Body and soul

Robert Rossen’s noirish boxing drama chronicles the rise and ultimate moral decent of boxer Charlie Davis (John Garfield in a Oscar nominated performance). Told effectively in flashback, the film recounts Charlies days as a poor but honest son of a Jewish immigrant who reaches the heights of professional and financial success, but loses his ethics and the respect of his family and long time girlfriend (Lilli Palmer) as he succumbs to the corruption and greed surrounding the boxing ring. Rossen and screenwriter Abraham Polonsky’s parable about the dark side of the American dream is made even more pertinent by the fact that Rossen, Polonsky and star John Garfield were brought in front of the House of Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) for their alleged communist affiliations. Rossen was subsequently blacklisted (along with Polonsky), but desperate to work ended up naming party members two years later. James Wong Howes stark black and white cinematography and the realistically staged boxing sequences were to become a major influence on Martin Scorsese 33 years later for his boxing masterpiece, “Raging Bull”. Cast also includes Hazel Brooks, William Conrad, Joseph Pevney and Lloyd Goff. (Awards: Winner of the 1948 Academy Award for Best Film Editing, Francis D. Lyon, Robert Parish)