Body and Soul

Name: Body and Soul
Genre: Drama
Released: 1925-11-09
Duration: 1 h 42 min
Rating: 6.2
Cast: Paul Robeson, Marshall Rogers, Lawrence Chenault

19251925
Not RatedNot Rated
1h 42m

IMDb RATING

6.2/10

1.1K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

64,794

1,054

Drama

A malevolent phony preacher plots to take advantage of a woman from his congregation who happens to be in love with his long-estranged identical twin brother.A malevolent phony preacher plots to take advantage of a woman from his congregation who happens to be in love with his long-estranged identical twin brother.A malevolent phony preacher plots to take advantage of a woman from his congregation who happens to be in love with his long-estranged identical twin brother.

IMDb RATING

6.2/10

1.1K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

64,794

1,054

Director
- Oscar Micheaux
Writer
- Oscar Micheaux(novel "Body and Soul")
Stars

Top credits

See production, box office & company info

See more at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 win

Photos13

Mercedes Gilbert in Body and Soul (1925)

Mercedes Gilbert, Paul Robeson, and Julia Theresa Russell in Body and Soul (1925)

Paul Robeson and Marshall Rogers in Body and Soul (1925)

Paul Robeson and Julia Theresa Russell in Body and Soul (1925)

Julia Theresa Russell in Body and Soul (1925)

Goofs
Mother Martha Jane looks through her Bible for the saved money to show it to the sisters, but it's missing. She leaves the book on the table and while searching through some drawers, three shots of the sisters show no book on the table. When the mother returns to the table, the book is back.

Quotes
Yello-Curley' Hinds - the Phony Reverend's Former Jailmate: I tell you that I was not seekin' you out, but dropped off here to find girls for 'Cotton Blossom's Shoulder Shakers' - - and this little Isabelle - - she appeals to muh!

Alternate versions
Raymond Rohauer, Inc. copyrighted a restored version in 1979 with a music track and new credits. The music was composed and performed by Lee Erwin and was recorded at Carnegie Hall Cinema, New York. It's running time is 83 minutes.

Connections
Featured in Black Shadows on the Silver Screen (1975)

User reviews22

Review

Featured review

6/10

Can these old bones live?

Its nice to see there was a Black director (Micheaux) with the gumption to take on difficult themes (like a crooked preacher and sexual abuse). Unfortunately his mastery of technique wasn't very good; this movie resembles the sort of thing D.W. Griffith was doing in 1913, both in form and tone (cf. A Girl and her Trust). Cinema had evolved by 1925.

There is one great comic sequence that is worth the price of the movie, an over-the-top sermon (on the valley of dry bones) in which the whiskey-guzzling preacher has his congregation in such ecstasy that they do what looks suspiciously like break-dancing. Robeson, usually the good guy, here proves that he is equally adept at playing a sleazebag when required. There is a similar "sermon" in The Blues Brothers that was surely inspired by this one. The comical stereotypes would normally cause us to cry "racism", but this movie was made by and for blacks.

Body and Soul explores serious issues and has moments of great fun, but is mainly of historical interest.

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