performers, both physically and facially. He also began to hang out and eventually spar at a boxing gym on Jerome Avenue . At some point, he contracted scarlet fever (it

1944-671: The 1890's in New York City and opening with Biff Grimes ( James Cagney ) as an unsuccessful dentist on a Sunday without work. Hugo Barnstead ( Jack Carson ), an old partner, nemesis and rival makes a desperate appointment to see him. As Biff considers killing Hugo when he gives him nitrous oxide , the flashback begins. Biff falls in love with strawberry-blonde society girl Virginia Brush ( Rita Hayworth ). However, Biff's more enterprising "pal", Hugo, wins Virginia's affections. Biff ends up marrying Virginia's less-glamorous best friend, Amy Lind ( Olivia de Havilland ), who Biff eventually realizes

2016-400: The 1933 Broadway play by James Hagan, the film is about a middle-aged dentist who reminisces about his unrequited love for a beautiful woman and his former friend who betrayed him and married her. This pre-Code film was released by Paramount Pictures on September 1, 1933. Dr. Lucius Griffith "Biff" Grimes ( Gary Cooper ) is a small town dentist dissatisfied with his lot. Though married to

2088-466: The 1933 film and wrote a memo to his production head Hal B. Wallis telling him to watch it also: "It will be hard to stay through the entire running of the picture, but do this so you will know what not to do." Wallis knew the trick was to tailor the script as a vehicle for Cagney, who had yet to commit either to the project or even to his brother. Wallis had a first draft of a screenplay done by Stephen Morehouse Avery that satisfied no one; he called in

2160-533: The Epstein brothers, Julius and Phillip , for another vision—one that might hook Cagney into the project. The brothers and William all concurred that the first thing to do was move things from the play's midwest setting to New York City because "they all knew it so much better." Said Julius: "We thought the reason [the Cooper film] lost money was it was too bucolic. It took place in a little country town. We said 'Change it to

2232-518: The FBI to press his case. At the meeting, however, the FBI representatives showed him a dossier on his wife Robbe, which included her old Communist Party membership card and cancelled checks to events sponsored by the party, and said that the FBI would clear him if he signed a statement betraying Robbe as a Communist. Garfield instead responded with an angry expletive and walked out of the meeting. On May 9, 1952, Garfield moved out of his New York apartment for

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2304-644: The HUAC closed its investigation of John Garfield, leaving him in the clear. Garfield was interred at Westchester Hills Cemetery in Hastings-on-Hudson , Westchester County , New York. He and Roberta Seidman married in February 1935. His wife had been a member of the Communist Party. They had three children: Katherine (1938 – March 18, 1945), who died of an allergic reaction; David (1943–1994); and Julie (born 1946),

2376-455: The U.S. Congressional House Committee on Un-American Activities ( HUAC ), he denied communist affiliation and refused to "name names", effectively ending his film career. Some have alleged that the stress of this persecution led to his premature death at 39 from a heart attack. Garfield is acknowledged as a predecessor of such Method actors as Marlon Brando , Montgomery Clift , and James Dean . Jacob Garfinkle ( Yiddish : יעקב גאַרפינקלע )

2448-556: The U.S. Northwest, ( Preston Sturges conceived the film Sullivan's Travels after hearing Garfield tell of his hobo adventures), Garfield made his Broadway debut in 1932 in a play called Lost Boy . It ran for only two weeks but gave Garfield something critically important for an actor struggling to break into the theater: a credit. There is a claim that he was a patron of Polly Adler 's bordello or brothel in New York. Garfield received feature billing in his next role, that of Henry

2520-405: The big city. Put it in New York.'" The Epstein version quickly took shape, aided by the objective of making it a Cagney picture. "When we went on the rewrite," Julius said, "we knew it was for Cagney. That was a help." Cagney still was reluctant. Wallis was getting impatient; he considered the emerging John Garfield for the role of Biff Grimes. By July 1940, concern about the impasse stretched all

2592-462: The eyes of the blacklisters, wrote that he had been duped by communist ideology in an unpublished article called "I Was a Sucker for a Left Hook", a reference to Garfield's movies about boxing. However, his forced testimony before the committee had severely damaged his reputation. He was blacklisted in Red Channels and barred from future employment as an actor by Hollywood movie studio bosses for

2664-467: The film Hustle (1975), Burt Reynolds' character references Garfield during a discussion of screen heroes. In the film Indecent Proposal (1993), when discussing the contract for one night with his wife, there is a "John Garfield" clause in the contract stating he pays even if he dies during the event. Garfield is a character in Names , Mark Kemble's play about former Group Theatre members' struggles with

2736-716: The film versions of one or two other plays...There are periods that are unnecessarily short and others that do not deserve the footage they receive. Leonard Maltin gives it three out of four stars, praising Cooper's performance in a "Touching and lovingly made piece of Americana, exuding period charm and atmosphere, though darker in tone than the two Warner Bros. remakes by Raoul Walsh: " The hit play One Sunday Afternoon , starring Lloyd Nolan, ran on Broadway from Feb. 15 to November 1933. Written by James Hagan (1888–1947), it had great success beyond its Broadway run . The New York Times critic Brooke Atkinson called it "a light and charming little fable" and "uncommonly refreshing." It

2808-500: The last time, indicating to friends that the separation from his wife Roberta was not temporary. He confided to columnist Earl Wilson that he would soon be divorced. Close friends speculated that it was his wife's opposition to his planned confession in Look magazine that triggered the separation. He heard that a HUAC investigator was reviewing his testimony for possible perjury charges. His agent reported that 20th Century-Fox wanted him for

2880-681: The latter two later becoming actors themselves. His widow Roberta married motion picture and labor lawyer Sidney Cohn in 1954, who died in 1991; Roberta died in a Los Angeles nursing home in 2004. At the time of her death, Julie Garfield told the Los Angeles Times that her mother was embittered over Garfield's treatment by studio executives, who she believed, "had used Garfield as a scapegoat to take attention from others in Hollywood because he had 'formed his own production company and they felt threatened by him. ' " In The Exorcist (1973), Detective Kinderman says Father Damien Karras "looks like

2952-627: The lovely and affectionate Amy Lind Grimes ( Frances Fuller ), Grimes still carries a torch for his former sweetheart, Virginia "Virgie" Brush Barnstead ( Fay Wray ). Years earlier, Grimes lost Virgie to his old friend Hugo Barnstead ( Neil Hamilton ). When the Barnsteads returned to town, Hugo gave Grimes a job in his carriage factory on condition that he spy on the other employees. Desperate for money because Amy's mother came to live with them, Grimes went to work there but refused to turn snitch. When Barnstead fired him, Grimes lost his temper and wrestled with

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3024-484: The night before. He met actress Iris Whitney for dinner and afterward became ill, complaining that he felt chilled. She took him to her apartment, where he refused to let her call a doctor and instead went to bed. The next morning, she found him dead. Long-term heart problems, allegedly aggravated by the stress of his blacklisting, had led to his death at the age of 39. The funeral was the largest in New York since Rudolph Valentino 's, with over ten thousand people crowding

3096-579: The office boy in Elmer Rice 's play Counsellor-at-Law , starring Paul Muni . The play ran for three months, made an Eastern tour and returned for an unprecedented second, repeat engagement, only closing when Muni was contractually compelled to go back to Hollywood to make a film for Warners. At this point, Warner's expressed an interest in Garfield and sought a screen test . He turned them down. Garfield's former colleagues Crawford, Clurman and Strasberg had begun

3168-422: The only Cooper picture ever to lose money. James Cagney had qualms about it because it would be a remake, and Jack Warner knew it needed "complete retooling." It was a "pet project" of William Cagney, who saw it as a "gift to [the brothers'] mother, Carrie Cagney, who would live only a few more years", and Warner recognized the inside track this leverage would give him with his often recalcitrant star. Warner screened

3240-472: The onset of World War II , Garfield immediately attempted to enlist in the armed forces, but was turned down because of his heart condition. Frustrated, he turned his energies to supporting the war effort. He and actress Bette Davis were the driving forces behind the opening of the Hollywood Canteen , a club offering food and entertainment for American servicemen . He traveled overseas to help entertain

3312-443: The opposite: "Mike, get the story from the actors' faces, instead of going all over the place.") Walsh in reality had "memorized the entire script and had worked out every camera angle and move—a visual map of just how he would shoot." As the footage continued to flow, the memos slowed, then stopped. Olivia de Havilland had no idea of the friction between the two, no problem with the closeups, and she debunked Walsh's reputation as

3384-524: The other directors. They made no objection. Clifford Odets had been a close friend of Garfield from the early days in the Bronx. After Odets' one-act play Waiting for Lefty became a surprise hit, the Group announced it would mount a production of his full-length drama Awake and Sing . At the playwright's insistence, Garfield was cast as Ralph, the sensitive young son who pleads for "a chance to get to first base". The play opened in February 1935, and Garfield

3456-633: The outdoorsy film noir and the light and sentimental studio-centered Strawberry Blonde "proved no problem" for Walsh. Cagney usually played tough guys at Warner Bros. in the early 1930s, but he had shown his talents at lighter, musical material in films like Footlight Parade (1933) He left the studio in mid-decade, then returned in 1938 with a contract that gave him more control in choosing roles and brought his younger brother William Cagney as assistant producer and informal buffer between himself and studio executives. However, Cagney soon found himself getting slotted into tough guy parts. and by 1940, he "wanted

3528-553: The pass Virginia makes at Grimes, who cooly bids them good afternoon and tells Barnstead there is no charge. Amy comes in and gently scolds Grimes for drinking. Singing “ In the Good Old Summertime ” he tells her she is very sweet and beautiful and he loves her, and sweeps her up in his arms. The film was a box-office disappointment for Paramount. Mordaunt Hall reviewed the film for The New York Times in September 1933, while

3600-402: The play was still running, and it suffered by comparison to the original: Hollywood loses no time in picturing a good play...One might venture that the studio chieftains have been a little too hasty in this case, for, although the shadow conception of "One Sunday Afternoon" is not without merit, it often fails in the dramatic impact given in the original, especially in the closing episodes. Like

3672-421: The proceedings. Rita Hayworth is an eyeful as the title character, while Jack Carson is excellent as the politically ambitious antagonist of the dentist." In Halliwell's Film Guide (1994), reviewer Leslie Halliwell describes the production as a "pleasant period comedy drama" and recognizes its three stars and cinematographer James Wong Howe for their outstanding contributions. In 1998, Jonathan Rosenbaum of

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3744-549: The remainder of his career. With film work scarce because of the blacklist, Garfield returned to Broadway and starred in a 1952 revival of Golden Boy , finally being cast in the lead role denied him years before. Near the end of his life, in an effort to clear his name, Garfield began work on an article for Look magazine , in which he would denounce communism without "naming names"; his lawyer advised him to concede that he had been “duped" into contributing time and money to communist front groups . He then arranged to meet with

3816-411: The streets outside. The media circus surrounding Garfield's death led to a running joke, "John Garfield Still Dead Syndrome", that parodied the phenomenon; it would later be superseded by " Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead " in the 1970s after Francisco Franco 's protracted terminal illness. Garfield's estate, valued at "more than $ 100,000", was left entirely to his wife. Shortly afterward,

3888-521: The theater. Among the people becoming disenchanted with the Guild and turning to the Lab for a more radical, challenging environment were Stella Adler , Lee Strasberg , Franchot Tone , Cheryl Crawford and Harold Clurman . In varying degrees, all would become influential in Garfield's later career. After a stint with Eva Le Gallienne 's Civic Repertory Theater and a short period of vagrancy, involving hitchhiking, freight hopping, picking fruit, and logging in

3960-549: The troops, made several bond selling tours and starred in a string of patriotic box-office successes like Air Force , Destination Tokyo (both 1943) and Pride of the Marines (1945). He was particularly proud of the last film, based on the life of Al Schmid , a war hero blinded in combat. In preparing for the role, Garfield lived for several weeks with Schmid and his wife in Philadelphia and would blindfold himself for hours at

4032-438: The way to New York, where Harry Warner cabled brother Jack that he was willing to give Cagney 10% of the gross, and then Cagney began to budge. One issue was that he didn't want to play scenes with the much-taller Jack Carson ; he would prefer the shorter Brian Donlevy or the shorter-still Lloyd Nolan . The difference was that Nolan commanded $ 2,000 per week and that Carson got $ 750 per week. Despite Cagney's misgivings, Carson

4104-405: Was Daughters Courageous (also 1939), a not-quite-sequel (same cast, different story and characters) to his debut film. The film did well critically, but failed to find an audience, the public being dissatisfied that it was not a true sequel (hard to pull off, since the original character Mickey Borden died in the first picture). The director, Curtiz, called the film "my obscure masterpiece". At

4176-605: Was a notorious flop; it was the only Cooper picture of this period to lose money at the box office. Before making the Cagney version, Jack L. Warner (co-founder of Warner Bros. , who had bought the earlier version) screened the 1933 film and then wrote a memo to his production head Hal B. Wallis telling him to watch it: "It will be hard to stay through the entire running of the picture, but do this so you will know what not to do." John Garfield John Garfield (born Jacob Julius Garfinkle ; March 4, 1913 – May 21, 1952)

4248-523: Was an American actor who played brooding, rebellious, working-class characters. He grew up in poverty in New York City. In the early 1930s, he became a member of the Group Theatre . In 1937, he moved to Hollywood, eventually becoming one of Warner Bros. ' stars. He received Academy Award nominations for his performances in Four Daughters (1938) and Body and Soul (1947). Called to testify before

4320-517: Was born in a small apartment on Rivington Street in Manhattan's Lower East Side , to David and Hannah Garfinkle, Russian Jewish immigrants, and grew up in the heart of the Yiddish Theater District . In early infancy, a middle name—Julius—was added, and for the rest of his life those who knew him well called him Julie. His father, a clothes presser and part-time cantor , struggled to make

4392-554: Was cast as Hugo Barnstead. More problematic was the casting of the Virginia Brush role, which was originally created for Ann Sheridan , the studio's "Oomph Girl". Sheridan was in one of her contract disputes with the studio and refused to do the film. Jack Warner asked Walsh to talk Sheridan into it, but she still refused. Wallis tested actress Brenda Marshall for the part, but Walsh spoke up about "a girl" he had seen in several Columbia pictures: young Rita Hayworth. "He thought she

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4464-431: Was cast in the lead role instead, a disillusioned Garfield began to take a second look at the overtures being made by Hollywood . Garfield had been approached by Hollywood studios before—both Paramount and Warners offering screen tests—but talks had always stalled over a clause he wanted inserted in his contract, one that would allow him time off for stage work. Now Warner Bros. acceded to his demand, and Garfield signed

4536-434: Was coming in too close on the actors, that the close-ups decreased the nostalgia by obscuring the period backgrounds. Wallis's October 29, 1940 memo chided "You have so much opportunity on this picture for atmosphere and composition...and I hate like hell to see them go by without full advantage being taken of what we have." (Several months later, with Michael Curtiz on Yankee Doodle Dandy , Wallis's complaints would be just

4608-453: Was diagnosed later in adulthood), causing permanent damage to his heart and causing him to miss a lot of school. After he was expelled three times and expressed a wish to quit school altogether, his father and stepmother sent him to P.S. 45, a school for difficult children. It was under the guidance of the school's principal—the educator Angelo Patri —that he was introduced to acting. Noticing Garfield's tendency to stammer, Patri assigned him to

4680-479: Was finally cast in a supporting, yet crucial role as a tragic young composer in a Michael Curtiz film titled Four Daughters (1938). After the picture's release, he received very positive notices and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor . The studio quickly revised Garfield's contract—designating him a star player rather than a featured one—for seven years without options. They also created

4752-535: Was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his starring role in Body and Soul (1947). That same year, Garfield returned to Broadway in the play Skipper Next to God . Strong-willed and often verbally combative, Garfield did not hesitate to venture out on his own when the opportunity arose. In 1946, when his contract with Warner Bros. expired, Garfield decided not to renew it and opted to start his own independent production company. In 1949, he would again star in

4824-406: Was often a series of suspensions, with Garfield refusing an assigned role and Warners refusing to pay him. Garfield's problem was shared by any actor working in the studio system of the 1930s: by contract, the studio had the right to cast him in any project they wanted to. But, as Robert Nott explains: To be fair, most of the studios had a team of producers, directors, and writers who could pinpoint

4896-514: Was perfect for the part, and after she was signed without a hitch, from then on he always referred to Hayworth as his 'find' (despite [the splash she had made in] Only Angels Have Wings released in 1939)." Hayworth received $ 450 per week for the film and began work immediately with makeup man Perc Westmore to find the look for the title character in what would soon be retitled Strawberry Blonde . After shooting test footage and many stills of his makeup experiments, Westmore memoed Wallis: "Her head

4968-401: Was singled out by critic Brooks Atkinson for having a "splendid sense of character development". Garfield's apprenticeship was officially over; he was voted full membership by the company. Odets was the man of the moment, and he claimed to the press that Garfield was his "find" and that he would soon write a play just for him. That play would turn out to be Golden Boy , but when Luther Adler

5040-456: Was the right one for him all along. Both the director of Strawberry Blonde , Raoul Walsh, and its star James Cagney came to the project looking for a change of pace. Walsh had just completed the dark Humphrey Bogart / Ida Lupino vehicle High Sierra , shot largely on location, and the good notices the film received had Walsh "as fired up as Jack Warner to keep the ball rolling on projects in development and production." The transition between

5112-406: Was translated into Yiddish and retitled One Sabbath Afternoon . A 1939 production of the Yiddish version also received high praise from The New York Times . Film director Raoul Walsh made two versions, the smash hit Strawberry Blonde (1941) with James Cagney as Biff, and a Technicolor musical starring Dennis Morgan titled One Sunday Afternoon (1948). The version with Gary Cooper

5184-483: Was very good." When Warner Bros. released Strawberry Blonde on February 21, 1941, "the studio knew it had a hit on its hands." Walsh considered it his most successful picture to date, and he called it his favorite film. Critic Bosley Crowther praised Strawberry Blonde in a New York Times February 1941 review, calling it "lusty, affectionate, and altogether winning." Part of its "amiable, infectious quality", he wrote, came from its cast: "James Cagney, true to form,

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