Body and Soul is a satisfying, hard-edged movie about boxing from the late forties, and was written by Abe Polonsky, and directed by Robert Rossen. This time it's John Garfield who's the poor kid who puts on the gloves. The story is melodramatic, and as with most movies about the fight game, it's presented as a metaphor of American life and the American Dream. Well! Some of us might feel differently. The acting, by Garfield especially, is first rate, and the mood convincingly downbeat, at times depressing. As a bridge between the social consciousness films of Warner Brothers (who did not produce this one) and live television, the picture is fascinating, and one can see the liberal humanism of TV writers like Rod Serling aborning. The Philco and Alcoa shows were right around the corner.