Body and Soul
by Robert Rossen
List Price:
Our Price: $13.49
You Save: $1.49 (10%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $4.00 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Anne Revere, Hazel Brooks, John Garfield, Lilli Palmer, William ConradDirector: Robert Rossen
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD-Video, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 104 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-08-14
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Republic Pictures
Movie Reviews of Body and Soul
Movie Review: "What ya gonna do, kill me? Everybody dies!"
Summary: 4 Stars
Body and Soul isn't the great fight movie - the first half of the movie is often too conventional and formulaic for that - but it's certainly a contender even if it loses the title to The Set-Up. It's certainly one of John Garfield's best roles, finally getting into the ring: the play Golden Boy had been written for him only for the producers to cast him in a supporting role instead, so there's an element of unfinished business here, though Abraham Polonsky's script is much better that Odets' rather patronising fairytale. Where Odets dealt in stereotypes, Polonsky and everyone else on the film treat the supporting characters with dignity and respect: at a time when Stepinfetchit was the image of big screen black America, Canada Lee's performance as the former champ is a revelation - he may not have much screen time, but he's one of the most clued-in characters in the piece, with a dignity and intelligence all but unheard of for a black character in the 40s.
Despite the odd line like "If you wanna fight, fight for something, not for money," it's not an overtly political film, though that didn't stop it being used as evidence of communist subversion in the McCarthy era: few films can have had so many of its cast and crew blacklisted. Indeed, the HUAC must have used the credits as a wishlist - Polonsky, Garfield, Ann Revere, Lloyd Gough, Canada Lee, Art Smith, Shimen Ruskin, producer Bob Roberts and even, albeit to a lesser extent, cinematographer James Wong Howe (who had originally wanted to be a prizefighter and famously shot the bouts on rollerskates to get a more fluid sense of motion) all found themselves either blacklisted or greylisted, while director Robert Rossen only avoided that fate by naming names. Some weren't even communists (although most were members of minority groups). It's actually horrifying to consider just how many people involved in the film, from top to bottom, had their careers ruined or even, in the case of Garfield and Lee, were driven to an early death. In retrospect, the famed great almost-last line "What ya gonna do, kill me? Everybody dies." takes on a particularly bitter resonance.
[Aside from several future blacklist victims, it also boasts three future directors among its credits (Robert Aldrich, Robert Parrish and Nathan Juran) as well as montages from a fourth, Gunther Von Fritsch, whose directorial career never recovered from being fired from Curse of the Cat People].
Drama DVD Video
DVD Video
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics
- Comedy
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama
- Educational
- Fitness & Yoga
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror
- Kids & Family
- Military & War
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports
- Television
- Westerns
Movies most talked about in Academy awards nominees (actors) (those who lost) 1946 - 1956
A Song to Remember (1945. Paul Muni, Merle Oberon, Cornel Wilde)Published: 1945; DVD
Best price: $24.82
The Keys of the KingdomTWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2006-07-11; DVD
Best price: $6.58
Price in other shops:
The Bells of St. Mary'sRelease date: 2003-09-23; DVD
Best price: $7.88
Price in other shops:
Anchors Aweigh (Keepcase)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2008-05-13; DVD
Best price: $5.35
Price in other shops:
The YearlingRelease date: 2002-09-03; DVD
Best price: $3.47
Price in other shops:
The Jolson StorySony; Release date: 2003-10-21; DVD
Best price: $12.33
Price in other shops:
It's A Wonderful Life (Two-Disc Collector's Set) (B/ W & Color)NCircle Entertainment; Release date: 2007-11-13; DVD
Best price: $15.98
Price in other shops:
Henry V - Criterion CollectionRelease date: 1999-06-22; DVD
Best price: $27.22
Price in other shops:
Mourning Becomes ElectraRelease date: 2004-12-21; DVD
Best price: $12.47
Price in other shops:
Life with FatherRelease date: 2002-06-04; DVD
Best price: $2.25
Price in other shops:
Similar DVD Movies
Criss Cross (Universal Noir Collection)Release date: 2004-07-06; DVD
Best price: $4.78
Price in other shops:
Dangerous Crossing (Fox Film Noir)TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2008-03-11; DVD
Best price: $7.08
Price in other shops:
Daisy Kenyon (Fox Film Noir)TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2008-03-11; DVD
Best price: $7.15
Price in other shops:
Ace in the Hole - Criterion CollectionRelease date: 2007-07-17; DVD
Best price: $24.94
Price in other shops:
Film Noir Classic Collection, Vol. 4 (Act of Violence / Mystery Street / Crime Wave / Decoy / Illegal / The Big Steal / They Live By Night / Side Street / Where Danger Lives / Tension)Warner Brothers; Release date: 2007-07-31; DVD
Best price: $29.20
Price in other shops:
The Postman Always Rings TwiceCRONYN,HUME; Release date: 2004-01-06; DVD
Best price: $10.87
Price in other shops:
They Made Me a CriminalRelease date: 2002-07-30; DVD
Best price: $2.54
Price in other shops:
The Woman in the Window (MGM Film Noir)TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT; Release date: 2007-07-10; DVD
Best price: $9.96
Price in other shops:
ChampionRelease date: 2001-10-04; DVD
Best price: $6.84
Price in other shops:
Force of EvilRelease date: 2004-05-11; DVD
Best price: $7.38
Price in other shops: