Body and Soul

"All for you..."

1947 1h 44m EN

👍

6.7

SOLID

★6.7TMDB · 121

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

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.

“All for you...”

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Where to watch · US

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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
Canada Lee
Ben Chaplin

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Robert Rossen
Writers: Abraham Polonsky
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

79 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

AWARDS

Did you know

Directed by Robert Rossen, shot by James Wong Howe. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Hugo Friedhofer. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Robert Parrish shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

John Garfield and Lilli Palmer and Hazel Brooks carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "All for you...".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0039204 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Robert Rossen directs. James Wong Howe behind the camera. Hugo Friedhofer scores. Robert Parrish cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

179 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Directed by Robert Rossen, shot by James Wong Howe. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Hugo Friedhofer. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Robert Parrish shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5John Garfield and Lilli Palmer and Hazel Brooks carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "All for you...".
7IMDB entry: tt0039204 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Classified under 10 themes, including "new york city", "corruption", "sports", "boxer".

The technical file

Cinematography: James Wong Howe
Original score: Hugo Friedhofer
Editing: Robert Parrish
Makeup / hair: Gustaf Norin
Runtime: 104 min · 1h 44m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Body and Soul (1947)

Awards

Academy Award for Best Film Editing

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Robert Rossen

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2019-05-26
★ 7/10
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
CinemaSerf2022-07-07
★ 7/10
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.