Golden Boy

Golden Boy (1939)

A Famous Play.....Now A Great Picture!

Despite his talent as a musician, a city boy decides to become a boxer. He's successful as a fighter — much to the dismay of his father. When gangsters try to buy a piece of him, he begins to have second thoughts.

Date of release
1939-09-05
TMDB
6.6 / 10 (37)
Runtime
1h 39m
Genres
Drama, Romance
Director
Rouben Mamoulian

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Awards: 0 · Nominations: 1

Golden Boy is a 1939 American drama romance sports film directed by Rouben Mamoulian, and starring Barbara Stanwyck, Adolphe Menjou, and William Holden. It is based on the 1937 play of the same title by Clifford Odets.

Production

In 1938, Columbia purchased the rights to Odets' play for $100,000, intending to produce a film starring Jean Arthur and directed by Frank Capra. Actors considered for the role of Joe Bonaparte included John Garfield, Elia Kazan, Richard Carlson, and Tyrone Power. However, director Rouben Mamoulian expressed interest in Holden after seeing his screen test.

Golden Boy was Holden's first starring role and jumpstarted his career.

The producers were initially unhappy with Holden's work and tried to dismiss him, but Stanwyck insisted that he be retained. Thirty-nine years later, when Holden and Stanwyck were joint presenters at the 1978 Academy Awards, he interrupted their reading of a nominee list to thank her publicly for saving his career. She was touched and they embraced.

Playwright Clifford Odets was reportedly displeased at the many changes made in the film from his original play, partly due to the Motion Picture Production Code and partly to the rewritten ending. Whereas the play ended with Joe and Lorna deciding to escape their problems and being killed in a car accident, the film closes with Joe and Lorna deciding to return to Joe's home together.

The climactic boxing scene was filmed on location at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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