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

Milton Kibbee

Mike Lally

Glen Lee

Theodore Lorch

Wilbur Mack

George Magrill

Pat McKee

Sid Melton

Harold Miller

Forbes Murray

William H. O'Brien

Charles Perry

Paul Power

Mike Ragan

Bob Reeves

Frank Riggi

Cyril Ring

Shimen Ruskin

Tim Ryan

Art Smith

Larry Steers

Bert Stevens

Dan Tobey

Sid Troy

George Tyne

Sailor Vincent

Peter Virgo

John Wald

Ulysses Williams

James Wong Howe

Bob Roberts

Robert Rossen

Hugo Friedhofer

Robert Parrish

Gustaf Norin

Bud Graybill

Joseph C. Gilpin

Robert Aldrich

Nathan H. Juran

Edward G. Boyle

Frank Webster

Abraham Polonsky

Drama

Body and Soul

Enterprise Productions

United Artists

United States of America

English

He could've had the whole world. So he leaned over sideways and grabbed you. 

Body and Soul is directed by Robert Rossen and written by Abraham Polonsky. It stars John Garfield, Lilli Palmer, Hazel Brooks, Anne Revere and William Conrad. Music is by Hugo Friedhofer and cinematography by James Wong Howe.

A talented boxer's career begins to spiral out of control when financial hunger, matters of the heart and a shady promoter begin to take a hold.

Viewing it now, Body and Soul looks to be chock full of boxing movie clichés, which of course wasn't the case back in the 40s. Such as it is with the year of release, it has been honourably inserted into the film noir pantheon. If that's worthy - and many of the noir bible writers seem to think so - is up to the individual viewer to decide, what is apparent though is this is a fine piece of film making regardless of genre or style assignment.

Charlie Davis' (Garfield in a worthy Oscar Nominated performance) descent down a crooked path is certainly noir in plot terms, and it makes for riveting viewing. The screenplay for the time is very choice and worthy, focusing as it does on corruption and violence within the sporting world. The look of the pic is that of realism, Rossen and Howe mixing elegiac beauty with fluent fight sequences (of which there aren't actually many), the monochrome sharp as a left hook.

There's no sentimentality on show, this is stripped bare to show the dark that lurks beneath the cheering crowds and sensational advertisement posters. Pic pulses with the beat of the street, the sweat is from those trying to make a living, all while anti capitalism seeps from every frame. The finale drives home a point - consistent with Rossen in general - and even though pic has a very stage bound core, the craft from all involved ensures it never hurts the dramatic worth. 7.5/10

CinemaSerf

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.

Body and Soul (1947)

Body and Soul

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Актёрский состав 58:

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