If there is one thing that everyone can agree about Elia Kazan, it is that he was controversial. In "East of Eden", Lana Turner's character had a child out of wedlock (something heavily frowned-upon in those days). In "On the Waterfront", he used Mafia control of dock unions as a metaphor for the hearings of the House Un-American Activities Committee (better known as the McCarthy Hearings). And Kazan himself faced much criticism for testifying at those very hearings in 1952, so much so that in 1999, when he received his Honorary Academy Award, many audience members protested by remaining in their seats. Well, I think his path down the road of controversy begins here, with 1947's "Gentleman's Agreement".
The term "gentleman's agreement" means an unwritten rule which basically states that Jews are not permitted to patronize businesses, get jobs, or find a place to live, simply because they're Jewish. Author Laura Z. Hobson tackled the issue with a story she was sure would never sell. To everyone's surprise, it did sell, and it did open eyes, and Darryl F. Zanuck snapped up the rights to the book and put Elia Kazan in the driver's seat.
Ironically, many members of Hollywood's elite (more than a few of whom were Jewish) tried to convince Zanuck to not go forward with the movie. They wanted the subject to remain quiet, so no feathers could get ruffled. All that did was press the project forward, with the "keeping it quiet" topic addressed in an early scene of the film itself. Okay, enough history; let's talk about the movie. Gregory Peck stars as Schuyler Green, a freelance writer sent to New York to write a series of articles about anti-Semitism. At first, he's cool to the idea, until the day he tries to explain to his son (Dean Stockwell -- yes, of "Quantum Leap" fame) what anti-Semitism is. After stewing over his "angle" for a few days, it dawns on him: He will call himself by his first name (Phil), tell everyone he's Jewish, and he will see for himself how they are really treated. Some the results of his research are surprising. Without throwing up a Spoiler Alert, let me just say that he discovered anti-Jew behavior everywhere, even "within the ranks", so to speak.
The subject matter of this movie is quite compelling, but I still had problems with the film itself, especially with its romantic angle. Dorothy McGuire plays Kathy, a divorced schoolteacher and niece to the magazine's publisher, but her scenes with Peck were quite melodramatic, almost to the point they nearly upstaged the main plot of the film. And Gregory's Peck's performance appeared wooden to me. Oh, I found believability in his character, but his acting looked "paint-by-numbers" to me, as if Peck himself was thinking "Oh, yeah, I should put on my hat now". John Garfield and Celeste Holm are much better cast as Phil's friend Dave Goldman (a Jewish Army captain) and Anne Dettrey (fashion editor of Smith's Weekly Magazine).
The script had some problems, too. The undercover Jewish reporter side of the story was fine, it was the romantic side. And Kazan's direction also appeared that way, too. I'm not going to outright say that Kazan fumbled with this one, but he did direct and co-write this movie.
To me, Gentleman's Agreement could have been a better film, but unfortunately, it wasn't. True, it was quite a groundbreaker in its day, and very few films addressed the issue of Anti-Semitism prior to this one. But there was one film, released in 1940, which (at the time) drew much fire and criticism for tackling the same issue head-on, and it was a far more brilliant motion picture: Charlie Chaplin's "The Great Dictator".
The term "gentleman's agreement" means an unwritten rule which basically states that Jews are not permitted to patronize businesses, get jobs, or find a place to live, simply because they're Jewish. Author Laura Z. Hobson tackled the issue with a story she was sure would never sell. To everyone's surprise, it did sell, and it did open eyes, and Darryl F. Zanuck snapped up the rights to the book and put Elia Kazan in the driver's seat.
Ironically, many members of Hollywood's elite (more than a few of whom were Jewish) tried to convince Zanuck to not go forward with the movie. They wanted the subject to remain quiet, so no feathers could get ruffled. All that did was press the project forward, with the "keeping it quiet" topic addressed in an early scene of the film itself. Okay, enough history; let's talk about the movie. Gregory Peck stars as Schuyler Green, a freelance writer sent to New York to write a series of articles about anti-Semitism. At first, he's cool to the idea, until the day he tries to explain to his son (Dean Stockwell -- yes, of "Quantum Leap" fame) what anti-Semitism is. After stewing over his "angle" for a few days, it dawns on him: He will call himself by his first name (Phil), tell everyone he's Jewish, and he will see for himself how they are really treated. Some the results of his research are surprising. Without throwing up a Spoiler Alert, let me just say that he discovered anti-Jew behavior everywhere, even "within the ranks", so to speak.
The subject matter of this movie is quite compelling, but I still had problems with the film itself, especially with its romantic angle. Dorothy McGuire plays Kathy, a divorced schoolteacher and niece to the magazine's publisher, but her scenes with Peck were quite melodramatic, almost to the point they nearly upstaged the main plot of the film. And Gregory's Peck's performance appeared wooden to me. Oh, I found believability in his character, but his acting looked "paint-by-numbers" to me, as if Peck himself was thinking "Oh, yeah, I should put on my hat now". John Garfield and Celeste Holm are much better cast as Phil's friend Dave Goldman (a Jewish Army captain) and Anne Dettrey (fashion editor of Smith's Weekly Magazine).
The script had some problems, too. The undercover Jewish reporter side of the story was fine, it was the romantic side. And Kazan's direction also appeared that way, too. I'm not going to outright say that Kazan fumbled with this one, but he did direct and co-write this movie.
To me, Gentleman's Agreement could have been a better film, but unfortunately, it wasn't. True, it was quite a groundbreaker in its day, and very few films addressed the issue of Anti-Semitism prior to this one. But there was one film, released in 1940, which (at the time) drew much fire and criticism for tackling the same issue head-on, and it was a far more brilliant motion picture: Charlie Chaplin's "The Great Dictator".