Body and Soul: The Story of John Garfield [Hardcover]

Larry Swindell (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Morrow (1975)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688029078
• ISBN-13: 978-0688029074
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,751,431 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and engrossing, February 7, 2005

By 

Laura Baker (Minnesota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Body and Soul: The Story of John Garfield (Hardcover)

"Body and Soul" is an interesting and engrossing bio of one of my favorite actors who,sadly, is underrated or even forgotten by most. This is much better than the more recent bio, "He Ran All the Way." Swindle paints a complete portrait of the actor unlike the 2004 book which reduces Garfield to a bit of a cartoon. Swindle provides insightful stories of Garfield's life including his colleagues and family. Especially moving are the last few chapters dealing with HUAC, detailing not only Garfield's struggles but also of his friends including Elia Kazan and Clifford Odets. The book also provides large excerpts from Garfield's HUAC testimony. The book is very fair in assessing Garfield's career and personal life. Seek this bio out rather than Robert Nott's Garfield book. It benefits from having been written in 1975 when many of Garfield's peers were still alive and blacklisting was still painfully fresh in Hollywood's history. Frankly, this is just a better written and more complete biography.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "They made me a movie star!", October 21, 2004

By 

Dave (Tennessee United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Body and Soul: The Story of John Garfield (Hardcover)

This great biography is one of the few books ever written about the underated John Garfield, and although it's nearly 30 years old it's still the best I've read about Garfield. From his troubled youth to his stardom in Hollywood to his tragic death at the age of 39, it's all covered in depth. There are also 24 pages of photos & thankfully, a complete filmography at the end. Sadly, John Garfield made only 31 films & of these only 15 have been released on vhs &/or dvd. One of his very best movies, "Pride of the Marines", has been unjustly neglected over the years & I can only hope it'll finally be released on dvd someday. For those who want to learn more about this amazing actor this book is highly recommended.

4.0 out of 5 stars New York Kid, June 23, 2010

By 

Richard Frattali "author: Standing In For Lana" (San Francisco, Ca) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Body and Soul: The Story of John Garfield (Hardcover)

This is a swell bio of an very interesting actor who unlike a lot of actors was an idealist who cared about society. Like most artists his personal life didn't always come up to the high standard of his work, but that work deserves a high place in the annals of film. If Thirties and Forties Hollywood is your thing, and you like anecdotal stuff about actors and their work you're in for a treat. It's been said that Garfield paved the way for Brando, Newman and Dean. Yes, but Tony Curtis, reared in the New York streets, the most improbable of movie stars, is the one that comes more to mind.