Directed by Robert Rossen
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 tempt the man with a number of vices. Charley finds himself faced with increasingly difficult choices.
John Garfield Lilli Palmer Hazel Brooks Anne Revere William Conrad Joseph Pevney Lloyd Gough Canada Lee Larry Anzalone Al Bain Steve Benton Eddie Borden Paul Bradley James Burke George M. Carleton James Carlisle Wheaton Chambers Mary Currier Sayre Dearing Joe Devlin Artie Dorell Al Eben Caferino Garcia Herschel Graham Joe Gray Virginia Gregg Stuart Hall John Indrisano Sheldon Jett Show All…
Tijelo i duša, 出卖灵肉的人, 身体与灵魂, 无敌拳王, 灵与欲, Sang et Or, Jagd nach Millionen, Cuerpo y alma, Anima e corpo, Тело и душа, Cos i ànima, Corpo e Alma, Ostatnia runda, 육체와 영혼, Kropp och själ, Lev farligt, 無敵拳王
USANR USA 
“Body and Soul” are worth only their weight in betting odds in Robert Rossen’s sports noir classic.
If Rossen’s “The Hustler” was a fable that taught America the necessity of losing, then “Soul” is a fairy tale that depicts the dehumanization of victory.
The fairy godmother, here - works not in magic, but in money.
When Cinderella Man John Garfield, as a poor Jewish son of a candy store owner, begins to box his way to the big time, in swoops a parasitic promoter. But the glass slippers he grants turn just as quickly into cutting shards; drawing blood money in every bout.
The messaging in Rossen’s “Body and Soul” is so outright anti-capitalist, it comes as little surprise that…
“I’m beautiful, why should I wanna be rich?”
This doesn’t do all that much to separate itself from most boxing movies of the time, but it’s critique of Capitalism is very ahead of its time. It also has a really solid cast of characters and the story is very engaging for something like this.
It’s sad to note that a good chunk of the cast and crew of this movie were blacklisted by Hollywood during the HUAC Communist hunt. The only one who really continued a career afterwards was the director Robert Rossen because he identified 57 people as Communists and was taken off of the blacklist after doing so.
The blacklist itself disappeared by the early 1960’s, but by then most of the blacklist had moved on from the film industry, as it was nearly impossible to find work while on the list.
Anyway, there’s your film history for the day you’re welcome.
Makes sense why this is called Body and Soul. Cause he punched him in the body, and then took his soul. The second part may sound weird but it really happens in the film. Yeah, I know, it was surprising for me too.
Everybody dies. To simply fight for something or someone and not for money is a fallacy, and whatever you pocket's merely part of an investment. The soul vies for everything meaningful despite being exploited for the gain of all those unconcerned with the moneymaker, all while the body which exudes said essence waits for the world to decide what to do with it. A man wants to do what he knows he can do to provide, but alongside a systemic scourge that knows precisely how to undo all of the well-meaning hard work that places itself squarely in the pockets of those out for themselves with no one respectable in mind.
It has heart and I didn't mind it but truthfully the story was a little heavy handed but luckily John Garfield and especially the Camera work of James Wong Howe was spectacular. The story had a lot going on and I didn't mind how it was structured it just pushed certain narrative moments a little too hard. I really got ensconced with the final 15 minutes which really makes it the price of admission and kept you on your toes to where this was going to land. Worth checking out especially for the ring shots and it does demonize the underbelly of the boxing world which I am kinda surprised that they got away with.
After “The Set-Up”, “The Harder They Fall” and “Champion” this is my fourth Boxer Noir this season. And it was the first one I had not seen before. And what can I say, it’s great. A little similar to “Champion” but still am engaging and well-acted rise and fall story. The themes of corruption and loss of humanity and integrity are also percent here but they ring strong and relevant.
It is my least favorite of the four Boxer Noirs I have seen but that is probably only because I have seen it last. John Garfield is a strong lead and Robert Rossen does a solid job in the director’s chair. Maybe the film would have felt more fresh if I had not just seen three other Boxer movies from that era, but for what it is, it is a good film worth watching. Recommended.
What's the best boxing movie ever? No, it's this.
Body and Soul is the archetypal Rossen rise-and-fall story, and exceptional in every way: the grubbily poetic Abraham Polonsky script that indicts capitalism, anti-Semitism and ruthless individualism, career-best performances from Palmer, Canada Lee and the great John Garfield, and a climax of shimmering, ferocious catharsis, shot by James Wong Howe on rollerskates (33 years before Scorsese won plaudits for doing the exact same thing).
It's a superb character study and a stunning sports movie, but it's also a bruising, uncompromising polemic, even by late-'40s standards, and with it came a terrible cost, as 10 of the cast and crew – including the writer, director and star – were subsequently targeted by…
Body and soul is a classic film noir boxing drama directed by Robert Rossen , and starring John Garfield .
story of Charlie Davis is a poor young man who becomes a successful boxer. At first, he fights to help his family and make a better life. But as he gets richer, he’s pulled into the corrupt world of boxing, where shady managers want to control him.
The performance from Garfied as Charlie was so powerful, his acting more intense and interesting on the film portraying a boxer who rises from poverty but struggles with the moral costs of success , but otherwise, the two female ( Charlie's mother and girlfriend ) , their stories as a supporting actresses fell…
or: How to sell your body and lose your soul.
While World War II was still raging overseas, unexpectedly dark shadows began to creep across American cinema screens and only intensified in the immediate post-war period. Later dubbed film noir, this disparate collection of movies, many of them shot by the greatest directors of their time, combined to form one of the most fascinating and continually revived and imitated film genres that includes a dizzying array of flat-out masterpieces, near classics and smaller gems. What’s most surprising to me, though, is that every time I think I must have caught up with all of the truly great noirs, another one I never had on my radar before, comes creeping up on…
He’s not just a kid who can fight, he’s money!
And people want money so bad they make it stink, and they make you stink.
There are a number of moments when Charley Davis is told that there’s enough money. They’ve got enough to be comfortable. When he tells his mother he can buy her a decent place to live she pointedly tells him, I live in a decent place. But as Charley is influenced by the greed of boxer promoters and managers he loses sight of what’s important. He loses sight of himself. Director Robert Rossen deftly shows us the soul-sucking effects of unchecked capitalism.
John Garfield as Charley is a mixture of tough bravado and sensitivity. A serious…
By-the-numbers boxing picture elevated with the hindsight of knowing John Garfield, playing the boxer who is supposed to take a dive, triumphantly going into fuck it mode and knocking his opponent out instead, prioritizing his integrity over careerism, ending his boxing career in defiance of powerful forces demanding he do so, just as he would go on to do in real life when HUAC forced him to take the stand to name his friends and wife as communists and John Garfield took that stand and named no one, ending his acting career. We should pour one out for John Garfield every single day, an absolute beacon of righteousness.
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EDIT: Just found out John Garfield and Canada Lee both died of heart attacks two weeks apart after refusing to cooperate with HUAC 👁️
It's hard for this movie to be sad because old timey boxing is like top 5 funniest things ever. Bro got hit with a 200 hit Tekken combo and they're still counting to see if he'll get up.
This Week's Schedule
Sun - Body and Soul
Mon - The Electric State
Wed - A Simple Plan
Fri - Eddington
