Gentleman's Agreement (1947)
Director: Elia Kazan
Honors:
Best Film - New York Critics Film Circle
Bigotry historically has been a major component to much of
the world’s atrocities throughout recorded history. 1947’s Gentleman’s Agreement is a motion picture that is a direct attempt
to confront the issues of bigotry focusing on racism, more particularly
anti-Semitism. It was an interesting and controversial issue to take on within
Hollywood whose major industry was primarily founded and operated by immigrants
of Jewish decent. Starring Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, and John Garfield, in
what may have been his best performance, this film was a strong statement
picture in the days following World War II, surprisingly earning great box
office numbers and being one of the year’s greatest critically acclaimed
features.
Gentleman’s Agreement
is a social drama about a journalist who pretends to be Jewish to research for stories
on anti-Semitism. When journalist Phil Green (Gregory Peck) is approached with
the idea of writing a series of articles on anti-Semitism he concocts the best
way to dive into the subject is by taking on the persona of being Jewish to see
how people react to him. He discovers the subtle, but major impact on the bigoted
nature that underlines the public subconscious that shuns people of Jewish descent
from opportunities and inclusion within society, and how some hide their ancestry
in order to keep from prejudice. For Phil the hurt strikes home as his son,
Tommy (Dean Stockwell), is bullied for being part of his Jewish ploy, while discovering
how people treat him while they think him a Jew, and watching best friend Dave
(John Garfield), who is Jewish, being kept from living in certain communities and
lack of job offers.
Most difficult of all is Phil realization of beloved
fiancée, Kathy (Dorothy McGuire), the niece of his publisher and creator of the
idea for the study on anti-Semitism, failing to attempt to stop others from
sharing their prejudice ways. Kathy struggles with the idea of making a
difference in the underlying predisposition of society, which puts her and
Phil’s relationship in jeopardy, seeing her as a part of the problem upon the
release of his well-received series of stories. With eyes opened Kathy learns
an important lesson from Dave and efforts to help protect him and his family
move into an understood anti-Semitic community, a movement that brings reunited
her with Phil.
The picture is a strong, defiant film that took a major
stance on an issue that, though in the right, was a controversial to conserve about
in the time it was produced. With powerful writing and wonderful acting the
feature tackles a social issue that American culture was still battling.
Despite it not taking on the perhaps more prevalent issue of racial segregation
that permitted most walks of American life, this in the year where Jackie Robinson had broken
the color barrier in Major League Baseball, Gentleman’s
Agreement is a step in the right direction for Hollywood towards breaking
down the unjust barriers of society’s ills. With time and society’s evolution the
feature lacks the punch it provided originally as much in the world has
changed, but kept in context it is a marvelous picture with a great message and
a equally engrossing tilt on the subject.
In battling the issue of antisemitism it is ironic that the
film was produced by one of Hollywood’s most powerful executives who happened
to not be of Jewish decent. Darryle F. Zanuck, the studio head at 20th
Century-Fox, made the decision to produce the adaption of the Laura Z.Hobson’s
novel after he was refused membership at the Los Angeles Country Club under the
false assumption that he was a Jew. Production would be difficult as Zanuck was
met with resistance, including a decline from Cary Grant to star as Phil Greene
in fear of the role in such a picture could damage his carrier. Many of
Hollywood’s other executives, those of Jewish descent urged Zanuck to not make
the feature for sake of causing further underlining animosity for their
heritage and the industry filled with successful Jewish men.
Ultimately the Gentleman’s
Agreement would become somewhat of a passion project, helmed by Elia Kazan
who was well on his way to becoming known as a director of powerful issue
pictures, beginning with 1945’s critical success A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Gregory Peck would take on the role of
Green despite his agent’s insistence on him passing, while co-star John
Garfield was eager to take on the more secondary role due to his conviction on
how important the film would be for combating antisemitism. Despite Peck not
getting along with director Kazan on set, his performance earned him his third
Best Actor nomination in four years at the Academy Awards, who would happen to
be nominated alongside Garfield honored that year for him performance in Body and Soul.
Amid the kick back in the industry Gentleman’s Agreement opened to generally favorable reviews from
many of the industry’s critics and publications. The largest draw back observed
was the feeling that the love story between Phil and Kathy was a bit forced, a
sentiment shared by Elia Kazan after completing the film. Surprisingly the
feature would be the top grossing movie for 20th Century-Fox, a
second highest grossing of all pictures that year. Cementing its success, the film
was nominated for eight Academy Awards and coming away winning three major
categories, including Best Director, Best Supporting Actress for Celeste Holm
who plays a secondary love interest for Phil, as well as the ultimate prize for
Best Picture. All these accolades justified Darryl Zanuck for the picture many
thought would cause more trouble than good.
That award season also saw Dorothy McGuire earning herself
an Oscar nod for his convicted role as Kathy, a character that serves as the
vessel in which the film delivers its strongest lesson, that doing nothing to
stop prejudice can be as damaging as being the deliverer of the injustice. To
round out the award highlighted cast was the Best Supporting Actress nomination
for Anne Revere playing the supportive mother of Phil Green who helps see him
through the ordeals of being shunned for his work standing in as a Jew.
However, with all the success, not all was roses for the
members of Gentleman’s Agreement. In
the rise of the Red Scare in America the leftist views such a feature had many
members of the production summoned to testify for the House Un-American
Activities Committee. In 1951 Anne Revere would refuse to appear and would not
appear in a feature film again for nearly 20 years. John Garfield testified,
but would not cooperate, leading to his temporary blacklisting in Hollywood.
Supporting actor Albert Decker, who for a short time served in the California
State Assembly, was critical over the purpose of the committee and he too was
blacklisted. It appeared in a country returning from the war and a government
frightened of Soviet infiltration was not willing to embrace the evolution in
the nation’s psyche, holding to a heavily conservative nature and unwilling to
accept power of Hollywood’s voice as the medium began to advance as a tool for
political statements outside of warfare.
Hollywood was beginning to see just how powerful it was with
the creation and mass acceptance of “issue” pictures. Gentleman’s Agreement was but a step in the right direction with an
artistically wonderful feature that preached acceptance of one’s character over
the judgement of one’s heritage. It is always touchy to delve into such issues,
and it is perhaps best captured in a scene where Gregory Peck attempts to
explain antisemitism to his son, played by the exuberant Dean Stockwell. In the
scene Peck in his most fatherly way struggles to explain bigotry to his young
son, not wanting to break his naïve yet positive outlook on the world with this
ideal of hatred, struggling to explain a real world problem without being
combativeness.
That is what this movie was, a vehicle to opening the
audience’s mind to contest evil with intelligence, centering on the good in man
to defeat the ingrained prejudice of prior generations. The handsome success
would manifest the film’s triumph, but the great accomplishment is how tame the
film would become in future generations where less people may be affected by
such tribulations.
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