Gentleman's Agreement (1947)
Review by HTQ4
Film:
DVD:

Written by Moss Hart, based on the book by Laura Z. Hobson
Directed by Elia Kazan
Starring Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, John Garfield, Celeste Holm, Anne Revere, June Havoc, Albert Dekker, Jane Wyatt, and Dean Stockwell
Features:

• Commentary by Holm, Havoc, and Film Critic Richard Schickel
  
• AMC Back Story Episode "Gentleman's Agreement"
  
• Two Fox Movietone Newsreels
  
• Still Gallery
  
• Theatrical Trailer
  

Phil Green (Peck) is a freelance writer who has just moved to New York with his mother and his son. He does not have to look very hard for work, but the first job he gets nearly tears his life apart. He is asked to write a story about anti-Semitism, but his editor doesn't want it to be just the average story full of statistics and numbers, he wants a new fresh angle. So, Green decides that his angle should be to see what life is actually like as a Jew. Since he is new in town, it is easy for him to do. He simply starts telling everyone that he is Jewish, but once he has done so, it is obvious that his life completely changes. He carries on this charade for eight weeks, but in that time, he and his family are humiliated and driven to the brink of sanity by the bigots and hypocrites of their world.

It's the big yellow elephant that we just don't talk about but, like it or not, anti-Semitism ran rampant in post-World War II America. Ironically enough, at first the big Hollywood studios avoided this subject like it was the plague even though most of the heads of those studios were Jewish themselves. Finally, Daryl F. Zanuck decided that enough was enough.

We should be very thankful that he did. Elia Kazan directed a truly beautiful film. By today's standards, it feels really quaint, but make no mistake, this film goes directly for the jugular and does not let up. It hits very hard not only at the outspoken anti-Semite, but also at the hypocrites that would not stand up for what they believed in--even in the face of the horrible treatment of any people. Every member of the cast is absolutely wonderful and they don't seem to flinch in the face of the subject matter. Gregory Peck was not known for shying away from difficult or challenging roles or films that would have been considered "controversial". He truly is an inspiration.

The DVD is a wonderful tribute to the film. First of all, there is a commentary track on the DVD. Which means that Fox had the foresight to find some of the surviving cast members and get them in to record whatever recollections they could have about making the movie. To fill in the gaps, they also brought in film critic Richard Schickel. A majority of this track is him talking about the film as an academic entity, but there are those little snippets of Celeste Holm and June Havoc recalling their personal experiences--and the fact that these are recorded for posterity is absolutely priceless.

Next up on the DVD is AMC's Back Story special on the film. It is a quick look back into the making of the film and a look back at a dark time in Hollywood history: the McCarthy Era (Joseph, not Andrew). If you are not familiar with the hearings by the House Un-American Activities Committee, this special acts as a kind of "Reader's Digest" version of everything that went on during that time. It really is a good history lesson and a nice addition to the DVD. There are also two Movietone Newsreels about the film on the DVD, which, again, are great for posterity. The rest of the features, the trailer and the still gallery, are pretty common fare, but, given the age and importance of the film, they have a little more significance here.

This is a DVD that should definitely be added to your permanent collection. You will not regret it.