A 5-star film for me, this 1947 Robert Rossen noir, which won the Academy Award for Best Film Editing, explores the corrupt world of professional boxing. Also starring Lilli Palmer, this film features Anne Revere, Canada Lee, Hazel Brooks, and William Conrad in supporting roles.
The son of a candy store owner, Charlie Davis (John Garfield) wants big things out of life. Telling his mother (Anne Revere) that he doesn't want to end up like his father---just getting by---Charlie sets out to pursue a boxing career, and he soon wins an amateur boxing championship. His mother, however, doesn't approve of her son behaving like an animal, and, wanting him to be something worthwhile, she begs Charlie not to pursue such a career. Initially, Charlie complies with his mother's request; however, when his mother is forced to seek charitable relief after his father's death at the hands of gangsters, Charlie changes his mind.
With the encouragement of his girlfriend, Peg (Lilli Palmer), who tells him to fight if he wants to fight, Charlie goes on the prizefighting circuit and finds great success. Before long, wealth and lavish living come his way, but they come with a price---his very soul. With a corrupt manager dictating his every move, Charlie not only refuses to listen to the warnings of his family and friends, but he also postpones his wedding to Peg, and as he gets in deeper, Charlie finds himself having to enter the ring with men of questionable health and even to throw a fight if told to do so. Saying brutally unkind things to his mother and Peg, he pushes them away.
As Charlie is about to fight in the championship---a fight he has been instructed to lose---he becomes aware that the people in the candy store neighborhood---despite being poor--- have bet on him...not so much for the money but as a way of saying they are proud of him. With this crisis of conscience, Charlie enters the ring. Will he do what he's told and throw the fight? Or will he defy the powers-that-be, give the fight his all and, thus, regain his self-respect? Those are the questions which play out in the remainder of the film.
Body and Soul is an interesting, exciting film, featuring great performances by all. This is one of John Garfield's most brilliant performances. (I think he was almost always brilliant in his portrayals.) He brings incredible realness and passion to this role. Because of a heart condition, Mr. Garfield was usually under doctors' orders to take things easier, but determined to do his own fight scenes and not rely on a double, he ignored the advice and took "sparring lessons from Mushy Callahan." His preparation for the role only added to the film's incredible realism. It is absolutely no surprise that he received a Lead Actor Academy Award nomination for his work here.
Anne Revere was terrific; the scene in which she humbles herself to ask for welfare relief is particularly poignant.
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Lilli Palmer---lovely as always--was very good and believable in her role as well, and she and Mr. Garfield had great chemistry with one another.
Even William Conrad, as one of the boxing "heavies," was great, as was Canada Lee, in his role of Charlie's opponent-turned-friend. Beyond the acting, was the gritty realism of the boxing ring and the corruption of the sport. Interestingly, at the time of the film's release, the corruption in professional and amateur sports---especially boxing---was under investigation and receiving much press coverage.
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Two other boxing movies which I also greatly enjoy are The Set-Up, (starring Robert Ryan, reviewed HERE) and City for Conquest (starring James Cagney, reviewed HERE). All three films ought to satisfy the boxing enthusiasts out there. Body and Soul is out on DVD and should be fairly easy to track down. For Garfield fans, it's an absolute must-see.
Happy viewing!!