Body and Soul was a high point of the Hollywood Left (where Jews were, naturally, overrepresented) before it was crushed by the changing zeitgeist of an ascendent McCarthyism. And, for the first time in the history of the movies, the Left's liberal ideology created an egalitarian space (theoretically) that Blacks could occupy. This space was filled in "Body and Soul" by actor Canada Lee who played a role that was neither stereotyped nor condescending. 

 

The documentary will be structured around the surprisingly parallel lives of the film’s two stars, John Garfield (Jewish) and Canada Lee (African American). As the accompanying schematic illustrates, both men passed through similar stages of development, growing up in the “ethnic” communities of Harlem and the Lower East Side, eventually finding their way to widespread acclaim through acting. Both had their training in theatrical cultures that were spawned and nurtured by the progressive ideologies of the Depression: the Group Theater for Garfield and the Federal Theater Project for Lee.