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Body and Soul

  • 1947
  • Approved
  • 1h 44m
IMDb RATING
7.6/10
5.6K
YOUR RATING
John Garfield, Hazel Brooks, and Lilli Palmer in Body and Soul (1947)
Film NoirDramaSport

A talented boxer's young career hits difficult terrain when an unethical promoter takes interest in him.A talented boxer's young career hits difficult terrain when an unethical promoter takes interest in him.A talented boxer's young career hits difficult terrain when an unethical promoter takes interest in him.

  • Director
    • Robert Rossen
  • Writer
    • Abraham Polonsky
  • Stars
    • John Garfield
    • Lilli Palmer
    • Hazel Brooks
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.6/10
    5.6K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Robert Rossen
    • Writer
      • Abraham Polonsky
    • Stars
      • John Garfield
      • Lilli Palmer
      • Hazel Brooks
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    • 62User reviews
    • 43Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Won 1 Oscar
      • 3 wins & 4 nominations total

    Photos69

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    Top cast60

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    John Garfield
    John Garfield
    • Charley Davis
    Lilli Palmer
    Lilli Palmer
    • Peg Born
    Hazel Brooks
    Hazel Brooks
    • Alice
    Anne Revere
    Anne Revere
    • Anna Davis
    William Conrad
    William Conrad
    • Quinn
    Joseph Pevney
    Joseph Pevney
    • Shorty Polaski
    Lloyd Gough
    Lloyd Gough
    • Roberts
    • (as Lloyd Goff)
    Canada Lee
    Canada Lee
    • Ben Chaplin
    Larry Anzalone
    • Fighter Being Knocked Out
    • (uncredited)
    Al Bain
    Al Bain
    • Club Patron
    • (uncredited)
    Steve Benton
    • Fight Spectator
    • (uncredited)
    Eddie Borden
    Eddie Borden
    • Fight Spectator
    • (uncredited)
    Paul Bradley
    Paul Bradley
    • Fight Spectator
    • (uncredited)
    James Burke
    James Burke
    • Arnold
    • (uncredited)
    George M. Carleton
    George M. Carleton
    • Prizefight Doctor
    • (uncredited)
    James Carlisle
    • Fight Spectator
    • (uncredited)
    Steve Carruthers
    Steve Carruthers
    • Dancer at After-Fight Party
    • (uncredited)
    Wheaton Chambers
    Wheaton Chambers
    • Ben's Doctor
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Robert Rossen
    • Writer
      • Abraham Polonsky
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews62

    7.65.6K
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    Featured reviews

    9blanche-2

    Great '40s film starring John Garfield

    John Garfield is a fighter taken over "Body and Soul" in this 1947 Faustian drama about a man who becomes too heady with success and too greedy, eventually signing on with a crooked fight promoter. Garfield is supported here by Lilli Palmer, Anne Revere, Hazel Brooks, William Conrad, Canada Lee, and Lloyd Gough.

    American filmmakers love boxing movies, and why not? It's a one on one brutal action sport that has inherent in it good drama because of what is at stake for people who most likely came from nothing and used their fists on the street. "Body and Soul" is no different in this regard, but it's one of the best of its kind. It also boasts an unusual and exceptionally talented cast.

    The film is loaded with conflict for Charlie Davis (Garfield) - his mother (Revere) doesn't want him to fight; he's in love with Peg (Palmer) and wants to marry her but is talked into delaying it when he signs on with a new and corrupt promoter, Roberts (Gough).

    This will be the first of Charlie's concessions and unfortunately not the last. He fights Ben (Lee), but isn't told that the man has a blood clot and he needs to coast through only a few rounds. Instead, he pulverizes Ben, causing further brain damage, and takes him on as a trainer out of guilt.

    Then he's seduced by a money-hungry babe named Alice (Brooks). And on and on, until Roberts bets against him and orders him to take a dive in the championship fight he's been waiting for. (With all the films done about taking dives, anyone who bets on a fight is nuts.)

    Something about this movie - maybe it's the theme song, which is one of my favorites - swept me away. It's one of Garfield' most colorful performances, and the beautiful, classy Palmer is a perfect juxtaposition not only to the streetwise Charlie but the trashy Alice.

    The truly transcendent role and performance is essayed by Canada Lee, a wonderful actor who died too young and had too few opportunities in film. His performance as the volatile, ill Ben was Oscar-worthy. Like Ben Carter in "Crash Dive," the fact that Lee is black does not enter into the script at all, and he is treated as an equal.

    For all the rotten stereotyping done in films at that time, there were a few scripts that defied it. Lee was blacklisted and died in 1952 (the same year that John Garfield died), at 45, almost literally of a broken heart. He left a legacy of five films and some wonderful stage work, including Orson Welles' all-black Macbeth.

    Cast members Garfield, Lee, Anne Revere, Lloyd Gough, Art Smith, Shimen Ruskin, scriptwriter Abraham Polonsky and producer Bob Roberts would all find themselves blacklisted, and director Rossen would be threatened but admit to being a Communist and name names.

    Magnificently photographed in black and white by James Wong Howe and with top direction, "Body and Soul" is an example of how wonderful film can be.
    8bkoganbing

    I Fell For You, Body And Soul

    Body and Soul was the first of several free lance productions that John Garfield did after his contract with Warner Brothers was concluded. He certainly didn't take any artistic chances because the role of Charlie Davis, the Jewish middleweight boxing champion from the Lower East Side of New York was something Garfield could identify with. He'd played a fighter in his second film, They Made Me A Criminal to great acclaim. And he'd appeared in the original production of Golden Boy though not in the lead. He'd be doing that on stage at the time of his demise in 1952.

    But while Body and Soul didn't blaze any artistic trails for Garfield, it did give him a great role that earned him a second Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. Garfield lost to Ronald Colman that year in A Double Life.

    Garfield has the feel for the heart and soul of Davis because that was his background. Another reviewer suggested that the Davis character is based on the famous lightweight champion Benny Leonard who would have been a hero to a Jewish kid like Julius Garfinkle growing up first on the Lower East Side and then in the Bronx. Leonard also died around the time Body and Soul was being made and movie audiences would have known that and the film would have a special poignancy for them.

    The story is told in flashback as Charlie Davis dozes off in the training room before a defense of his middleweight crown. He's in a depression about the death of someone named Ben.

    Ben turns out to be Canada Lee former champion himself who was Garfield's trainer. We see how Garfield who at first listened to his mother Anne Revere not to fight, but then when father Art Smith dies, economics forces him into the ring. Garfield gets involved with two women, artist Lilli Palmer and nightclub singer Hazel Brooks.

    He also gets involved with a manager who eventually turns on him in William Conrad and a sleazy promoter in Lloyd Gough. If you're a fan of boxing films I think you can figure out where this will all end up.

    But the ride is a good one. Besides Garfield's nomination, Body and Soul got another Oscar nomination for Original Screenplay by Abraham Polonsky. And it won the Oscar that year for Best Film Editing. That's for the great work in that department during that final boxing match.

    For fans of John Garfield, Body and Soul is a must. Besides all that there's that great Johnny Green-Edward Heyman song from the Thirties that got a revival because of this film.
    8ma-cortes

    A gripping drama with great interpretation and splendid boxing scenes make this a must-see

    A vintage tale of corruption in boxing world with a fine message and nice production design. A kind young boxer called Charlie Davis (John Garfield) living in poor conditions attempts to carry out a boxing career . As Garfield is a Jewish boxer whose mother (Anne Revere) wants him to quit the ring and get an education. Instead, he rises quickly to the world championship , thanks in part to a mobster protector . Along the way , he becomes involved with an unethical gangster promoter (Lloyd Gough) and falls in love for a good girl (Lilli Palmer) and a bad girl (Hazel Brooks) . Depicting the triumphs and misfortunes in the seedy world of the professional boxing . It details the story of a fighter who'll do anything to get to the top and does , with tragic results . As the good boxer with a certain ambition has to fight against nasty people , cheats and corruption in politics .

    One of the best boxing movies ever , and almost impressionistic in its development , as it contains a thoughtful and thought-provoking approach . A classic Forties' boxing film that defines deeply the genre . Resulting in a well made , grim and stunning drama , adequately photographed by James Wong Howe , evocative musical score by Hugo Friedhofer , magnetically interpreted and dynamically directed . This is an allegorical work that covers everything from the importance of honor personal to fight for life . It displays stark realism with appropriate boxing combats and intense drama including top-notch performance. John Garfield gives his best acting , he has a perfect character as the pugilist starring who becomes involved with crime and corruption in his quest to box his way out his ghetto environment . Being accompanied by a very fine cast , such as : Lilli Palmer , Hazel Brooks , Anne Revere , William Conrad , Joseph Pevney , Lloyd Gough and special mention mention for Canada Lee as an injured boxer with cerebral damage. Although many of whose participants were to fall foul of the House UnAmerican Activities Committee within the ensuing few years . The picture had many imitators but few peers . Remade in 1981 by George Bowers with Leon Isaac Kennedy , Peter Lawford, Muhammad Ali , Perry Lang .

    This 1947 gem was competently directed by Robert Rossen and attractive script by the black-listed Abraham Polonsky . This is a great film by a stunning filmmaker , Robert Rossen , who delivers an exciting rematch that artfully milks it for all it's worth. Rossen was a pretty good film writer by writing a lot of interesting and notorious storylines for prestigious directors and he also made a few important pictures , such as : ¨Lilith¨, ¨They came to Cordura¨, ¨Island in the sun¨, ¨Alexander Magno¨ , ¨Mambo¨, ¨The Brave Bulls¨ , ¨All the King's Men¨, ¨Johnny O'Clock¨. Rating : 7.5/10. Better than average . Worthwhile watching .
    7hitchcockthelegend

    He could've had the whole world. So he leaned over sideways and grabbed you.

    Body and Soul is directed by Robert Rossen and written by Abraham Polonsky. It stars John Garfield, Lilli Palmer, Hazel Brooks, Anne Revere and William Conrad. Music is by Hugo Friedhofer and cinematography by James Wong Howe.

    A talented boxer's career begins to spiral out of control when financial hunger, matters of the heart and a shady promoter begin to take a hold.

    Viewing it now, Body and Soul looks to be chock full of boxing movie clichés, which of course wasn't the case back in the 40s. Such as it is with the year of release, it has been honourably inserted into the film noir pantheon. If that's worthy - and many of the noir bible writers seem to think so - is up to the individual viewer to decide, what is apparent though is this is a fine piece of film making regardless of genre or style assignment.

    Charlie Davis' (Garfield in a worthy Oscar Nominated performance) descent down a crooked path is certainly noir in plot terms, and it makes for riveting viewing. The screenplay for the time is very choice and worthy, focusing as it does on corruption and violence within the sporting world. The look of the pic is that of realism, Rossen and Howe mixing elegiac beauty with fluent fight sequences (of which there aren't actually many), the monochrome sharp as a left hook.

    There's no sentimentality on show, this is stripped bare to show the dark that lurks beneath the cheering crowds and sensational advertisement posters. Pic pulses with the beat of the street, the sweat is from those trying to make a living, all while anti capitalism seeps from every frame. The finale drives home a point - consistent with Rossen in general - and even though pic has a very stage bound core, the craft from all involved ensures it never hurts the dramatic worth. 7.5/10
    8Tetsel

    The usual tale, told well

    In many ways, 'Body and Soul' is a very typical Hollywood story. It has the 'local boy makes it big', the 'vamp and the virgin', the 'corrupt businessmen' and of course the final moral fight. However, James Wong Howe's brilliant cinematography and John Garfield's solid acting lift this movie above the norm. Every emotion is heart-felt, and the tension at the end is perfectly presented. One of the best boxing movies.

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      To get a more fluid camera movement in the boxing ring, cinematographer James Wong Howe filmed the fight while holding the camera and being pushed by an assistant wearing roller skates.
    • Goofs
      The story takes place in the early to mid-1930s, but all of the women's hair styles and costumes are strictly 1947, as are the fashion design sketches in Peg's apartment.
    • Quotes

      Charlie Davis: Get yourself a new boy. I retire.

      Roberts: What makes you think you can get away with this?

      Charlie Davis: What are you gonna do? Kill me? Everybody dies.

    • Connections
      Featured in Jimmy Hollywood (1994)
    • Soundtracks
      Body and Soul
      Music by Johnny Green

      Lyrics by Edward Heyman, Robert Sour and Frank Eyton

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    FAQ17

    • How long is Body and Soul?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • November 11, 1947 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Jagd nach Millionen
    • Filming locations
      • New York, USA
    • Production company
      • Enterprise Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 44 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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