Body and Soul (1947)

A talented boxer's young career hits difficult terrain when an unethical promoter takes interest in him.

Director:

Robert Rossen

Writer:

Abraham Polonsky (original screenplay)

Stars:

John Garfield, Lilli Palmer, Hazel Brooks

Won 1 Oscar. Another 4 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
John Garfield	...	Charley Davis
Lilli Palmer	...	Peg Born
Hazel Brooks	...	Alice
Anne Revere	...	Anna Davis
William Conrad	...	Quinn
Joseph Pevney	...	Shorty Polaski
Lloyd Gough	...	Roberts (as Lloyd Goff)
Canada Lee	...	Ben Chaplin

Storyline

Charley Davis wins an amateur boxing match and is taken on by promoter Quinn. Charley's mother doesn't want him to fight, but when Charley's father is accidentally killed, Charley sets up a fight for money. His career blooms as he wins fight after fight, but soon an unethical promoter named Roberts begins to show an interest in Charley, and Charley finds himself faced with increasingly difficult choices.

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Plot Keywords:

new york city | rags to riches | gangster | montage | flashback | 

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Taglines:

The story of a guy that women go for!

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Genres:

Drama | Film-Noir | Sport

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

Anne Revere and John Garfield play mother and son here, but in real life the age difference between them was only 10 years.

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Goofs

Charley Davis's fiancee, Peg, leaves him a note and misspells his name, "Charlie."

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Quotes

Charlie Davis: I don't want any handouts. Do you think I like waiting around for the whole world to make up its mind what to do with me? My mother don't understand.
Peg Born: What is it you want to do?
Charlie Davis: There's only one thing I know how to do. Fight.
Peg Born: Well if you want to fight, fight.
Charlie Davis: And it's all right with you?
Peg Born: Anything you want is all right with me. I love you, Charlie.
Charlie Davis: [makes a fist] It'll be quick.
Peg Born: Tiger, tiger.
Charlie Davis: Yeah, that's right. I got claws. But not for you Peg. Not for you.
[kisses her]

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Connections

Referenced in Legacy of the Hollywood Blacklist (1987)

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Soundtracks

Body and Soul
Music by Johnny Green
Lyrics by Edward Heyman, Robert Sour and Frank Eyton

User Reviews

More A Human Interest Story Than A Boxing Tale

I looked at this as simply a good story, a solid drama that happened to have the sport of boxing figure into it. "Boxing movies." if people insist on labeling this under that category, were particularly popular around the time of this film. Many of them had similar stories about a good guy being told to take a dive or else. Yes, that was in here, too, but it wasn't anywhere near the central part of the story. This film was more of an earlier "Raging Bull"-type tale in that it concentrated on the friends, family, freeloaders, criminals and women surrounding the main male character.

This was more of a story about a decent man who gets carried away with success and with the power and money that goes with it. As good as the lead actor, John Garfield, was in here - and he was good - I was more intrigued with the supporting characters.

Lilly Palmer looked and sounded the part of a refined sweet, pretty French girl (whatever that means) and was a good contrast to the uneducated and quick tempered brute (Garfield). As in so many stories, she wasn't fully appreciated by her man until the end. Anne Revere, as Garfield's mom (she seemed to always play the lead character's mother in 1940s films) was fascinating as she always was and kudos to Joseph Peveny as "Shorty" and Lloyd Gough a "Roberts." Both added a lot to the film. Wlliam Conrad and Hazel Brooks added some great film noir-- type dialog, berating each other once in a while.

These actors, and the photography of James Wong Howe, make this a cut above most if not all the so-called "boxing films."

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 November 1947 (USA)

Also Known As:

Body and Soul

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Enterprise Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1