dougdoepke No movie actor inflects lines from the script better than John Garfield. That plus a flawlessly staccato delivery that cuts through dialogue like a buzz saw, distinguish his tough guy performances. These abilities are on superb display in this boxing melodrama, one of the liveliest on that sinister sport. The best parts are those dealing with the struggle for Davis's (Garfield) soul, with Lloyd Goff's super-slick fight fixer as Satan. It's the classic contest pitting money against virtue, and while Davis is quick to grasp the rules of the ring, he's slow to understand the price he is paying. Not exactly cutting-edge material, but slickly and memorably done. The weakest parts are a seemingly miscast Lilli Palmer, a shade too refined to be believable, and Ann Revere's hair that looks like a flour-spraying crop duster gave it a quick pass. The film contains one truly memorable scene, when the washed-up black fighter, Canada Lee, at last confronts his tormentors. It's an emotion packed opportunity that really reaches gut-level. I guess the reason so many from cast and crew were later blacklisted is because of the film's communist inspired message – namely, that money is not the most important value in life. Good thing those investigators never got around to the religious community.

bkoganbing 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.

Michael_Elliott Body and Soul (1947) *** (out of 4) John Garfield plays a poor kid from the slums who starts boxing and soon rises to the top where the only place to go is down. This is a highly impressive film that manages to be quite effective even though the story isn't anything original. It's easy to see the influence this film had on Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull and I'd say the Scorsese picture follows this one quite closely. There are also a few more sequences, which were borrowed in Rocky. The most impressive thing about this movie are the boxing scenes, which are the most realistic and violent of any early boxing film I've seen. I'd say they've only been topped by the Scorsese film. Garfield is terrific as usual and really sells his character's many different feelings. Garfield perfectly captures the out of control scenes but he's also very good in the more tender moments involving a used up black boxer. The supporting cast is also very good with Lilli Palmer, Hazel Brooks, William Conrad and Joseph Pevney turning in fine work. The films one weakness is that it drags before the start of the final act but there's still plenty here to enjoy.

kayaker36 The great lightweight champion of the 1920's Benny Leonard (true name: Benjamin Leiner) was the model for Charley Davis. Leonard's closeness to his mother was played up in the sporting press of the time. She wanted her son to play the violin, not box. Leonard reminded her in telegrams after each victory that he was "bringing home the bacon"--earning far more with his fists than he ever could as a fiddler. Sadly, Leonard lost all his money in the stock market crash and was forced to make an ill- advised comeback. When he retired as a boxer for keeps, he was given referee work. After officiating at six bouts on a hot New York night, Leonard suffered a heart attack and died in the ring.By today's standards this picture is oversentimental, lacking in subtlety and full of clichés. What hoists it is the gritty intensity of John Garfield. Due in large part to his early death, John Garfield's movies enjoy a cult following which time has not diminished. Garfield's pictures, even back in the 'thirties, often included black actors. This was unusual for the time, marking him out as politically liberal and perhaps helping make him a target for congressional red-baiters.