Happy Birthday John Garfield

Though I frequently discuss actors I love/am in love with, I've never delved into that simmering, gorgeous genius of masculine menace, charm and vulnerability -- John Garfield. He's one of my favorite actors (among a top three that alternate, but Garfield always remains), and an actor who almost literally knocked me for a loop when I first saw him on screen (in The Postman Always Rings Twice). All that sensitive masculinity, intelligence and intense, noir sex appeal and I was a goner. Forget Jessica Lange and Jack Nicholson's furious fornication on the kitchen table in the steamy re-make (which I do enjoy and find erotic), John and Lana need only to simply look at each other and...that's it. You know what they're up to later -- and the wondering is part of the picture’s tremendous turn-on (not to mention Lana's lipstick).

But Mr. Garfield...perhaps like poor Priscilla Lane checking out all your tough guy artistry, smoking that ciggie while playing the piano in your unforgettable 1938 film debut (Four Daughters) you're just too much for me.  Like Joan Crawford’s wide-eyed attraction and anger during your virtuoso "Flight of the Bumblebee" interlude in Humoresque, I just can’t function properly when thinking about you.  I'm all gob smack and tongue tied and, aw nuts...let’s just hitch-hike away from that depressing roadside diner. I don’t care if my white suit gets dirty. And unlike Ms. Turner, I'll knock him in the head with a bottle if you want...whatever it takes. See, I can’t think straight when regarding Garfield’s formidable big screen sway.

But since today is his birthday, I had to discuss for recognition alone. Why isn't he supremely famous? A household name? Why isn't he better recognized (he wasn't even listed in the featured Birthday section of IMDB, though thank goodness TCM honored him). For reasons I cannot decipher, this brilliant, brooding actor, though well respected by those who know better, isn't considered the legend a la Bogart, Clift, Brando or Dean. Why isn’t he better appreciated? This massive talent with genuine bad-boy street cred (he was born Julius Garfinkle and raised tough on New York's Lower East Side) was a huge star in his day, so much so that his 1952 funeral was attended by more folks than Rudolph Valentino's ceremony.  So why have too many forgetten him? Where's his damn box set?

If you've never seen a John Garfield performance, you have been (in a supreme understatement) missing out. If you've only watched one or two, you're sorely behind. If you need to catch up, check (among many other pictures) his intense, oftentimes roughly romantic and edgy performances in movies such as Gentlemen's Agreement, They Made Me a Criminal, The Postman Always Rings Twice, Body and Soul, Force of Evil, The Breaking Point, Nobody Lives Forever, Humoresque, Flowing Gold, Between Two Worlds, We Were Strangers and (my favorite) He Ran All the Way -- his last film and a quite fitting one considering how he left this world. 

And God...what an exit Mr. Garfield. In my mind, one of the first method actors (he trained in the famed Group Theater and worked with Clifford Odets), he was also victim to one of cinema's darkest, most shameful moments when the left-wing, progressive actor (and patriotic actor, he helped created The Hollywood Canteen for heaven's sake) testified at the scabrous House Un-American Activities Committee, who suspected him and certain colleagues, Communist. Unlike many other actors, writers and directors (including one of his former directors, Elia Kazan), Garfield refused to name names. As both a once young street tough and a man of principle, Garfield would not rat. Not surprisingly, work was then harder to come by and at the young age of 39, Garfield died of coronary thrombosis. Many speculate an already present heart condition was worsened by the stress caused by the House's inquisition. I think this assumption is correct. His mislabeling and death is so tragic that it anger me to this day.

Another reason I find it tough to write about Garfield. But I’ll never stop watching his movies -- in many cases multiple times. Right now, in fact. He Ran all the Way awaits. Happy Birthday to this hot genius piece of work. And here's to dropping that lipstick. Lana was lucky.

Comments

[Torr]

Hello,
I am a longtime reader yet the answer to this question is not immediately obvious to me. You mentioned your top three actors, who would they be?

[Katel]

I looooooooove John Garfield. I think the Postman Always Rings twice is one of the sexiest films of all time.

[Matt Blankman]

Don't forget to crank up John Prine's great song "The Late John Garfield Blues."

[Campaspe]

"His mislabeling and death is so tragic that it anger me to this day."

amen, sister. Got into a real down-the-rabbit-hole argument on that very topic with someone a while back and was ready to throw the keyboard. He was one of the greatest movie actors ever, enormously influential and now that you mention it -- where IS his damn box set?

[addiefleur]

http://ia310128.us.archive.org/1/items/goodmanbrothers1992-04-29.shnf/gb1992-04-29d1t11_64kb.mp3

"i wonder if John Garfield Got to Heaven"
---Goodman bros.

http://ia310119.us.archive.org/3/items/smiller2001-04-16.sbd.flac16/smiller2001-04-16t08_64kb.mp3

"John Garfield Blues"
---John Prine (new to me-thanks Katel)

I just came upon this site today and Kim Morgon, my goodness you're, hep!

I'm with you on John Garfield, word for word and you expressed it so well.
I get riled about HUAC too, besides everything else horrible about it in general, it stopped John Garfield after only about 26 movies. Very sad.

[Melissa]

I've only seen The Postman Only Rings Twice, but he was great in that (though Hume Cronyn stole the movie from the leads in the end). That's a shame about his early death and being so underrated.