Anima e corpo

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.

Great flick. I loved it for two reasons: simplicity and realism - about life and about professional sports. Its a clearly drawn sketch of a guy like Charley. Garfield is at his best. He is totally credible. Everything is clear: Peg is all good - all giving. Alice the vamp is one hundred percent evil. So is the promoter, Roberts. A subtle contrast versus these black and whites is Garfield's character because he is flawed. He changes moral coloring as the plot progressives. They stay the same. We know the good guys and girls right away. No moral obscurity here. Clearly an old-fashioned movie - this is the way they used to be. No car chases, no mega-explosions, and no moral relativity either. And there's a plot, too. We need more of these.

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.

I always thought that John Garfield was one of the most under-rated of actors; he made some great films - and this is one of them. He is the down at heel, amateur boxer "Charley" who lives with his decent and upstanding mother "Anna" (Anne Revere) pretty much hand to mouth. When he wins an amateur bout, promoter "Quinn" (William Conrad) picks him up and starts him earning a little from his fights. Accompanied by his friend "Shorty" (Joseph Pevney) and his gal "Peg" (Lilli Palmer) he starts to attract attention, and when the big time looms he agrees a deal with "Roberts" (Lloyd Goff) and suddenly finds that his standards of morality and decency start to become compromised. His new found mentor is ruthless and his friends are gradually marginalised or ignored. Can a tragedy very close those to home open his eyes? This is a great story of grit and determination, of love, loyalty and manipulation and Robert Rossen keeps the pace moving really well. The cast is small, and the story tightly woven around some strong characters and a moral many can easily understand - money being the root of all evil, however well intentioned the earning of it. It's well scored and the production is photographed cleverly, at times intimately, making for a superior tale well worth watching.

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 .