John Garfield ~ Articles

Encyclopedia of Popular Culture (2000)

The original movie rebel, ruggedly handsome John Garfield rose to fame with his post-Depression portrayals of cynical men who reflected the era’s social unrest. As depicted by Garfield, characters no longer were readily identifiable as either good or evil—the rebel characterization which became the calling card of iconoclastic actors including Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, James Dean, Steve McQueen, and Al Pacino. Garfield also endures as a strong sexual presence, particularly in his teamings with Lana Turner in the 1946 adaptation of James M. Cain’s steamy “The Postman Always Rings Twice,” and, a year later, opposite Joan Crawford in “Humoresque.”