A virtually unknown William Holden shot to stardom as the eponymous protagonist in this 1939 adaptation of Clifford Odets' critically acclaimed Broadway play. One of the year's best-reviewed and most profitable pictures, Golden Boy nonetheless escaped consideration at the Academy Awards—but only because that year's unusually stiff competition included such classics as Gone with the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, Stagecoach, and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, among others. Boyishly handsome Holden looked young but brought maturity to his characterization of a promising violinist who sidetracks his musical career to pursue fame and fortune as a prizefighter at the behest of seductress Barbara Stanwyck (who reportedly lobbied for Holden's casting). Well-known character actors Lee J. Cobb, Joseph Calleia, Sam Levene, and Edward Brophy lent valuable support, while Rouben Mamoulian's stylish direction and Karl Freund's fluid camerawork helped “open up” the stagebound story. Although Odets' original was subsequently pillaged for numerous boxing melodramas in later years, Mamoulian's version still shines brightly as a relic of Hollywood's Golden Age. DVD extras include three vintage short subjects: “The Kangaroo Kid,” a 1939 color cartoon spoof of Golden Boy; the 1940 two-reeler “Pleased to Mitt You”—one of the “Glove Slingers” series of comedy shorts with Shemp Howard (of the Three Stooges); and a 1930 edition of Screen Snapshots, which features a 23-year-old Stanwyck being taught to play golf by fellow actor Ricardo Cortez. The DVD also includes Stanwyck's very first dramatic television appearance in the Western drama Sudden Silence—a 1956 episode of Ford Television Theatre. Highly recommended. (E. Hulse)
Golden Boy
Sony, 99 min., not rated, DVD: $19.95 Volume 23, Issue 2
Golden Boy
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