Gentleman's Agreement (1947)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Elia Kazan

Writers:

Laura Z. Hobson (novel)
Moss Hart (screenplay)

Release Date:

February 1948 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

A reporter pretends to be Jewish in order to cover a story on anti-Semitism, and personally discovers the true depths of bigotry and hatred.

Plot Keywords:

Jewish | Racism | Anti Semitism | Magazine | Jew

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 7 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Gregory Peck	...	Philip Schuyler Green
Dorothy McGuire	...	Kathy Lacy
John Garfield	...	Dave Goldman
Celeste Holm	...	Anne Dettrey
Anne Revere	...	Mrs. Green
June Havoc	...	Elaine Wales
Albert Dekker	...	John Minify
Jane Wyatt	...	Jane
Dean Stockwell	...	Tommy Green
Nicholas Joy	...	Dr. Craigie
Sam Jaffe	...	Professor Fred Lieberman
Harold Vermilyea	...	Lou Jordan
Ransom M. Sherman	...	Bill Payson

Also Known As:

Laura Z. Hobson's Gentleman's Agreement (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

118 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Canada:PG (video rating) | Brazil:Livre | West Germany:12 (f) (w) | Argentina:13 | Finland:S | Spain:13 | USA:Approved (PCA #12488) | Sweden:Btl | Australia:G

Filming Locations:

Darien, Connecticut, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Producer Darryl F. Zanuck sought legal advice regarding the naming of the three anti-Semitic political figures. When told there was only a small risk of libel, Zanuck--who wasn't Jewish--replied, "Let them sue us. They won't dare, and if they do, nothing would make me more happy than to appear personally as a witness or defendant at the trial." As it turned out, Sen. Bilbo died before the film's release, Rep. Rankin lost in his campaign to succeed Bilbo (but remained in Congress), and Gerald L.K. Smith filed a lawsuit that ultimately failed.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When Phil is taking Tommy to meet his (Phil's) mother at Saks Fifth Avenue, they stop in front of the statue of Atlas outside Rockefeller Center. In the shot of the two of them talking, with Fifth Avenue in the background, Saks is directly behind them, diagonally across the street on the right, with St. Patrick's Cathedral on the left. But when Phil looks at his watch and tells Tommy they'd better leave to meet grandma, the two hurry off back north along Fifth Avenue - in the completely opposite direction of the plainly visible Saks.

Quotes:

Kathy Lacey: I was right not to settle. I was right to keep dreaming, because it's all come true. Darling, we're going to be so happy here. This house and I were waiting for you. I was always waiting for you, I think.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 80th Annual Academy Awards (2008) (TV)

A Good portrayal of indiscriminate prejudice that leaves lifetime damage

Gregory Peck is slick as a writer for a publisher who is trying to find something to inspire him after his wife dies. He must take care of his young son and has his mother there in New York to help him out. Anti-Semitism hits a chord as WWII has just ended with news of the Holocaust just barely starting to sink into the national consciousness. The timing for release of this movie is obvious, but it is carefully thought out as the director tries to convey the sinister and insidious way in which prejudice worms its way into the mainstream of everyday life. A well done film that works! A clever and intelligent portrayal that deserved the attention it received. Not an entertaining movie in the strictest sense, but one where the audience must do the work of thinking their way through it. It is a film worth navigating, however, because the ugly mirror of prejudice is held up to us all who are watching. It makes you feel uncomfortable because most of us are guilty of what is offered, or at least, of witnessing prejudice and doing nothing about it as we just sit or stand idly by and do nothing.

I recommend this film, but it won't be for everyone and many of us would rather just pass this one by. But we should not pass it by, even though it holds up this mirror which makes us feel guilty and uncomfortable. I should point out that the ending which relates to the love interest in the story just doesn't work, but then that is not the heart, soul and purpose of the film. Prejudice, anti-Semitism and discrimination are, and these elements are worked out well. A disturbing, but intelligent portrayal which is worth taking in for what it is worth.