Golden Boy

“Golden Boy,” a play written by Clifford Odets, follows Italian American Joe Bonaparte's boxing career. Joe's transition from being a skilled musician to becoming a top prizefighter causes strain on his relationship with his father, complicates his love life, and alters his personality. The Group Theatre originally produced the play on Broadway in 1937.

As the play opens, Tom Moody is arguing with his mistress, Lorna Moon, about whether or not he'll get a divorce from his wife. Moody is a fight manager, and he promises Lorna that if his fighter, Kaplan, wins the upcoming match, he'll buy her something. Joe, only 21 at the time, interrupts the pair and tells Moody that Kaplan has broken his hand and can't fight. Joe offers to fight instead. Moody eventually agrees to this and Joe wins the match.

The next scene takes place at Joe's father's house. Mr. Bonaparte is showing his friend the high-end violin that he's purchased for Joe's birthday. Mr. Bonaparte then reads about Joe's fight in the newspaper and tries to persuade Joe he should continue playing the violin, as he's a gifted musician. Joe wants to fight instead, and Mr. Bonaparte decides not to give him the violin.



Two months pass and Joe is a successful boxer fighting for managing partners Moody, Tokio, and Roxy Gottlieb. Joe is still considerate of his talent for the violin and is careful not to throw punches that will damage his hands. Mr. Bonaparte tells the managers that Joe is a violinist and they realize that's why he's mostly a defensive fighter.

When Moody confronts him about his hesitance in the ring, Joe threatens to give up fighting. Moody sends Lorna to persuade him otherwise. Joe tells Lorna how music is the only thing that makes him feel whole, but fighting allows him to face the world that has alienated him.  Meanwhile, Mr. Bonaparte also enlists Lorna's help in the hopes that she'll draw Joe back to his musical studies. As Joe prepares to leave for a Midwest boxing tour, Mr. Bonaparte offers Joe the violin, but Joe doesn't take it and instead asks for his father's blessing. Mr. Bonaparte refuses.

A gangster named Eddie Fuseli signs on as one of Joe's managing partners. Believing Joe to be distracted, Moody talks Lorna into diffusing the situation, and Joe and Lorna have another meaningful conversation during which they confess that they're in love with each other.



Lorna says that she can't end her relationship with Moody and Joe is devastated, feeling abandoned by both Lorna and his father. He goes into the ring fighting against The Great Lombardo and, in his emotional state, decides not to hold back. He breaks his hand but wins the match.

Another six months pass. Joe is a top prizefighter and has become increasingly violent in his matches. He learns that Lorna is recently engaged to Moody and he confronts her. The two argue, and Lorna tells him he is a killer just like Fuseli.

Unable to focus, Joe again steps into the ring with the man he fought in his first fight, Baltimore Chocolate Drop. He wins but soon learns that his last punch has killed his opponent.



The closing scene takes place at Mr. Bonaparte's house. The managers are there preparing to celebrate Joe's victory. While they're waiting for Joe and Lorna to arrive, the phone rings. Frank, Joe's brother, answers the call and then informs the rest of the party that Joe and Lorna have been in a fatal car accident. Mr. Bonaparte leaves to get his son's body and says he will bring him "home... where he belongs."

Odets' characterization of the struggle between art and materialism reflects his own struggle as he wrote Hollywood films to support an independent theatre company, The Group Theatre. As John Lahr put it in an article for The New Yorker, Joe and another of Odets' characters are "torn between commercial success and artistic fulfillment, driven crazy by their decision to live against their natures..."

The Group Theatre was a collective based in New York. It was formed by a group of theatre colleagues who wanted to create plays that met their artistic standards. Odets was a part of this group along with Harold Clurman, Cheryl Crawford, and Lee Strasburg, the latter of whom developed the "American acting technique," later used by actors like Marlon Brando and James Dean.



The Broadway production opened in 1937 at the Belasco Theatre under the direction of Harold Clurman. It ran for 250 performances and was revived at ANTA Playhouse in 1952 for another 55 performances. Another revival in 2012 garnered the play three Drama Desk Award nominations and eight Tony Awards nominations. The play also resulted in a 1939 film adaptation of the same name, starring William Holden in what would be his breakthrough role.