Film Review
Viewed today,
Gentleman's Agreement
has something of the overbearing and didactic tone of an over-earnest
student pamphlet, but when it was released in 1947 it had a huge
impact. It brought the issue of anti-Semitism, previously a
largely taboo subject, out into the open and helped to change public
attitudes in America on the issue of discrimination against
Jews. The film was the pet project of Twentieth Century Fox
boss Darryl F. Zanuck, one of the few Hollywood executives not to be
Jewish. He was driven to make the film after he had read Laura Z.
Hobson's groundbreaking novel
Gentleman's
Agreement.
Directed by one of Hollwood's finest directors, Elia Kazan, and
featuring a young Gregory Peck at his near-best, the film has much to
commend it. It was a great commercial and critical success, and
was nominated for eight Oscars, winning three - in the Best Picture,
Best Director and Best Supporting Actress (Celeste Holm)
categories. The film was released in the same year as another
notable (and far more interesting) film on anti-Semitism:
Crossfire,
directed by Edward Dmytryk.
Gentleman's Agreement may lack
subtlety and restraint but it still manages to get across its key
messages very effectively. There's a nice irony in the fact that,
in retaliating against anti-Semite attitudes, the central character -
played with great conviction by Gregory Peck - ends up as a kind of
monster himself, forcefully condemning anyone who does not share his
noble feelings. Today, the issue of anti-Semitism has virtually
gone away in the West, but the film's wider concerns - the insidious
nature of intolerance and the necessity for individuals to strive to
overcome their prejudices to make a better society - are still just as
relevant, perhaps even more so, in a world that seems to be getting
increasingly fragmented and hostile.
© James Travers 2008
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Next Elia Kazan film:
Panic in the Streets (1950)
Film Synopsis
Shortly after moving to New York City with his ten-year-old son and
mother, journalist Phil Green accepts a commission from magazine
proprietor John Minify to write a series of articles on anti-Semitism
in the United States. The idea for this came from Minify's neice,
Kathy, a divorcee, to whom Phil, a widower, is instantly
attracted. Phil initially struggles to come up with an angle for
his articles but then has a brainwave - he will pass himself off as a
Jew for six months and see firsthand how Jewish people are
treated. He is appalled by what he discovers...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.