John Garfield: liberal causes, happiness inside

"I am a fugitive. I am hunted by ruthless men! I am shunned by decent women! I am doomed to hide forever!" -Tagline of "They Made Me a Criminal" (1939) directed by Busby Berkeley

Having completed his two first films for Warner Bros., John Garfield returned to New York early in September. He wasn't yet a household name, but journalist Frederick James Smith was interested in interviewing him. Time magazine, in its review of 'They Made Me a Criminal', described Garfield as "outspoken... and an amateur left wing politician."

John Garfield as Johnnie Bradfield, aka Jack Dorney in "They Made Me a Criminal" (1939)

"I'm scared of the way they build you up in Hollywood, force you, hothouse you", Garfield told Smith. "It's too easy to go soft and lose your identity. I want my happiness inside. There [in Hollywood] everyone seems to be a success with plenty of money to spend. Here [New York] actors are constantly struggling. I think that is necessary, for when an actor doesn't face a conflict he loses confidence in himself. I always want to struggle, because I believe it will help me accomplish more."

Garfield just didn't think he was that good. And then 'Four Daughters' was released. The success of the film may be difficult to understand today. It's an old-fashioned homage to middle America, but in its time it was a blockbuster, for audiences hoping to escape the sound of war in Europe were easily seduced by the story line, which reaffirmed faith in the family unit.

Priscilla Lane and John Garfield as the doomed couple in "Four Daughters" (1938) directed by Michael Curtiz

It's unlikely that the film would have been anything other than a mild success had it not been for John Garfield's participation. Ring Lardner Jr., then a fledgling screenwriter with Warner Bros., recalled the impact of Garfield's screen debut as Mickey Borden: "I already knew him from the making of the picture, but I remember when I first saw the film, that I was absolutely startled by the effect of that character coming on the screen and taking over. I didn't realize he had that power, that magnetism."

John Garfield and Rosemary Lane in "Blackwell's Island" (1939) directed by William C. McGann

Jack Warner assured that from now on, John Garfield would receive nothing less than star billing in A productions. But there was still a B film, 'Blackwell´s Island', waiting to be released. Warner Bros. quickly turned it into an A, or at least a B+, invested another $10,000 and hired Michael Curtiz to reshoot some scenes. What effect Curtiz had on the finished product is impossible to judge, but the film is a reasonably exciting crime drama, and Garfield appears to be having a ball. The critics were kind and the public was satisfied.

The commercial success of this minor film affirmed Warner's hunch that John Garfield was star material.

John Garfield as in WB "Castle on the Hudson" (1940) directed by Anatole Litvak

"Hollywood was a liberal community then", screenwriter Paul Jarrico explained. "The writers, the directors, and to a lesser degree the actors were largely left of center." Hollywood wanted to present itself as a community that cared, and for Garfield, who had worked his way up quickly from uneducated street waif to equally uneducated movie star, it was important to maintain a connection to his roots. He appeared sincere in his efforts to help those less fortunate than himself. Actress Betsy Blair (then the wife of Gene Kelly) recalled Garfield as always being one to financially support liberal causes.

Danny Kaye, Groucho Marx and John Garfield

Hilda Wane had been Danny Kaye's secretary, and the Garfields hired her on as a combination secretary/nurse. "Before HUAC reopened shop in the second round of hearings in 1951, they sent a representative to Hollywood," Julie [John Garfield's daughter] explained: "This representative met with all the heads of the film studios, and he said, 'We're going after Danny Kaye, Edward G. Robinson and John Garfield. Give us just one of them and we'll leave you alone.' And the studio heads said, "Take Garfield. He's expendable."

Danny Kaye and John Garfield signing autographs for the troops at the Hollywood Canteen

Whether the studio heads actually needed to acquiesce in order for the government to build a case against Garfield is debatable. Still, HUAC never netted as big a prize as Garfield, in terms of witnesses. He was without doubt the only major movie star of the period to be blacklisted. -"He Ran All The Way: The Life of John Garfield" by Robert Nott

John Garfield and Lana Turner as Frank and Cora in "The Postman Always Rings Twice" (1946) directed by Tay Garnett

"A big one raised us up, and she put her hand to her breasts, to show how it lifted them. Cora: "I love it. Are they big, Frank?" Frank: "I'll tell you tonight." Cora: "They feel big. I didn't tell you about that. It's not only knowing you're going to make another life. It's what it does to you. My breasts feel so big, and I want you to kiss them. Pretty soon my belly is going to get big, and I'll love that, and want everybody to see it. It's life".

I was all ready to start out with her again clean, and do like she said, have a new life. When I came up she was coughing. -"Just one of those sick spells, like you have." -"Did you swallow any water?" -"No." We went a little way, and then she stopped. -"Frank, I feel funny inside."

-"Here, hold on to me." -"Oh, Frank. Maybe I strained myself, just then. Trying to keep my head up. So I wouldn't gulp down the salt water." -"Take it easy." -"Wouldn't that be awful? I've heard of women that had a miscarriage. From straining theirself." -"Don't try to swim. I'll tow you in." I could have towed her a mile, but I kept thinking I had to get her to a hospital, and I hurried. When you hurry in the water you're sunk. I got bottom, though, after a while, and then I took her in my arms and rushed her through the surf. My legs were so tired I could hardly lift one after the other, but I didn't drop her. I put her in the car, started up, and began burning the road. [...] Horns were blowing, and people were jumping out of cars and running to her. I got her up, and tried to stop the blood and in between I was talking to her, and crying, and kissing her. Those kisses never reached her. She was dead". -"The Postman Always Rings Twice" novel by James M. Cain

John Garfield with Frances Farmer, Lana Turner, Jennifer Jones, Shelley Winters

John Garfield as John Alexander - aka Johnny Blake - in drama "Flowing Gold" (1940) directed by Alfred E. Green

Frances Farmer & John Garfield in "Flowing Gold" (1940)

John Garfield pulled strings to get Frances Farmer cast as his leading lady in "Flowing Gold" (1940). Both actors would eventually be destroyed by Hollywood's ignorance.

Promotional still of John Garfield in "The Postman Always Rings Twice" (1946) directed by Tay Garnett

John Garfield and Lana Turner in Laguna Beach, filming "The Postman Always Rings Twice" (1946)

Cecil Kellaway, John Garfield and Lana Turner in "The Postman Always Rings Twice" (1946)

"I could never belong to only one man -- I belong to all men," says Lana Turner in 'The Prodigal'.

Lana never lets you (or herself) forget that she is the ultimate sex goddess -- but in 'Postman', at least, she rarely forgets that she's playing a character and not herself. It is perhaps her finest work -- from a body of work that includes very few truly stellar performances.

'Postman', which predates all that, is a stunner -- a cruel and desperate and gritty James Cain vehicle that sorely tests Lana's skills.

But she succeeds marvelously, and from the first glimpse of her standing in the doorway in her white fuck-me pumps, as the camera travels up her tanned legs, she becomes a character so enticingly beautiful and insidiously evil that the audience is riveted. It is a noir tale of lust, betrayal, and murder that, along with 'Mildred Pierce' and 'Double Indemnity', remains one of the few truly important women's roles in film noir.

Turner wears white, head-to-toe, throughout the film -- hot, stark, tawdry white -- and is anything but virginal. But it is a nice counterpoint to the double-crossing and noir feel. Cora is a dame who wants out, but killing her husband (Kellaway) was never really part of her plan. Then along comes Frank (Garfield), a drifter with itchy feet who beats Cora at her own game of seduction and manipulation. 'Postman' is a stunning achievement that will live forever. Source: www.austinchronicle.com

Now that their relationship is poisoned with distrust and they are turned against each other, Cora wants to be rid of Frank: "Well, goodbye, Mr. Yellow. I don't know what you're going to do and I don't care. But I'm going in and open up my lunchroom." Cora wants to be respectable and well off, rather than on the road and wandering away with Frank. He is permitted to stay, although the two lovers are very divided:

Frank: Cora, Cora, look. Maybe, maybe you could sell the place and we can go away somewhere and start fresh, where nobody knows us.

Cora: Oh, no! You've been trying to make a tramp out of me ever since you've known me. But you're not going to do it. I stay here.
Frank: All right. I'm gonna stay too.
Cora: Well, let me tell you something. If you do stay, there's gonna be a lot of hard work done around here because I've got ideas for this place.

John Garfield posing on the set of 'Force of Evil' (directed by Abraham Polonsky), on 11th June, 1948 in New York City.

John Garfield and Jennifer Jones in "We Were Strangers" (1949) directed by John Huston

Jennifer Jones declared: "It's such a pleasure to play with John Garfield. He is a powerful actor and one feels his security in a scene".

Jennifer Jones played Emma Bovary in "Madame Bovary" (1949) directed by Vincente Minnelli. The film was a project of the MGM studios and Lana Turner was set to star, but when pregnancy and the Breen office forced her to withdraw, Jennifer Jones stepped into the title role. The story of the adulterous wife who destroys the lives of many presented censorship issues with the Production Code. A plot device which structured the story around author Gustave Flaubert's obscenity trial was developed to placate the censors.

Jennifer Jones joins the rebels for revenge but falls for the terse passion of the mastermind (John Garfield), her house becomes the group's hideout as they dig a tunnel under the Havana Cemetery and towards the dictator. Dynamite is concealed in conga drums, Gilbert Roland ("something of a poet") grabs a pickaxe and delivers the first blow on a rocky side, "this is for the President" .

Huston's overt sympathy for sedition might be a jibe at the McCarthyism just around the corner, and his filmmaking is up to the task -- the stark claustrophobia of the compositions (a bedrock for Le Trou, The Great Escape, Kanal) is continuously goosed by an urgent surrealism out of Buñuel's Mexican period, as in the moment when the heroine, roused by nightmares, descends into the tunnel as if into a tomb and is startled by Garfield's face covered in red dust. Jones with a machine-gun in hand anticipates Mao's ode to female warriors ("Spirited and attractive, with a five feet rifle...") Source: www.cinepassion.org

John Garfield and Shelley Winters during the filming of a bedroom scene on the set of 'He Ran All the Way' (January 1951) directed by John Berry.


"He Ran All The Way" (1951) directed by John Berry - Ending Scene: When Nick (John Garfield) discovers that he killed the cop, he decides to use Peggy's apartment as hideout to wait the police manhunt cool down, forcing the family to lodge him. When Nick finds that Peggy (Shelley Winters) loves him, he invites her to leave the town with him and asks her to buy a used runaway car. However, the paranoid Nick cannot trust anybody and believes Peggy has betrayed him.

‎"Must I tell the story of my life again?" -John Garfield

Jake Gyllenhaal shows off his beard while out for sushi lunch in Hollywood

Jake Gyllenhaal out for lunch with friends in Hollywood, on 4th January 2012

Jake Gyllenhaal showing off his 'Lumberjack Look' while lunching with friends in Hollywood. Gyllenhaal is beard-ly recognizable with his new scruffy look. The actor was spotted in grabbing sushi with some friends.

Happy New Year 2012!

New additions of Jake Gyllenhaal attending 'Love & Other Drugs' Press Conference in New York City

Jake Gyllenhaal out for coffee with Friends in Venice, CA on 1st January 2012

What Are You Doing New Years Eve? by Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt

"She & Him" with M. Ward & Zooey Deschanel

Still of Joseph Gordon-Levitt in "50/50" directed by Jonathan Levine


I have known Joe Gordon-Levitt for going on 12 years. We first met in the summer of 2000 while doing a tiny movie called Manic, where we bonded over a mutual appreciation for Harry Nilsson and Nina Simone and I have been lucky enough to call him one of my dearest friends ever since. When we did 500 Days of Summer 8 years later, we spent every lunch hour dancing to Marvin Gaye in the hair and make up trailer; we had loads of fun. I hope to do a thousand more movies with him because he's simply the best. But in the meantime, we made a little New Year's duet for all of you! The original by Nancy Wilson. ENJOY!