Body and Soul (1927 film)

{{Infobox film

| name = Body and Soul

| image = Body and Soul 1927 poster.jpg

| caption = Film poster

| director = Reginald Barker
Nick Grinde (ass't director)

| producer =

| based_on = {{based on|'Body and Soul"
1919 story in Everybody's Magazine|Katharine Newlin Burt}}

| writer = Elliott J. Clawson

| starring = Aileen Pringle
Norman Kerry
Lionel Barrymore

| music =

| cinematography = Percy Hilburn (*French)

| editing = William LeVanway

| distributor = Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

| released = {{film date|1927|10|1}}

| runtime = 60 minutes

| country = United States

| language = Silent film
English intertitles

| budget =

}}

Body and Soul is a 1927 American silent film starring Aileen Pringle, Norman Kerry, and Lionel Barrymore. The film was directed by Reginald Barker.[http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/B/BodyAndSoul1927.html Body and Soul at silentera.com][http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=2948 The AFI Catalog of Feature Films:Body and Soul] It is a remake of the 1920 film The Branding Iron also directed by Barker.

The film has been preserved by MGM and George Eastman House.[http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.mbrs.sfdb.2721/default.html The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog:Body and Soul]

Plot summary

It is the story of a disgraced drunk surgeon (Lionel Barrymore) who leaves to start over in a small Alpine village in Switzerland. There, the surgeon becomes enamored of Hilda (Aileen Pringle), a maid at the hotel, and tricks her into marrying him on the basis that her lover, Ruffo (Norman Kerry), has left her. The surgeon's behavior turns violent after the wedding and ends with him dragging Hilda out of the village through the snow and marking her like cattle as the surgeon illustrates his descent into madness. Things go from bad to worse when Ruffo returns to stir up trouble and make the already volatile relationship even more complicated, although what precisely happens is not detailed in readily available information and is left to the reader's interpretation in this 60-minute Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film.{{Cite AV media |url=https://letterboxd.com/film/body-and-soul-1927/ |title=Body and Soul (1927) |language=en |access-date=2025-03-17 |via=letterboxd.com}}