Golden Boy

Notable for being William Holden's debut (he was just 21 and looks almost like a schoolboy!), this dated melodrama was adapted from a popular play by Clifford Odets dealing with a young man conflicted about which path to take in his life: a respected artistic career playing the violin and the more alluring celebrity (which also reaps instant monetary rewards) as a prizefighter. His Italian immigrant father (Lee J. Cobb, whose mannered performance has been especially criticized) obviously wants the boy to follow his musical instincts, but the pull of the ring is too great – more so because through it he meets and falls for Barbara Stanwyck, actually his manager (Adolphe Menjou)'s fiancée. Though initially acting under the latter's instructions, she eventually tries to dissuade him from fighting, particularly when gangster Joseph Calleia (another fine showcase for the Maltese character actor) takes Holden under his wing. The climax sees the hero winning the championship bout but at the cost of his black opponent's life and his own left hand; with the help of Stanwyck (realizing she really loves the boxer, Menjou relinquishes her) the "Golden Boy" stands up to his new boss – interestingly, Calleia lets him off rather too easily here when compared to similar films of later vintage! The film is pretty good (with equally solid support from Sam Levene as Holden's struggling cab driver brother-in-law) though betraying its stage origins by relegating the boxing matches to only a brief montage until the not very imaginatively handled finale; in hindsight, it's curious to find this cinematically lacking given the involvement of Mamoulian and his reputation as one of the most creative directors of the early Talkie era!