Reviews of movies with William Holden.
Grade: C-
Synopsis: During the Civil War, a Union Cavalry Colonel (John Wayne) clashes with a pacifist surgeon (William Holden) assigned to his outfit for a raid deep into confederate territory.
Despite the combined talents of director John Ford and stars John Wayne and William Holden, The Horse Soldiers is a disappointment, and if anyone’s to blame, it’s likely Ford. MORE »
Grade: C-
Synopsis: A submarine officer (William Holden) finds himself haunted by a difficult decsion he made during a World War II battle.
Submarine Command, depending on how you look at it, is either a good war picture broken up by a plodding melodrama, or a good melodrama ruined by a pat, war-picture ending. Either way, the attempt by the filmmakers to marry the two genres doesn’t quite work. MORE »
Grade: C-
Synopsis: Lead on by his manager’s mistress (Barbara Stanwyck), a violin protégé (William Holden) turns boxer, much to the dismay of his father (Lee J. Cobb).
Golden Boy was William Holden’s big break, earning him the eponymous nickname for the rest of his career, as well as forging a lifelong bond between him and star Barbara Stanwyck after she convinced the film’s producers to take a shot on the then-unknown actor. MORE »
Grade: C+
Synopsis: After struggling to reestablish himself in society, an ex-con (George Raft) goes to work for a hoodlum (Humphrey Bogart) in order to finance his younger brother’s (William Holden) dreams.
Director Lloyd Bacon almost ruined Invisible Stripes. Usually, when it comes to casting, studios override directors to the detriment of the film—think 20th Century Fox’s nixing Billy Wilder’s choice of Walter Mathau for the lead in The Seven Year Itch (1955)—but here it’s the other way round. Bacon wanted to cast perennial lug Wayne Morris in the prominent role of George Raft’s character’s younger brother, but the studio, Warner Bros., insisted on William Holden, who’d just come off his breakout role in Golden Boy (1939). Bacon reluctantly agreed, but rode Holden mercilessly throughout production, up until Raft finally told the director to “lay off the kid.” MORE »
Grade: A+
Synopsis: Pursued by one of their own (Robert Ryan), an aging band of outlaws (William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Edmond O’Brien, Warren Oates, Jaime Sánchez, and Ben Johnson) heads to Mexico seeking one last big score.
“If they move, KILL EM!” barks William Holden in The Wild Bunch’s opening sequence and director Sam Peckinpah’s elegy for the Old West is off and running. MORE »
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