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Body and Soul

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6.7/10 • 101

1947-11-111h 44m

Drama

All for you...

Charley Davis, against the wishes of his mother, becomes a boxer. As he becomes more successful the fighter becomes surrounded by shady characters, including an unethical promoter named Roberts, who tempt the man with a number of vices. Charley finds himself faced with increasingly difficult choices.

Directors
Robert Rossen
Editors
Robert Parrish

Top Billed Cast

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  1. John Garfield

    John Garfield

    Charley Davis

  2. Lilli Palmer

    Lilli Palmer

    Peg Born

  3. Hazel Brooks

    Hazel Brooks

    Alice

  4. Anne Revere

    Anne Revere

    Anna Davis

  5. William Conrad

    William Conrad

    Quinn

  6. Joseph Pevney

    Joseph Pevney

    Shorty Polaski

  7. Lloyd Gough

    Lloyd Gough

    Roberts

  8. Canada Lee

    Canada Lee

    Ben Chaplin

  9. Larry Anzalone

    Larry Anzalone

    Fighter Being Knocked Out (uncredited)

Reviews2

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John Chard Avatar

John Chard

May 26, 2019

7/10

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

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  • Body and Soul poster
  • Body and Soul poster
  • Body and Soul poster
  • Body and Soul poster
  • Body and Soul poster
  • Body and Soul poster
  • Body and Soul poster

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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
--
Revenue
--
Keywords
transportersportsfilm noirover-the-hill fighterover the hillboxing