Hemingway's Heroes in film: Humphrey Bogart and John Garfield

John Garfield, Ida Lupino and Edward G. Robinson in "The Sea Wolf" (1941) directed by Michael Curtiz

THE SEA WOLF (1941): "Some of the more memorable sea captains include Captain Ahab in 'Moby Dick', Captain Bligh in 'Mutiny on the Bounty', and Captain Queeg in 'The Caine Mutiny' (played by Bogart). But none of these misguided authority figures can match the sadism and brutality of Wolf Larsen, the megalomaniac captain of Jack London's novel, 'The Sea Wolf'. Larsen is a fascinating enigma - a mystic and a philosopher but also a dangerous manic-depressive who subjects his crew to outrageous acts of cruelty; at one point, Larsen decides to give the ship's cook a bath by towing him in the schooner's wake - an action that results in the cook losing his foot to a shark.

Sylvia Sidney and Humphrey Bogart in "The Wagons Roll at Night" (1941) directed by Ray Enright

Michael Curtiz tried to draft Humphrey Bogart for the part but he was committed to another picture ('The Wagons Roll at Night') so John Garfield, who had made his screen debut in 'Four Daughters' (1938), also directed by Curtiz, was tapped for the role.

It was a personal triumph for John Garfield who counted Jack London among his favorite authors but it was an even bigger honor for Edward G. Robinson who had been a fan of the novel since he first read it at age eleven.

In his autobiography, 'All My Yesterdays', Edward G. Robinson recalled: "I had no idea at the time that the domineering Captain Wolf Larsen was to be characterized by critics as a Nietzsche superman; I just considered him to be a wonderful character. And that's how I played him, with John Garfield playing George Leach.

John Garfield was one of the best young actors I ever encountered, but his passions about the world were so intense that I feared any day he would have a heart attack. It was not long before he did."

George Leach, who was drowned in the original novel, becomes the central love interest in this version, escaping to safety with Ruth Webster. All of these changes actually strengthened the film on a dramatic level and were further enhanced by Sol Polito's atmospheric cinematography and Anton Grot's art direction - both heavily influenced by the look of German Expressionist cinema". Source: www.tcm.com

Film Noir and Existencialism:

Burt Lancaster and Ava Gardner in "The Killers" (1946) directed by Robert Siodmak, based on a short story written by Ernest Hemingway. The prototypic Hemingway hero must face evil, futility, and the nothingness of existence alone and unaided. Defeat is inevitable and unavoidable; only defeat with dignity offers hope of redemption.

Arthur Schopenhauer cited those very features of the human condition that pessimism takes as its point of departure: “The vanity of existence is revealed in the whole form existence assumes... in the contingency and relativity of all things; in continual becoming without being; in continual desire without satisfaction; in the continual frustration of striving of which life consists.”

Schopenhauer presents a “moral” critique, one that fastens on the vanity of human wishes, on the spectacle of human folly and wickedness, and, more ominously, on the ill will, malice, and cruelty of other people, whom Schopenhauer likens to a “den of sharks and swindlers.” As Jean-Paul Sartre writes in 'Being and Nothingness': “For human reality, to be is to choose oneself.”

“How do you get through nights if you can’t sleep? I guess you find out like you find out how it feels to lose your husband. I guess you find out all right. I guess you find out everything in this goddamned life. I guess you do all right. I guess I’m probably finding out right now. You just go dead inside and everything is easy. You just get dead like most people are most of the time. I guess that’s how it is all right. I guess that’s just about what happens to you. Well, I’ve got a good start. I’ve got a good start if that’s what you have to do. I guess that’s what you have to do all right. I guess that’s it. I guess that’s what it comes to. All right. I got a good start then. I’m way ahead of everybody now.” -To Have and Have Not (1937) novel by Ernest Hemingway

Patricia Neal as Leona Charles and Phyllis Thaxter as Lucy Morgan in "The Breaking Point" (1950) directed by Michael Curtiz

"The Breaking Point" was based on the Ernest Hemingway novel's "To Have and Have Not". A movie with that title, in 1944, was generally thought to be the film version of the book, but William Faulkner -who disliked Hemingway- wrote an original script, keeping only the title and the name of the lead character.

Humphrey Bogart as Harry Morgan and Lauren Bacall as Marie 'Slim' in "To Have and Have Not" (1944) directed by Howard Hawks

It was the movie that introduced Lauren Bacall to both the screen and Humphrey Bogart. Our film was, in fact, a very faithful version of the novel. Hemingway glanced up and winked at me. "I write goddamned good books, you know!" I knew he liked me. He told me he thought 'The Breaking Point' was the best film made from any of his books.

I played a loose woman who is mixed up with gun runners and John Garfield, whom I lure away from his wife, played by the delicious Phyillis Thaxter. In the end John goes back to Phyllis and I get what I deserve. My last lines in the film still give me a kick: 'I guess I sould have swam back to port. Or is it swum?'

John Garfield always projected a strong male animal quality in his films. It was not an act. He had an eye for the ladies and did not waste time. 'I want to talk to you', he commanded when we met. 'You know, you're a whore?' I looked at him aghast. 'In the picture I mean. You are all whore'. He took my hand and smiled ever so slightly. 'You know what I mean? You understand me?' I understood exactly what he meant. -"As I Am: An Autobiography" by Patricia Neal

John Garfield played Hemingway's hero Harry Morgan in "The Breaking Point" (1950)

"Patricia Neal displays her smarts and sensitivity. In Michael Curtiz’s 'The Breaking Point' (1950), opposite the great John Garfield, Neal gives my favorite of her performances, as a high-class whore. She is not only slinky, bad-girl fun in the part, but she gives this familiar “tramp” type a penetrating depth and humanity. Plus, her chemistry with Garfield is electric". Source: screensaversmovies.com

'Touch of Evil' and Redemptive Dames

Kristen Dunst in "Touch Of Evil" videoclip from The New York Times, December 2012


A video gallery of cinematic villainy, inspired by nefarious icons and featuring the best performers from the year in film. Source: www.nytimes.com

Marlene Dietrich as Tanya in "Touch of Evil" (1958) directed by Orson Welles

"Perhaps the most extreme variation on the redemptive femme fatale, however, occurs at the end of the film noir cycle in 'Touch of Evil'. When corrupt police chief Hank Quinlan (Orson Welles) is pursued by UN narcotics agent Mike Vargas (Charlton Heston), he finds temporary refuge in a brothel that he used to visit regularly.

There, Marlene Dietrich's madame — like the good woman of earlier noir films — represents for Quinlan an idealized and unattainable past. Tanya has all of the surface characteristics of a mysterious spider woman: long, dark hair, earrings, a foreign accent, heavy makeup, and an ever-present cigarette trailing smoke that obscures the jaded expression on her face. Yet, as each of Quinlan's friends abandons him, Tanya alone remains true to Quinlan and at least for a moment - helps him escape both from Vargas and from his own self-created demons. The film implies that she loved him, and indeed she is the only person who appreciates the tragedy of his fall and seems moved by his death. In contrast to Dietrich's redemptive prostitute,

Suzy Vargas (Janet Leigh) embraces her traditional role within the status quo family.

But in this film, as in Pitfall, D.O.A., The Big Heat, and Kiss Me Deadly, the traditional woman has become a source of danger, vulnerability, and restraint rather than redemption. Source: www.lib.berkeley.edu

Quinlan: Come on, read my future for me.
Tanya: You haven't got any.
Quinlan: Hmm? What do you mean?
Tanya: Your future's all used up.
– "Touch of Evil" (1958)

John Garfield, Janet Leigh, Gene Kelly and Joseph Cotten in a photo issued as publicity for the 'Hollywood Players' radio show (1947)

John Garfield and Shelley Winters in "He Ran All The Way" (1951) directed by John Berry

Norman Lloyd plays John Garfield's partner in crime in "He Ran All The Way" (1951). Lloyd worked with Orson Welles and John Houseman and later with Hitchcock. He was twice nominated for an Emmy and his film credits include "Saboteur" (1942) and "Spellbound" (1945). John Berry, "He Ran All The Way"´s director, got his start working with Orson Welles and John Houseman and was active in the late 40s. Shortly before making this film he made "Hollywood 10" (1950) about the persecution of actors and directors by HUAC, and this earned him a place on the blacklist and virtually ended his career in the US.

John Garfield entertains a USO show at the Hollywood Canteen

"All he (John Garfield) cared about was acting and dames." -Actor Dane Clark

President Roosevelt invited John Garfield back to the White House early in 1944 to thank him for his efforts in support of the country's war drive, from his bond-raising tours to the formation of the Hollywood Canteen. Though the meeting lasted for less than a halfhour, Garfield was honored. "There I was, a kid from the Bronx, meeting with the President," he later recalled. "That's democracy -that's wonderful." The State Department had cleared the way for a USO Tour of North Africa and Italy. Garfield signed on to emcee the tour, which included comedian Eddie Foy Jr., dancer Sheila Rogers, accordionist Olga Klein, and actress Jean Darling. The group called themselves the USO Camp Show Troupers.

John Garfield and Phyllis Thaxter in "The Breaking Point" (1950) directed by Michael Curtiz

Garfield's willingness to join the tour was due to more than just patriotism. He still had that need to prove himself; the same need that stoked his desire for women. The tour was scheduled to depart New York in February 1944.

Jake Gyllenhaal leaves his longtime manager Evelyn O'Neill

Jake Gyllenhaal out with a friend in Beverly Hills, on 3rd December 2011

EXCLUSIVE: Management 360′s Evelyn O’Neill tells me it’s a “very amicable parting” and she hopes he comes back since she and Jake Gyllenhaal go back such a long time — 8 years. “Sometimes people like change in their life. I think he’s amazing, I’m very proud of the work he did together, he was nominated for an Oscar, I want him back, and the door is always open. It is what it is.” I understand Gyllenhaal is not leaving for another manager and he’s not leaving his talent agency CAA. I have a feeling this may be the start of a trend as the movie biz is so muddled with the box office slump that stars who can’t put people in theater seats will see projects falling apart one after another. Rough sledding for the rep business. Source: www.deadline.com

Robert Rossen: 'Body & Soul' (John Garfield) , 'The Hustler' (Paul Newman)

John Garfield is said to have been the first student of "The Method" to succeed in Hollywood, and in so doing changed the face not just of American acting, but the standard of film acting as well. Garfield was more than just an actor who played defiant rebels from the wrong side of the tracks. His natural style brought the internal rhythms and emotions of a character to the fore. While Edward G. Robinson and Paul Muni had played the first tier of such characters on screen.

  John Garfield's interpretation of the same sort of anti-heroes could break through sans expressionistic lighting and sound and was cloaked in a sexual energy that neither Robinson nor Muni had.

  Gene Kelly with John Garfield (two echt Hollywood heartthrobs) Garfield got a part in the Broadway production of 'Lost Boy' (1932), and was first credited as Jules Garfield. He then appeared in 1932's 'Counsellor-at-Law' in Chicago. He became a member of the Group Theatre in 1934 and is legendary for his stage portrayals. He rose to prominence in 1935 based on his work in two Clifford Odets plays, 'Waiting for Lefty' and 'Awake and Sing!', both directed for the Group Theatre by Harold Clurman.

  While playing the role of Henry Suskind in 'Counsellor-at-Law' in Chicago, Garfield found out that the local chorus girls and bit players were competing to see who could get him into bed first. One of them finally succeeded, pulling him into a spare bedroom during a cast party. It may have been his first time, but he was smart enough to use a contraceptive. (His wife Robbe recalled having been provided with one of the Margaret Sanger diaphragms when they made love for the first time.) He was just past 19 years old, and as with acting, Garfield was a quick study when it came to the opposite sex.

  And also as with acting, he got hooked. He may not have seen his one-night stand as being unfaithful to Robbe, for the two hadn't officially consummated their affair. Sex was something he was good at, and it reassured him that he had talent. That was something no one could take away from him.

  John Garfield as Joe Morse and Beatrice Pearson as Doris Lowry in "Force of Evil" (1948) directed by Abraham Polonsky "Doris, too, is nearly destroyed by the darkness of business, the desire for the "ruby". Newcomer Beatrice Pearson plays her character in a naive, ingenue way, and represents the force of evil within us all. As a young worker at Leo's bank, she denies her own guilt in the shady business, but when quick-talking Garfield accuses her of being in on a "Policy" racket that takes nickels from hard-working folks who should be paying their weekly insurance premiums, she quits.

  Morse's words make her realize the truth, but she gets too comfortable in her easy transition to knowledge, and assumes, through the power of quitting, that she understands more than she does. He later asks her out, buys her flowers and offers her a metaphorical "ruby." She finally accepts his attractive wickedness and tries to work from within it, being neither naive or judgmental. At the night club, she confesses her redemptive love, "Oh, Joe, I don't want this [ruby]. Nobody wants it. I want to somehow to get you, Joe, to save you for yourself and myself. Somehow you're wild and crazy and stuck in a trap and somehow you won't fight to get out," she pauses, grabbing his face, the repetition of "somehow" suggesting the chaotic randomness of their love. "And somehow I love you." She kisses him and helps move the tarnished hero towards grace". Source: www.imagesjournal.com

"In 'Body and Soul', John Garfield stars as the young boxer Charley and Lilli Palmer plays his love interest Peg Born. At a celebration dinner, he meets and dances with Peg and falls for her right away. As his need for cash increases his morals decrease. He gets involved with the gold-digging Alice at the expense of his relationship with Peg.

  German actress Lilli Palmer was cast as the boxer's lover, Peg (the "soul" of the title).

  Newcomer Hazel Brooks was the "body". Brooks, a model from Cape Town, was the wife of Body and Soul's art director Cedric Gibbons. Brooks wanted to wear a light colored sweater to show off her ample bosom. Rossen ordered her to wear a black sweater.

  "A black sweater doesn't bring out your bosom", Brooks told the press. "Why wear one? I told the jerks to make it light gray." One of the "jerks," Rossen, tried to explain to Brooks that not all men were interested in looking at her breasts. "I didn't think we were appealing to that group", she responded.

  John Garfield as Mickey Borden and Priscilla Lane as Ann Lemp in "Four Wives" (1939) directed by Michael Curtiz. Garfield gets to inject a little Mickey Borden into the proceedings when he says to Lilli Palmer, "You think I like standin' around waiting for the world to decide what to do with me?"

  Polonsky's transitions are a bit abrupt, and Garfield is asked to work extra hard as an actor to make those transitions successfully work.

  Lilli Palmer and John Garfield in "Body & Soul" (1947) directed by Robert Rossen To his credit, he does make them work as he moves from it 20-something kid to a disillusioned middle-aged man in the course of about 30 minutes of screen time.

  "Body and Soul" is the only film to allow Garfield's screen character to mature over the course of ten years (though none of the other actors seem to age a day). He plays a weak, amoral character, a surprisingly unsympathetic man who is roused out of his slumber not by pride or morals or love but by an unexpected blow to the head. Garfield claimed to understand Charley Davis well. "I didn't have to do much probing into Charley's life and aims," he wrote in 'Opportunity: Journal of Negro Lift', magazine. "It was all too clear to me because my own boyhood had been so similar." -"He Ran All The Way: The Life of John Garfield" (2004), by Robert Nott

  Piper Laurie and Paul Newman as Sarah Packard and Eddie Felson in "The Hustler" (1961) directed by Robert Rossen “Then we twisted it, didn’t we, Bert? Of course, maybe that doesn’t stick in your throat, ‘cause you spit it out just the way you spit out everything else. But it sticks in mine. I loved her, Bert. But that wouldn’t mean anything to you because who did you ever care about. ‘Just win,’ ‘Win!’ you said, ‘win, that’s the important thing.’ You don’t know what winning is, Bert. You’re a loser. ‘Cause you’re dead inside and you can’t live unless you make everything dead around ya! Too high, Bert - the price is too high.

  If I take it, she never lived. She never died. And we both know that’s not true, Bert, don’t we, huh? She lived, she died. Boy, you better, you tell your boys they better kill me, Bert. They better go all the way with me, but if they just bust me up, I’ll put all those pieces back together again, then so help me, so help me God, Bert, I’m gonna come back here and I’m gonna kill you.” —Fast Eddie, The Hustler (1961).

  "In 'The Hustler', Robert Rossen tried to grapple with the texture of failure and success, all the peculiar twists of talent, and the kind of vulturous deadness that attaches itself to talent—eating it alive. This is a different Newman, not an acting mask. He's lithe, possessed. He's not a beautiful sleepwalker. He's full of danger now. Perhaps it's Eddie's own deep flaw, his need to wound himself, that touched Newman, and opened up his wounds. 'The Hustler' was almost a companion film for 'Body & Soul' and has the courage to investigate those dark corners of the psyche where few American directors had gone before. It's a film about human dirt". —"Movieland: Hollywood and the Great American Dream Culture" by Jerome Charyn (1996)