John Garfield Movies

67. Body and Soul (1947)  Rossen. John Garfield rises from the lower East Side to Boxing Champion of the World and battles his conscience and corrupt gangsters along the way

Pros: Garfield, William Cannon, Lilli Palmer, Hazel Brooks, fight scenes, cine-photography by Howe Cons: Ma Davis (Revere), Predictable, Canada Lee subplot 

 Directed, scripted, produced and acted (Revere, Lee, Goff) by party members, “Body and Soul” has to be the reddest B&W movie ever. But while the film has Marxist touches its basically a standard Boxing story. John Garfield, in his best role, is excellent as the strong-willed but guilt ridden boxer. And William Cannon shines as the slimy Boxing promoter - Lille Palmer has excellent chemistry with Garfield as the “good girl”. Unlike other Garfield films, their love story actually seems believable and engaging. The acting flaw is Ann Revere who plays the most unattractive and obnoxious Mother since Ma Barker. The script doesn't help but her delivery is also bad. The movie is well-paced except for an overlong beginning, and a tedious subplot involving Canada Lee. Summary: Despite having more Communists involved than the “Battleship Potemkin”, Body and Soul is a good, if predictable, fight movie.. Rating **1/2

71. We were Strangers (1949) Houston. An interesting, slightly bizarre, film about terrorists (or freedom-fighters) in 1926 Havana t ying to plant a bomb in a cemetery. Why? To assassinate the President of Cuba and his cabinet

Pros: Garfield, action scene, Jennifer Jones shooting a sub-machine gun, Pedro Armendariz Cons: Story, script, bad accents, low budget 

The 2 leads, Jones and Garfield are more than adequate. Jones has a terrible accent but is believable while Garfield is solid – despite only saying 2 words in the first 18 minutes & having no chemistry with Jones. The problem is the story and script. The supporting characters are ciphers and I had difficulty caring about terrorists (sorry, freedom fighters) willing to kill hundreds of innocent people simply to assassinate a politician. Garfield actually gives a little talk justifying the killing of innocents. Further, most of the screen time is spent in wordy, badly written discussions between members of the underground group. That's its low budget and full of badly done back-projection didn't help. Summary: More interesting then good. Jones blasting away with a Thompson sub-machine gun was the highlight.. Rating **

73. The Sea Wolf (1941) Curtiz. Based on the Jack London Novel, with Edgar G. Robinson as “Wolf Larsen” . Alexander Knox, Ida Lupino, and John Garfield lend support.

Pros: Special Effects, Barry Fitzgerald, script, Direction, Edgar G. Robinson. Cons: London novel is “Hollywoodized' 

Robinson and Knox are the best thing in the film and the two men dominate the story. While not entirely convincing as a Sea Captain, Robinson is able to portray Wolf Larsen's intelligence and brutality. Knox however makes an excellent Humphre y Van Weyden and mirror's the book's character with his intelligence and hidden strength. Garfield isn't given much to do except be the love interest for Lupino and add to the box-office. Barry Fitzgerald stands out as the untrustworthy cook. Summary: Enjoyable -but needed more Jack London and less Hollywood. Rating ***