Gentlemen's Agreement (1947) That line above, I'm paraphrasing from one of the final scenes in this landmark 20th Century Fox "message" picture......
The message here being.....Anti-Semitism's a bad thing.....and deeply hidden and disguised within all levels of American society......
Maybe deeply hidden in 1947......but not anymore. Today, Anti-Semites fly their hate flag proudly in public for all of us to see......everybody from the addled, imbecilic Kanye West, to Donald Trump's 'very good people' in Charlottesville, to Trump's Jan. 6th goons, sporting "Camp Auschwitz" T-shirts.......
But back in '47, "Gentlemen's Agreement' stood out as a daring bold, editorial declaration........primarily aimed at outwardly decent folk, the ones who personally had nothing against Jews but belonged to 'restricted' country clubs.....and thought of Jewish people as money-grubbing cheapskates who wore funny little hats to their Sunday services.
Directed by Elia Kazan, naturally the film comes off today as too formal, creaky, timid, slow and old fashioned. Kazan, the Actor's Studio maestro could pull legendary performances out his actors, couldn't get much out of Gregory Peck, his superstar leading man.
Playing a freelance magazine writer who daringly poses as a Jew for an Anti-Semitism expose, Kazan couldn't move Peck out of his standard comfort zone performance.....the upright, taciturn, unbending, moral hero, only slowly provoked to anger.
Peck glowers in rage during the few moments where he's able to rip the mask off of some blatant bigots. But his biggest problem (and the film's) comes from the ever so subtle Anti-Semitism of the classy society girl he woos with marriage in mind.
In scene after scene, Peck's Philip Schuyler Green snaps out at his beautiful, beloved Kathy (Dorothy McGuire) whenever she slowly but surely reveals her own deep relief that she and Philip aren't Jewish. Their fights and reconciliations drag on throughout the film right to the end.....until (as we knew she would, cause she's pretty and sweet) she sees the light......
For BQ, the film's penultimate scene involves Green's mom (Ann Revere) who's still recuperating from angina attacks.....whose little "if people found a way to live together" speech sums up the film's hopeful, still optimistic viewpoint.
Mrs. Green decides she'll overcome her heart disease to live long enough to see if such a glorious come-together era will occur.......
So sorry, Mrs. G........maybe it's just as well you didn't live to see Rodney King's plea of "Can't we all just get along?".....or the rise of Donald Trump, coming to power on a wave of hate.....or Charlottesville..... or January 6th.......or Kanye West.....or massacres of schoolchildren, church worshippers, synagogue worshippers, mosque worshippers......black supermarket shoppers.....
The 21st century unfolded horrors that the decent, civilized Mrs. Green could scarcely conceive of her worst nightmares. This only kind of question this begs....can we live long enough to survive them?
"Gentlemen's Agreement" still holds on to its respected reputation, given the circumstances under which it was made ....(it did have the nerve to name drop the most notorious Anti-Semites of its day).....but it remains a gentlemen's film, from a far gentler age.....3 stars (***)
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