John Garfield

As biographer Lawrence Swindell put it:

His "honeymoon" with Warners over Garfield entered a protracted period of conflict with the studio they attempting to cast him in crowd-pleasing melodramas like Dust Be My Destiny and he insisting on quality scripts that would offer a challenge and highlight his versatility. It was under the guidance of the school's principal—the noted educator Angelo Patri—that he was introduced to acting. Among the people becoming disenchanted with the Guild and turning to the Lab for a more radical challenging environment were Stella Adler Lee Strasberg Franchot Tone Cheryl Crawford and Harold Clurman.

Garfield is acknowledged as a predecessor of such Method actors as Montgomery Clift Marlon Brando and James Dean. S.