Under My Skin

Back during the era when there was a Production Code, folks who were wicked HAD to be punished and the leading men had to be nice guys. That's just the way it was. However, over the years, this code began to ease just a bit--and in the case of "Under My Skin" it seems to have eased a lot, as the leading character, Dan (John Garfield) is with barely a single redeeming quality through much of the movie.

The film begins with Dan and his young son running away from bookies in Italy. It seems that he double-crossed one of them (Luther Adler) and now he and the kid are hiding out in France. Always looking for an angle, Dan is looking for that one score to make it big...but at heart he's just a cheap hustler. His son, on the other hand, doesn't yet realize the sort of guy his dad is...but you know sooner or later he will.

For once, Dan has a chance to do the right thing. He's gotten a horse who is a winner and he can take this horse to the top...if it wasn't for the bookie. This scum has finally caught up with Dan and threatens to kill him if he doesn't throw his next race. What's Dan to do-- take it safe or work, finally, for some self-respect?

Despite being a very downbeat film, this is a very good movie. It's quite unique and the acting is excellent. My only gripes are technical. Although I really liked this film, I was NOT impressed by having Garfield play a jockey. Sure, he's not exactly tall but he's way too tall and bulky to be believable. It's a shame, as he was otherwise excellent in the film. Additionally, some of the scenes are sloppy--such as the opening scene where the guy running is pretty obviously NOT Garfield and the horse race scenes where Garfield is clearly NOT riding a real horse but is acting against a rear- projected bit of footage (in a few, however, such as the BIG race near the end, it's done MUCH better). For these reasons, I couldn't score the film a bit higher--but it still is well worth seeing. Just don't expect a feel good film!!

I think that if John Garfield had lived he might have gone abroad as did so many of his peers did in the McCarthy era and such projects as Under My Skin might have had followups. The film is based on an Ernest Hemingway story about an exiled jockey living in Europe with his son, father and son being played by Garfield and Orley Lindgren.

It might have started out as a Hemingway story, but a seasoned film buff will recognize bits from Broadway Bill/Riding High, National Velvet, and The Champ. Garfield and Lindgren have to beat it out of Italy as he crosses up gangster Luther Adler and they flee to Paris. Where they take up with songstress Michelline Prelle and look for work, but Adler follows them there with an offer he thinks they can't refuse.

The shame and stigma for Garfield having been a cooperating witness at the HUAC hearings is roughly parallel to his role as a crooked jockey. Under My Skin is as much an explanation film for Garfield as On The Waterfront was for Elia Kazan. I think there's more Garfield/Jean Negulesco the director than Hemingway in this, Hemingway was never as sentimental as this film is.

Still it's not a bad one and I think Garfield may have done more projects like this had he lived.

John Garfield is an American jockey in Europe. After he double-crosses Luther Adler and wins a race, he and his son, Orley Lindgren, flee north to Paris, where he meets Micheline Presle (who is still alive at the age of 100 as I write this). He likes her, she despises him, but they bond, somewhat, over the boy. But Adler follows them to Paris. He wants the money he lost on Garfield not throwing the race, and some more.

Based on the Hemingway story "My Old Man", it's standard Garfield noir for the period, but brightly lit by cinematographer Joseph Lashelle, whose crew shot the final steeplechase very well. Director Jean Negulesco gets some atmosphere in, largely thanks to second-unit shooting in Europe.

FOX had nothing but the finest talent in the 1940's and 1950's. This is a prime example in taking a Hemingway short story and expanding it to an 85 minute movie while still being faithful to the source.

John Garfield is very good as the American jockey stranded in post WWII Italy where he's raising his son and staying one jump ahead of his past. Lovely Micheline Prelle, who meets him in Paris, plays her role perfectly and will make us understand why women will go for a guy like Garfield and leave guys like you and me in the dust. (You, anyway!)

A strong plus is the look we get at Europe (mostly Paris) as it was 58 years ago. I've seen Paris many times, but it was more beautiful, more itself, less overrun with tourists, in 1964. Even more-so in 1950. One of the great benefits of old movies.

Beautiful movie about horses and that magnificent, magnificent John Garfield; I can't get enough of it.