The Life and Times of John Garfield / Dust Be My Destiny / USA 1939
“If travelling all over the country looking for work means being tramps, that’s us,” impulsive Joe Bell responds irritably to the judge’s confrontational tone. Garfield’s hero once believed in good people and good deeds, until he was accused for a crime he didn’t commit, which resulted in a 16-month spell behind bars. People describe Joe as “a nice boy, too. All he needs is someone to believe in him”. When that someone materialises in the form of the attractive, kind-hearted Mabel (Priscilla Lane), Joe senses that fortune hasn’t forgotten about him after all, and he’s finally ready to settle down, despite America’s economic crisis. That is, until fate throws another tragic obstacle in his path. The screenplay for this stirring social drama was written by Robert Rossen, who later directed John Garfield in Body and Soul.
Karel Och
88 min / Black & white, 35 mm
Director Lewis Seiler
/ Screenplay Robert Rossen
/ Dir. of Photography James Wong Howe
/ Music Max Steiner
/ Sound Robert B. Lee
/ Editor Warren Low
/ Art Director Hugh Reticker
/ Producer Louis F. Edelman, Hal B. Wallis
/ Production Warner Bros.
/ Cast John Garfield, Priscilla Lane, Alan Hale, Frank McHugh, Billy Halop, Bobby Jordan
/ Sales Park Circus Group
Lewis Seiler (1890, New York – 1964, Hollywood, Los Angeles). Selected filmography: The Great K & A Train Robbery (1926), Dust Be My Destiny (1939), Pittsburgh (1942), Guadalcanal Diary (1943), You’re in the Navy Now (1951, co-dir.), The True Story of Lynn Stuart (1958).
Park Circus Group
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Phone: +44 141 332 2175
E-mail: [email protected]
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