Gentleman's Agreement (1947)

• Review: *** ½ (out of ****)
• Starring: Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, John Garfield, Celeste Holm, Anne Revere, June Havoc, Albert Dekker, Jane Wyatt, Dean Stockwell, Nicholas Joy, Sam Jaffe, Harold Vermilyea, Ransom M. Sherman
• Director: Elia Kazan
• Screenplay: Moss Hart (Novel: by Laura Z. Hobson)
• Length: 118 min.
• MPAA Rating: Approved (PCA #12488)

As World War II came to a close, Hollywood got to the business of tellingstories of life after the soldiers came home. Pictures like Gentleman’s Agreement, while not at allabout people involved in or in any general way impacted by the war,nevertheless told important stories of prejudice that ring as true today asthey did then.

The anti-Semitism wasn’t just a world away in Germany. It wasfully visible, though only implied, in the United States. Jews were callednames, they were prevented from going to country clubs or into certainneighborhoods, and they were even discriminated against in hiring. Xenophobiapermeated western culture to such an extent that many began looking for ways todiscreetly expose it and eradicated it.

Gentleman’s Agreement,a term used late in the film to describe the unspoken rule of keeping Jews outof certain neighborhoods, tells the story of someone searching for a way to endthe cycle of hate. Philip Schuyler Green (Gregory Peck) was a famed journalistwho wrote stories that were a marked departure from traditional journalism atthe time. When his publisher John Minify (Albert Dekker) asks him to writeabout anti-Semitism, Phil’s first instinct is just to catalogue such events andcreate an article from that. However, Minify wants something different. Hewants something original.

Though it takes him time to come up with his concept, it isa potentially hazardous one. He decides he will live as a Jew and interact withhis new surroundings as such. After the death of his wife, he moves his sonTommy (Dean Stockwell) and mother (Anne Revere) to New York City.

His decision impacts the lives of everyone around him. Hisson gets beaten up at school, his mother’s doctor recommends a Jewish physicianafter a serious health crisis and his girlfriend Kathy Lacey (Dorothy McGuire)works to undermine his efforts, not wanting to be the object of derision andostracism. Phil gets what he wants, though. He experiences first hand the depthand breadth of anti-Semitism in a country so devoted to freedom.

The film’s biggest detriment is the abominably emotionlessPeck. While considered one of the greatest actors of his generation, in Gentleman’s Agreement, the only emotionhe seems to display is anger. Everything he does seems tinged with anger. Hischaracter remains stiff throughout the picture, never truly embracing the rolehe’s given.

McGuire doesn’t improve matters. Her selfishhypocriticalness is inescapable. Though she does try her hand at emotionalresponse to various stimuli, we can’t help but wonder what Phil sees in hercharacter. She repeatedly attempts to get him to repent his ways and announceto the world he isn’t really a Jew. She vacillates positions upon whether Philseems to give her attention or doesn’t. Her character is a mass ofcontradictions but the attraction is utterly elusive.

Celeste Holm and Anne Revere break dramatically from theensemble to deliver two terrific performances. Holm plays fellow journalistAnne Dettrey who takes the position of the moral compass. Whenever Phil goesoff the track, she’s there to steer him back. The love she feels for the man isreal and it’s far more believable that she would be the woman for him butreality and fiction diverge every time he goes back to Kathy. Holm’s liberatingprogressivism is not only credible it’s sensational. She shows the depth andpassion that the two leads can’t seem to muster.

Revere’sprodding mother carries the burden of both parents and likewise tries to guidePhil in the correct direction. Any scene she shares with Peck becomes herscene, not his. She dominates the very life of those moments. It’s notsurprising why Phil believes and listens to her advice. It’s with a world wearyview that she pushes him to question and understand the differences facinghumanity. Revereis rarely on screen but her presence carries the weight of the film every timeshe’s on screen.

Gentleman’s Agreement maintains a great deal of its social relevance. Bigotry isn’t as evident as itused to be, though our society still has a long way. Movies like this help toput history into perspective and show us what we can achieve through courageand determination. While we may not be discriminated against in our dailylives, someone is. The duty belongs to all of us to protect the disenfranchisedand ensure that no one tears one man down in order to build himself up. Don’tlet a privileged few determine who is worthy of equal rights and who is not.True freedom, as Phil Green came to understand, is being able to stand up andlet no one put you down.

-Wesley Lovell (October 23, 2006)