Gentleman's Agreement - Best Picture Oscar winner of 1947

[bluskies]

Just finished watching the Blu. The Best Picture Oscar winner of 1947 is still an excellent look into anti-Semitism.

Gregory Peck plays a magazine writer who is asked to write a series of articles on the subject. He struggles to find an angle that hasn't been done before, then realizes the only way he can write it is to live it first. He pretends to be Jewish and encounters some outspoken biased feelings from some, and even worse a politeness from others who smugly hide their prejudices but still restrict hom from joining others. This sudden "truth" about him affects his relationship with the woman he loves...and his happy son is suddenly picked on by classmates who call him derogatory Jewish slurs.

It is still a powerful piece, though dated, of course. But prejudice still exists for people of all nationalities and religions. We've seen enough of that in the news to know that hate never disappears. Gregory Peck is excellent as the writer, and Dorothy McGuire turns in a good performance. Exceptional in the cast are John Garfield as the writer's best friend (who happens to be Jewish), Anne Revere as Peck's mother, and Celeste Holm, who develops a crush on him. Garfield is best known for his angry young man performances, but except for one brief moment of a fight in this film, he displays a touching inner dignity throughout the picture. Dean Stockwell (Quantum Leap) is excellent as Peck's son.

The film was a difficult one to get made. It was a best-selling novel, but most of the studio heads wouldn't option the screen rights because they were Jewish and they didn't want to draw attention to themselves by making this story. Maverick producer Darryl F. Zanuck, who wasn't Jewish, was the head of the 20th Century-Fox studio at the time, bought the rights. And after it was filmed, the other studio heads offered to buy the film from him, in order to shelve it. He wouldn't sell out...and the film went on to win the Best Picture Oscar.

Many of the people in front of the cameras and behind had to face the House Un-American Activities Committee. John Garfield died a few years later of a heart attack due to the hounding by HUAC.

Video quality is exceptional, with definite grain.

Audio is also good.

Extras are carried over from the DVD: A Hollywood Backstory about the making of the movie (25 min.), a trailer, two Movietone clips, and a dry-as-dust commentary by Richard Schickel with tiny bits interjected with film stars Cleste Holm and June Havoc.

Highly recommended.

[MEB]

Costco has it for $8.99. I should have picked it up when I grabbed 'How Green was my Valley' for the same price.

Mark

[RBBrittain]

No Costco where I live, but Sam's Club has it for $9.98.

[tama]

Scored this along with How Green Was My Valley and Wild River @ Cosco this evening.

[aherron]

Originally Posted by tama

Scored this along with How Green Was My Valley and Wild River @ Cosco this evening.

+1 and Titanic (1953) as well. Awesome deal at Costco. Will watch them later this week cause I'm so busy. I'm sure I'll enjoy them, I just have this thing for classic films. Thanks OP for starting a thread.

[growler]

Just watched the BD, superb film with excellent PQ & decent AQ! Saw it many years ago (on TV I think). Still holds up, although made in 1947. Another excellent film with similar theme is "Focus" 1991.

Highly recommended for at least a rental.

[The Great Owl]

I just finished watching Gentleman's Agreement, by way of the Kazan at Fox: Volume 1 Blu-ray box set.

Gentleman's Agreement wears its age on its sleeve, but it's still one of the most scathing depictions of "polite prejudice" that I have seen in a film. Gregory Peck is a superb leading man, and his ability to convey internal conflicts is essential to the success of his role here as a journalist who poses as a Jew to expose anti-Semitism. Dorothy McGuire commands attention as an upper class woman who struggles to balance her altruistic side with her desire to fit in with high society. I am most impressed, however, with noir veteran James Garfield, who showed courage taking his role as the Jewish childhood friends of Peck's character.

A short documentary included on the Blu-ray is fascinating in the way that it superimposes the backstory of Gentleman's Agreement with the anti-Communist sentiment and the court hearings of the era.

The movie looks and sounds beautiful on disc, and it's another Fox Blu-ray well done.

[Areyakiddin]