Body and Soul (1947 film)
{{Short description|1947 film noir directed by Robert Rossen}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Body and Soul
| image = Body and Soul 1947 movie poster.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = Robert Rossen
| producer = Bob Roberts
| writer = Abraham Polonsky
| starring = John Garfield
Lilli Palmer
Hazel Brooks
Anne Revere
William Conrad
| music = Hugo Friedhofer
| cinematography = James Wong Howe
| editing = Robert Parrish
Francis Lyon (supervising)
| studio = Enterprise Productions
| distributor = United Artists (United States and Canada)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer{{cite web|title=Body and Soul (1947)|website=BBFC|access-date=5 March 2024|url=https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/body-and-soul-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0zmjizndk}} (International)
| released = {{film date|1947|11|09}}
| runtime = 104 minutes
| country = United States
| language = English
| budget = $1,800,000{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/variety171-1948-07|title=Variety (July 1948)|date=February 2, 1948|publisher=New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company|via=Internet Archive}}{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/variety172-1948-11/page/n77/mode/1up?q=%22brought+in+at%22|magazine=Variety|title=Inside Stuff - Pictures|date=10 November 1948|page=22}}
| gross = $3,250,000 (US rentals){{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/variety169-1948-01|title=Variety (January 1948)|date=February 2, 1948|publisher=New York, NY: Variety Publishing Company|via=Internet Archive}}
$4,700,000 (total)
}}
Body and Soul is a 1947 American film noir sports drama directed by Robert Rossen and starring John Garfield, Lilli Palmer, Hazel Brooks, Anne Revere, and William Conrad.{{Tcmdb title|id=0039204|title=Body and Soul}}. The screenplay by Abraham Polonsky is partly based on the 1939 film Golden Boy.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k1U8BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA88|title=Boxing: A Cultural History|first=Kasia|last=Boddy|year=2013|publisher=Reaktion Books|isbn=9781861897022|page=88}} With cinematography by James Wong Howe, the film is considered by some to be one of the best films about boxing.{{Cite web|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/boxing-movies/the-50-best-boxing-films-of-all-time/|title=The 50 Best Boxing Movies of All Time|date=March 24, 2017|website=pastemagazine.com}}{{Cite web|url=https://theplaylist.net/25-best-boxing-films-ever-20160824/3/#cb-|title=The 25 Best Boxing Movies Ever - Page 3 of 5|website=theplaylist.net}} It is also a cautionary tale about the lure of money—and how it can derail even a strong common man in his pursuit of success. The film uses the song Body and Soul for the main musical theme and underscoring throughout.
Plot
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 tempts the man with a number of vices. Charley finds himself faced with increasingly difficult choices.
When talented fighter Ben Chaplin finds himself blacklisted from a title shot because of his race, Davis hires him as a well-paid sparring partner. Davis begins to have a moral awakening when Chaplin has a seizure and dies in the training camp ring.
Davis finds the moral courage to win a title fight that he was supposed to throw and shrugs off Roberts' post-fight threats.
Cast
- John Garfield as Charley Davis
- Lilli Palmer as Peg Born
- Hazel Brooks as Alice
- Anne Revere as Anna Davis
- William Conrad as Quinn
- Joseph Pevney as Shorty Polaski
- Lloyd Gough as Roberts
- Canada Lee as Ben Chaplin
- Art Smith as David Davis
- Larry Steers as Fight Spectator (uncredited)
Reception
=Critical response=
When the film was released, critic Bosley Crowther praised the film, writing, "Body and Soul has up and done it, with interest and excitement to spare, and we heartily recommend it in its present exhibition at the Globe ... Still [Abraham Polonsky has] written his story with such flavor and such slashing fidelity to the cold and greedy nature of the fight game, and Robert Rossen has directed it with such an honest regard for human feelings and with such a searching and seeing camera, that any possible resemblance to other fight yarns, living or dead, may be gratefully allowed."[https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9502E0D6103AE233A25753C1A9679D946693D6CF Crowther, Bosley]. The New York Times, film review, "Exciting Story of Prizefighting, Starring John Garfield, at Globe", November 10, 1947. Accessed: July 16, 2013.
Film critic Dennis Schwartz discussed that the film had a definite sociopolitical point of view and praised Garfield's work. He, wrote, "Robert Rossen's Body and Soul becomes more than a boxing and film noir tale, as screenwriter Abraham Polonsky makes this into a socialist morality drama where the pursuit of money becomes the focus that derails the common man in his quest for success ... Garfield is seen as a victim of the ruthless capitalistic system that fixes everything including athletic events, as the little guy is always at the mercy of the big operator. It's the kind of liberalism that was common in the dramas made in the 1930s. It's more a film about corruption and the presence of violence everywhere in America rather than a straight boxing film ... Body and Soul viewed at this late date lacks much relevancy and now only seems gripping because of Garfield's gritty performance, and not because of the intense script that once made waves in powerful circles.[http://www.sover.net/~ozus/bodyandsoul.htm Schwartz, Dennis Schwartz] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080508055445/http://www.sover.net/~ozus/bodyandsoul.htm |date=May 8, 2008 }}. Ozus' World Movie Reviews, film review, March 23, 2004. Access: July 16, 2013.
TV Guide comments: "The fight sequences, in particular, brought a kind of realism to the genre that had never before existed (James Wong Howe wore skates and rolled around the ring shooting the fight scenes with a hand-held camera). A knockout on all levels."[http://movies.tvguide.com/body-and-soul/review/117465 TV Guide] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140910200111/http://movies.tvguide.com/body-and-soul/review/117465 |date=September 10, 2014 }}. Staff, film review. Access: July 16, 2013.
=Accolades=
- The film was voted as the Greatest Boxing Movie Ever in 2014 by the Houston Boxing Hall of Fame (Polonsky and Garfield, as well as Rossen, were blacklisted, essentially ruining the careers of the former two, though Rossen was reinstated after naming names in his second HUAC grilling).{{cite web |publisher=Turner Classic Movies |first=Roger |last=Fristoe |url=https://www.tcm.com/articles/Programming%20Article/020908/john-garfield-tuesdays-in-february |title=John Garfield - Tuesdays in February |date=January 19, 2021 |access-date=February 2, 2021 |website=Turner Classic Movies}}
The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:
- 2008: AFI's 10 Top 10:
- Nominated Sports Film{{cite web |url=http://connect.afi.com/site/DocServer/10top10.pdf?docID=381&AddInterest=1781 |title=AFI's 10 Top 10 Nominees |format=PDF |access-date=August 19, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716071937/http://connect.afi.com/site/DocServer/10top10.pdf?docID=381&AddInterest=1781 |archive-date=July 16, 2011}}
See also
Notes
{{Noteslist}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|id=0039204}}
- {{Rotten Tomatoes|m/body_and_soul_1947|Body and Soul}}
- {{Tcmdb title|id=69277}}
- {{AFI film|25090}}
- {{YouTube|_iM8IcR5yR0|Body and Soul film clip}}
{{Robert Rossen}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:1940s sports drama films
Category:American sports drama films
Category:American black-and-white films
Category:American boxing films
Category:1940s English-language films
Category:Films directed by Robert Rossen
Category:Films with screenplays by Abraham Polonsky
Category:Films scored by Hugo Friedhofer
Category:Films whose editor won the Best Film Editing Academy Award