Body and Soul (United Artists) (1947)

advance stories and features Still No. BS-66 John Garfield and Lilli Palmer, stars of the forthcoming “Body and Soul” which United Artists is releasing for Enterprise Studios. Mat (2C) .30 "Body and Soul” Starts Tomorrow with Star Cast (advance story) Next attraction at the Theatre is Enterprise Studios’ “Body and Soul” which opens on . through United Artists release. The fourth picture Enterprise has made since its in¬ ception one year ago, the film stars John Garfield and Lilli Palmer and introduces the new Hollywood sensation, Hazel Brooks, in the part of the “other woman.” Based on an original screenplay by Abraham Polansky, the story traces the ups and downs of a successful middleweight fighter, entangled with managers and gamblers of dubious reputation and the struggle between his childhood sweetheart and a designing nightclub entertainer for his heart and soul. “Body and Soul” is Garfield’s first independent venture and the second American film the Austrian- born English star, Lilli Palmer, has made, her first having been “Cloak and Dagger” opposite Gary Cooper. The supporting cast is studded with prominent stage and radio personalities who have succumbed to the lure of Hollywood, among them Anne Revere, Art Smith, Joseph Pevney, Lloyd Goff and Canada Lee from Broadway and Virginia Gregg and William Conrad from the airwaves. In addi¬ tion, the picture introduces to movie audiences the dynamic Hazel Brooks, former Conover model who is reported to be the most sensational find since Lauren Bacall whistled. And one of the original Gold-diggers, Ethelreda Leopold, once hailed as Hollywood’s most beautiful chorine, was persuaded to return to the cameras to do a specialty number—dancing on a drum in a nightclub sequence. James Wong Howe, one of the industry’s top- ranking cinematographers, supervised the photog¬ raphy and Marion Herwood Keyes, noted Holly¬ wood designer, personally created the wardrobes (extending over a 20-year span) for Miss Palmer and Miss Brooks. In making the picture, 50,000 feet of film repre¬ senting most of the championship fights since the Dempsey-Carpentier title bout at Boyle’s Thirty Acres in Jersey City in 1921 were used for review by Garfield so he could develop an individualistic fistic style and yet resemble a potential champion. Enterprise also took out a $250,000 policy on the star’s face and hands since so much of the rehears¬ ing and performance was of a bruising nature. “Body and Soul” was directed by Robert Rossen and produced for Enterprise by Bob Roberts. So far Enterprise has produced “Ramrod” and “The Other Love,” both distinctive films in their fields, and following “Body and Soul,” will re¬ lease the long-heralded “Arch of Triumph.” Still No. BS -42 Tension and drama in Enterprise Studios’ “Body and Soul.” Pro¬ tagonist John Garfield watches co-star Lilli Palmer weep while Anne Revere, as Garfield’s mother, watches in stony silence. The film, which United Artists is releasing, opens.at the . Theatre. Garfield-Palmer Starrer Is Drama of Emotional Struggle (prepared review) Mat (2H) .30 Enterprise Studios, that youngster among the independent producers, has done it again —and for the fourth time within one year. Its latest film, “Body and Soul,” co-starring John Garfield and Lilli Palmer, which opened yesterday at the . Theatre through United Artists release, is as gripping a film as this reviewer has seen in some time. The story of a middleweight champion en¬ meshed in the labyrinth of sporting manipu¬ lations, alternately succumbing to the eco¬ nomic temptations involved and then resist¬ ing them at great personal risk, is a dramatic delineation of the stress today’s high-pres¬ sure life puts upon the ideals we all have and the compromises we must all make in order to survive satisfactorily. John Garfield, as the pugilist, presents a taut, realistic performance which further en¬ trenches him in his position as one of the country’s finest actors. And as the two women in his life, charming Lilli Palmer, England’s latest and most welcome gift to Hollywood, and a meteoric newcomer. Hazel Brooks, portray the influences for good and evil which women can yield. Anne Revere, who won acclaim and an “Oscar” for her enactment of the mother in “National Velvet,” challenges that earlier performance as Garfield’s mother, and a host of recruits from the stage and radio bring skillful characterizations to their parts as members of the boxing profession. Joseph Pevney, Art Smith, Canada Lee and William Conrad earn hearty applause for making of supporting roles integral parts of the film. But the picture has more merit than its dramatic entertainment value. Today, with activities in the sports field leaping into prominence of a not always noteworthy sort, “Body and Soul” offers a timely reassurance that a sportsman’s basic sincerity can over¬ come the occasional quirks that creep into the field. Director Robert Rossen has created a film in which drama is built skillfully and ab¬ sorbingly to a climax and characterizations never, for a moment, lose their authenticity. Especially in the direction of Miss Brooks in her first acting role, has he won laurels by launching a young lady whose future on the silver screen is assured. “Body and Soul,” the fourth film Enter¬ prise has made, sets a steadily high standard for the infant company. Still No. BS-P-93 Hazel Brooks, the “talk of Hollywood,” makes her meteoric film debut in “Body and Soul,” the En¬ terprise Studios’ picture which United Artists is re¬ leasing. Co-starring John Garfield and Lilli Palmer, “Body and Soul” opens . at the Theatre. Its star cast includes many recruits from stage and radio. Mat (2D) .30 “Body and Soul” Launches Hazel Brooks’ Film Career (advance story) “Body and Soul,” the fourth all-star film the relatively new Enter¬ prise Studios has produced, opens at the Theatre. Co-starring John Garfield as Charley Davis, middleweight champion of the world, and Lilli Palmer as Peg Born, the picture introduces to movie audiences the meteoric Hazel Brooks whose only cinema appearance to date was the “face” that haunted Ravic in Enter¬ prise’s forthcoming “Arch of Triumph.” The picture, a hard-hitting account of the story behind the pugilist’s championship and retirement, is based on an original screenplay by Abraham Polonsky, directed by Robert Rossen and produced for Enterprise by Bob Roberts. The top-drawer cast includes Anne Revere, Academy Award winner for her supporting role in “National Velvet,” as Garfield’s mother, Art Smith as his father, Joseph Pevney as Shorty, his boyhood pal, Canada Lee as the fighter from whom he wins the crown, William Conrad, Lloyd Goff and Virginia Gregg, all of whom made their names on the stage and radio before venturing westward. John Indrisano, famed welterweight contender, acted as coach for Garfield and Lee in the fight sequences, and doubled in brass as referee in the ringside scenes. Newcomer Hazel Brooks, a torrid coppery-haired beauty from the modelling field, is cast as Alice, the “other woman,” a nightclub warbler whose influence, though impermanent, abets Garfield in his ruthless path. Her face and figure, not to mention her irrepressible personality, has the film colony agog and Miss Brooks bids fair to become an important cog in casting wheels. Enterprise persuaded one of the original Gold-diggers, Ethelreda Leopold, once hailed as Hollywood’s most beautiful chorine, to re¬ turn to the cameras to do a specialty number—dancing on a drum in a nightclub sequence. And James Wong Howe, ace cinematographer, supervised the photography. “Body and Soul” is a United Artists release. Page Twelve