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Body and Soul (1947) More at IMDbPro »

2 items from 2013

4 March 2013 3:08 PM, PST | Moviefone | See recent Moviefone news »

Given how fond we are of our anti-heroes, it's a wonder that John Garfield doesn't loom larger in our moviegoing memory. We love our Sean Penns and Ryan Goslings, our Al Pacinos and Robert De Niros, our James Deans and Marlon Brandos and Montgomery Clifts. But Garfield (who was born 100 years ago this week, on March 4, 1913) was there before all of them. The star of "The Postman Always Rings Twice" and "Body and Soul" was Hollywood's first Method actor -- and its first rebel. He wasn't Hollywood's first gangster -- fellow Warner Bros. stars Edward G. Robinson, Paul Muni, James Cagney, and Humphrey Bogart beat him to the punch -- but he may have been the most authentic, and the one with the most sexual edge. Garfield's filmography has a life-imitates-art-imitates-life quality to it. Many of his roles seemed to echo the juvenile-delinquent New York street kid and ex-boxer that »

- Gary Susman

27 February 2013 4:05 PM, PST | The Guardian - Film News | See recent The Guardian - Film News news »

From a silent Hitchcock movie to the story of a boxer who dreams of being a great violinist, Danny Leigh explores cinema's enduring love of the fight game

Boxing was there at the very dawn of cinema. As early as 1894, film-makers were shooting prize fights: the fast and furious physical spectacle was perfect for the new medium of motion pictures. Soon, scores of directors had been drawn to boxing – not just for the violence but for the drama of fighters' lives. In 1927, Hitchcock made The Ring, a silent tale of a pugilistic love triangle that is his one and only original screenplay. While many boxing movies reached greatness, even the most ordinary could still thrill with a canny sprinkling of what became genre staples: wise old trainers, crooked promoters, fixes, comebacks, wives who can't bear to look. In fact, plenty of boxing films are really about the women behind the men. »

- Danny Leigh

2 items from 2013