Body and Soul (1947) on Netflix

Approved19471h 44mDrama Film-Noir Sport

Charley Davis takes up boxing against his mother's wishes. Success brings him into the company of shady characters, among them the promoter Roberts, who tempts him with vices.

Netflix2.1/5
IMDb7.6/105,940 votes
Rotten Tomatoes92%

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Plot summary

Charley Davis chooses boxing, a career his mother does not want for him. The more successful he becomes in the sport, the more he is surrounded by shady characters. One of them is Roberts, a promoter who works without ethics and who tempts Charley with vices. The decisions Charley has to make about his career in the fight game become harder and harder.

Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Body and Soul (1947)

Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.

For the fight scenes, cinematographer James Wong Howe wore roller skates and rolled around the ring shooting with a hand-held camera, bringing the boxing a realism the genre had never had.
Body and Soul was voted the Greatest Boxing Movie Ever in 2014 by the Houston Boxing Hall of Fame; writer Abraham Polonsky and star John Garfield were blacklisted, ruining their careers, while director Robert Rossen was reinstated after naming names in his second HUAC grilling.