A lot of the time Hollywood altered the ending of a great play, and this one written by Clifford Odets is one of them. Odets led a troubled life, and to a certain extent his plays and screen writing reflected that. Among the translations to the screen are ' The Big Knife, ' ' Clash By Night ' and ' The Country Girl. ' He also wrote the script for ' The Sweet Smell Of Success ' and that is a very great film sour with corruption and despair. So would ' The Golden Boy ' have been if Hollywood had had the guts to leave the proper ending in, and no spoilers but it sugars a hopeless situation needing the audience, no doubt, to walk out of the cinema happy. It was William Holden's first leading role and he puts everything he has into the role, and then some, and his youthful passion as an aspiring violin player is made horribly bitter by the perversity of those who turn him into a star boxer. He goes against his artistic needs to the need for wealth, which he eventually hates, and no spoilers as to the final tragedy in the ring which tears him apart. Barbara Stanwyck is good as the equally troubled woman he loves and the fine Lee J, Cobb plays his father to perfection. A fine film tainted by Hollywood's soiled hands.
Review of Golden Boy
