Body and Soul

Directed by Robert Rossen and starring John Garfield as an ambitious street kid who fights his way to the top, 1947's Body and Soul is one of Hollywood's greatest boxing dramas, with a definite noir overtone. Garfield, at the height of his fame, plays scrappy Brooklyn boy Charley Davis, determined to succeed at all costs. The compromises he makes in the name of fame and fortune alienate his friends, family, and loyal girlfriend, Peg (Lilli Palmer), a cultured, sophisticated young woman who has lived all over Europe but, like Charley, is poor and plucky (she attends art school and is determined to make her own way in the world). The story is all told in flashback as Charley prepares for his big match, recalling how he lost everyone in the pursuit of wealth, and his tale features smoky fight clubs, crooked promoters, and crime bosses calling the shots on title bouts. Rossen, directing from an Oscar-nominated screenplay by Abraham Polonsky, makes Body and Soul both a powerful morality tale and a bare-knuckle drama of the American dream gone sour. The boxing scenes, shot with a handheld camera and a documentary immediacy, influenced the way Martin Scorsese approached Raging Bull. An American classic that looks sharp in handsome black-and-white on DVD and Blu-ray, this is highly recommended. (S. Axmaker)