Main Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Adolphe Menjou, Lee J. Cobb, Joseph Calleia
Release Year: 1939
Country: US
Run Time: 100 minutes
Plot
Director Rouben Mamoulian often claimed that he'd been inspired to make Golden Boy after reading a newspaper clipping about a recently deceased boxer. While Mamoulian may have genuinely believed that he was the true "auteur" of Golden Boy, he probably wouldn't have made the picture at all had not Clifford Odets started the ball rolling by writing the property for the stage in 1936. In his first starring role, William Holden plays Joe Bonaparte, a promising young boxer. While boxing promoter Tom Moody (Adolphe Menjou) and Menjou's mistress Lorna Moon (Barbara Stanwyck) urge Joe to pursue a ring career, Joe's Italian father (played with a surfeit of Chico Marx by 27-year-old Lee J. Cobb) wants his boy to become a famous violinist. Moody tells Lorna to romance the boy to get him into the ring. She does so, but regrets her callous actions when she genuinely falls in love with Joe. Having already broken his father's heart, Joe is further devastated when he accidentally kills a ring opponent. In the original play, both Joe and Lorna pay for their "sins" by dying in an auto accident. This would never do in Hollywood, so at fadeout time the chastened Joe returns to his forgiving father, with a tearful Lorna by his side. Clifford Odets' overrated purple prose seems to flow naturally from the actors, though it is obvious that William Holden had a long way to go. Still, Holden is pretty good in his first bonafide lead, a fact that he would ever after attribute to the patience and encouragement of his co-star Barbara Stanwyck; each year on the anniversary of Golden Boy's Hollywood premiere, Holden would send Stanwyck flowers as a sign of his eternal gratitude. While much of Golden Boy seems like a cliche-ridden museum piece when seen today, the film comes to life during the boxing sequences, helmed in exciting montage fashion by the always innovative Rouben Mamoulien. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Golden Boy is mostly remembered today for being William Holden's entry into Hollywood stardom, but at the time of its release it was an anxiously awaited cinematic version of an acclaimed and important drama by Broadway's hot playwright, Clifford Odets. Holden's performance has held up considerably better than the source material, which is filled with dated jargon, oversimplified situations, cliches (including one -- the prizefighter with the soul of an artist -- that it helped popularize) and pasteboard plotting. Fortunately, the basic theme -- what is a person willing to sacrifice to achieve success? -- doesn't grow old, which helps the film enormously. Holden doesn't quite have the acting chops at this stage in his career that the role requires, but he's strong enough and close enough to the right track to make the viewer overlook the occasional awkwardness. Barbara Stanwyck is on the money as the good/bad girl, and the chemistry between the two stars is dynamite. The supporting cast is also good, with the exception of Lee J. Cobb's father, which is played exactly as the stereotype that it is. Otherwise, Rouben Mamoulian handles the cast very well and keeps the pace up. There are relatively few of his trademark visual flourishes, except for the boxing sequences that seethe with a life and vitality that threaten to jump off the screen. Dated it may be, but Golden Boy still packs enough of a punch to make it worthwhile. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
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 Academy Awards, he interrupted their reading of a nominee list to publicly thank her for saving his career.[1]
