Body and Soul, a 1927 film starring James Robeson, NYT Review
This is a menu of the topics on this page (click on any):
''Body and Soul'' was Robeson's movie debut at the age of 27, and the only
word to describe his screen presence is ''blazing.''
When accompanied by stirring live music, this scene is one of several moments
that transcend the limitations of the silent movie genre. At a recent press
preview of ''Body and Soul,'' which the New York Film Festival is showing twice
tomorrow at Avery Fisher Hall, with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra playing an
original score by the trombonist Wycliffe Gordon, the images and music achieved
an astounding synergy.
As the members of the orchestra shouted calls and responses above a brassy
gospel theme, the movie stopped seeming like a silent film with musical
accompaniment and turned into a revival meeting.
Mr. Gordon's score, a sprawling, deliberately rough-hewn orchestral suite
rooted in the blues but incorporating gospel, vintage work songs and occasional
hints of a more modern swing, made an enlightening accompaniment to Micheaux's
old-fashioned melodrama. Robeson's phony preacher is a traditional hissable
villain who drinks, gambles, steals, lusts and uses his man-of-the-cloth status
to destroy a forlorn young woman named Isabelle (Mercedes Gilbert).
The daughter of Martha Jane (Julia Theresa Russell), one of the
congregation's most trusting and devoted parishioners, Isabelle is also being
wooed by the preacher's honorable but penniless twin brother, Sylvester (also
Mr. Robeson), an aspiring inventor. A good twin and a bad twin? ''Body and
Soul'' is a silent film after all, and the movie employs the melodramatic
formulas of the period.)
After seducing Isabelle, to feverish music, then stealing her and mother's
life savings from the family Bible, Jenkins laughingly sneers to Isabelle that
her mother would never believe her if she told the truth. Leaving an ambiguous
note tucked in the Bible, Isabelle flees to Atlanta with $10 he hands her and
eventually comes to a sad end, but not before a tearful reunion with her mother. Mr. Gordon's full-length score, commissioned for the orchestra to open the
10th season of Jazz at Lincoln Center, is a sprawling, folkloric tapestry that
immeasurably deepens what is shown on the screen. Rooted in the blues, the
trumpet, trombone and sax-oriented orchestrations, augmented here and there by
hand claps, knee slaps and spontaneous shouts and chants, lend the melodrama the
resonance of a historical fable that has been passed down through the
generations.
The music is so vigorous, funny and loquacious, it often seems to take the
place of speech and lucidly portray the characters' feelings and interactions.
At the same time, it has feel of a raucous running commentary carried on by
chattering Greek choruses.
Without indulging in the more cartoonish excesses of silent film emoting,
Robeson radiates the roguish charm and dangerous looming ferocity of a master
con man with a scary streak of violence. Like his singing, Robeson's acting has
stature. It is larger than life.
BODY AND SOUL
Produced and
directed by Oscar Micheaux; score by Wycliffe Gordon, performed live by the
Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis; produced by the Micheaux
Film Corporation. Running time: 86 minutes. This film is not rated. Shown
tomorrow at 5 and 8 p.m. at Avery Fisher Hall at the 38th New York Film
Festival.
WITH: Paul Robeson (the Rt. Rev. Isaiah Jenkins/Sylvester),
Lawrence Chenault (Curly Hinds), Mercedes Gilbert (Isabelle), Marshall Rodgers
(Juke Joint Proprietor) and Julia Theresa Russell (Martha Jane).
Organizations mentioned in this article:
Related Terms:
You may print this article now, or save it on your computer for future reference. Instructions for saving this article on your computer are also available.
Page Top