Some movies
are undeniably a product of their time; others still, created with the purpose
of addressing some socio-economic or political issue that, while relevant to
the overall arc of human history when the movie was made, has since grown dated
in both its premise and execution. For these reasons primarily, Elia Kazan’s
Oscar-winning Gentleman’s Agreement
(1947) hasn’t fared well – its deconstruction of the WASP power structure and
its’ disquieting anti-Semitism, though hardly timely, and still very much with
us – ultimately handled with too much reverence by Kazan. This melodrama creaks
like an old wooden barn, its educational precepts buried beneath Kazan’s
unusually heavy-handed directorial approach and a lumbering screenplay by Moss
Hart, whose fervent desire to expose social injustices has blunted the
overall impact of this message picture.
And Gentleman’s Agreement is unmistakably a
‘message picture’; righteously preachy despite some first rate performances; particularly Celeste Holm’s devilishly classy fashion
editor Anne Dettrey and John Garfield’s stoic ‘man against the world’
returning war hero, Dave Goldman. Regrettably, these are merely supporting
characters, relegated to the backdrop of an otherwise killjoy romance between
upper crust socialite Kathy Lacey (Dorothy McGuire) and widower newspaper
writer, Phil Green (Gregory Peck).
Personally, I think McGuire came into her own later on in her career,
especially when cast as a matronly figure. But as a romantic love interest she
is decidedly odd – not quite as fresh faced as the ingénue, yet smelling of
soap rather than smoldering sex.
Gregory Peck,
for all his manly propriety and defiant pride, remains rather stalwart and
stuffy as the romantic suitor herein– torn between love of family, pride of
conscience and lust for a woman he knows harbors traces of the very prejudice
his own morality seeks to expose and dismantle. Kathy, however, never quite undergoes that
full conversion of seeing things Phil’s way, and it is doubtful that, as
written and performed by Peck and McGuire, the couple will ever truly see eye
to eye.
In a nutshell,
Gentlemen’s Agreement is a standard
melodrama; its Oscar cache derived from its anti-Semitism protocol – then even
more taboo in Hollywood. Reportedly, Darryl F. Zanuck sought to do the film after
being denied entry into Los Angeles’ Country Club after management presumed
that Zanuck was Jewish. Even without the snub, Gentleman’s Agreement was right up Zanuck’s alley. Throughout the
1940s, Zanuck had proven to his harshest critics that traditionally ‘unpopular’
subject matter could be turned into praise-worthy and profitable motion
pictures. Moreover, he had felt the stinging cause of injustice personally this
time, and turned the project over to Elia Kazan – a film-maker whose proactive
desire to make good pictures about important topics perfectly aligned with
Zanuck’s own.
Regrettably,
Kazan is best known by today’s casual film fan as the snitch who named names
during the McCarthy communist witch hunts of the 1950s; his testimony directly
resulting in the blacklisting of many of his contemporaries. This unglamorous
chapter in Kazan’s private life has all but eclipsed his stature as a brilliant
film maker and this indeed is a shame. It was, after all, Kazan who gave us the
heartbreakingly tender A Tree Grows in
Brooklyn (1945); Kazan who would later wow us with A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), and would continue to do movies about
tough social issues: unionized graft (On
The Waterfront), adolescent sexuality (Baby
Doll), miscegenation and racism (Pinky)
and self-destructive all-consuming love (Splendor
in the Grass).
But Gentleman’s Agreement is not Kazan’s
finest hour as a film maker and that is a genuine shame, because in Laura Z.
Hobson’s novel he seems to have the perfect subject matter to do yet another searing
exposé about a social reality that most Americans simply refused to
acknowledge. Yet, as pure art Gentleman’s
Agreement founders. Phil Green’s moral objections are more saintly
pontificating than heartfelt and purposeful. At times, Gregory Peck seems as
though even he isn’t quite sure about the words of dialogue issuing from his
lips. And Dorothy McGuire’s wasp is too good to be wrong, yet too wrong to be
worthy of Phil’s crusader. The film begins as a message picture, and then
awkwardly segues into a romantic melodrama at the midway point; thereafter
waffling between its two diametrically opposed narrative threads that never
quite come together in any sort of meaningful way.
We wait for
Kathy to come to the conclusion that she has been wrong in her thinking. But
this epiphany never entirely materializes. Rather, Kathy is contented to accept
what Phil says because she loves him – not because she believes what he says to
be the morally upstanding thing to do. And Phil, having realized just how Kathy
truly feels – seems just as contented to forgo her ‘mild aspersions’ toward
people of the Jewish faith, because he wants to belong to someone once again –
even if that someone remains ever so slightly unworthy of his time and
devotion. No, it just doesn’t work – and Kazan doesn’t seem particularly
engaged to suggest to his audience that it ever will; at least, not in any sort
of lasting or meaningful way. Because of these issues, Gentleman’s Agreement remains pedestrian fare at its best; amiably
acted, valiantly directed, but coming off as a lush and lovely waxworks with a
tinge of pro-activism tacked on for good measure.
Our story
begins in earnest with the arrival of widowed journalist, Philip Schuyler Green
(Gregory Peck), who has brought his young son, Tommy (Dean Stockwell) and
mother (Anne Revere) to New York City for a fresh start following the death of
his beloved wife. Joining a prestigious magazine, Green gets into the good
graces of publisher John Minify (Albert Dekker) who encourages his hot new
writer to do piece on anti-Semitism. The project, however, does not appeal to
Green at first. He needs an angle to become inspired.
So, Green
decides to adopt a Jewish persona, renamed Phil Greenberg, and write about his
personal experiences as a ‘Jew’. The idea has merit. Minify agrees to keep Phil’s
true identity a secret. But almost immediately Phil begins to feel the quiet,
but very ugly backlash of anti-Semitism creep into his comfortable middle-class
surroundings. Tommy is called names and beat up in the schoolyard and Phil can
sense the suddenly cool and aloof glances from colleagues who considered him a
friend at first.
Phil meets
Minify’s niece, Kathy Lacey (Dorothy McGuire) who had suggested the series of
articles to her uncle. The two are instantly attracted to one another, but
later Phil confides to his mother that he is not entirely comfortable that the
idea for his stories came from a woman. Still, as women go – Kathy acquits
herself quite nicely of the role of the socialite; slumming it a few days a
week as a substitute teacher while her uncle foots the bills for her
fashionable apartment and lifestyle the rest of the week. Phil and Kathy begin
a liaison that reaches its first stumbling block when Phil reveals to her his
intentions of writing the articles from observations made as a Jew.
Kathy’s
inquiry as to whether Phil is really Jewish throws a monkey wrench into their fledgling
relationship. After all, what are Kathy’s liberal views good for if she remains
inhibited by the same social prejudices she supposedly seeks to depose? Meanwhile,
believing that Phil is Jewish his new secretary, Elaine Wales (June Havoc) confides
that she is too, then reveals to him that in order to get the job with the
magazine she had to change her name and lie on her application. Phil tells
Minify who promptly implements a new hiring policy that Elaine fears will allow
‘the wrong Jews’ to get in and ruin it for the few who are currently employed
by the magazine.
As Phil’s
relationship with Kathy becomes more strained he becomes acquainted with the
magazine’s fashion editor Anne Dettrey (Celeste Holm) over cocktails; a devoted
friend who might be something more if things between Kathy and Phil don’t
improve soon. At the same time Phil takes in Dave Goldman (John Garfield); a
dear friend who, having retired from the army, is looking to move his family to
New York City. Dave is supportive of Phil’s desire to expose the unspoken
bigotry of middle-class America but worries for Phil and his family’s safety.
When Tommy
returns, bloodied by another schoolyard brawl, Kathy consoles him with the
understanding that the racial slurs he has endured are without merit because he
knows he is not Jewish – instead of taking umbrage to the slurs in and of
itself. Kathy’s attitude toward the whole matter alarms Phil who briefly
ponders postponing their engagement. His apprehensions are not quelled when
Kathy’s sister, Jane (Jane Wyatt) throws the couple a party at her home in
Darien, Connecticut, a community where anti-Jewish sentiments run high. Although
Jane’s friends are polite to Phil, many choose not to attend the party at the
last minute, and those who do are decidedly going through the motions to remain
cordial, while silently shunning Phil with their accusatory glances.
Dave informs
Phil that he will have to quit his new job because he cannot find sufficient
housing for his family in New York. Knowing that Kathy’s family owns a vacant
cottage in Darien, Phil offers to talk to Kathy about renting it out. But she
is reluctant to do so, presumably more concerned over what her friends will
think than whether or not such friends are worth having in the first place. Phil
is disgusted by her apprehensions and breaks off their engagement. Distraught,
Kathy tells Dave that she attended a party where a guest told a racially
motivated joke that made her ill. But when Dave questions her as to what action
she took to voice her outrage Kathy confides that she did nothing. Dave suggests
to her that prejudice will forever endure so long as the people who should know
better do nothing when confronted by it.
Phil finishes
his series of articles. However, upon publication of the first, despite
receiving great acclaim, Phil informs Minify that he intends to resign from the
magazine and leave New York with his family. But Dave arrives with good
news. Not only has Kathy decided to rent
him and his family her cottage, but she will be living next door to them to
ensure they are being treated with dignity by the neighbors. Upon hearing this
news Phil realizes that he truly loves Kathy. The two reconcile – presumably to
begin their romance anew.
The back story
to Gentleman’s Agreement is actually
more fascinating than the finished film. After Zanuck’s rebuke from the country
club, he decided to helm the project as a personally supervised production. At
every step however, Zanuck was repeatedly discouraged in his artistic pursuits
to see the project through. Friends warned that the film might never get passed
by the Hollywood censors because Joseph Breen was known to be an anti-Semite.
There were
also mild concerns that McGuire’s Kathy being a divorcee on the make would sour
popular opinion from the Catholic League of Decency, or that Anne Revere –
already suspected of having socialist views – would incur the wrath of the ever
mounting witch hunt brewing in Washington against suspected communists and
communist sympathizers.
As for
casting: Cary Grant, Zanuck’s first choice for the role of Phil Green, politely
turned down the plum part after his agent insisted he refrain from the project.
Gregory Peck’s agent encouraged a similar dismissal once Zanuck had offered the
role to him. But Peck firmly believed in the importance of the movie as a
catalyst for social change and pressed on. In the end the anticipated backlash
from critics and audiences never materialized. In fact, Gentleman’s Agreement became a colossal smash, reaffirming Zanuck’s
faith in producing popular mass entertainment with a social and moral
conscience.
There’s good
news and bad news regarding Fox’s Blu-ray. The bad news is that this is only a
single layered transfer with a modest bit rate. I suspect Fox is using old
digital files bumped to a 1080p signal. The good news is that for the most part
the image is solid. Could it have looked better? Arguably, yes. The opening
credits have a slight hint of thickness and inconsistently rendered grain. I
also detected an ever so slight tint of chroma bleeding in the letters during
the credit sequence. Not a promising start. But the image thereafter was mostly
satisfying.
Occasionally,
the B&W elements looked slightly soft with a minimal loss of fine detail
the most obvious transgressor. Film grain is present, but inconsistently
rendered. Age related artifacts are present but greatly tempered do not
distract. The audio is mono and adequate for this presentation. Extras include
a Back Story ‘making of’ and an audio commentary and theatrical trailer – same as
the old DVD. I’ll just go on record here to say that Fox needs to be more
proactive in their approach to classics on Blu-ray. We don’t want or need ANY more thin-looking 1080p transfers
with marginal bit rates. You have the disc space and the capacity to fill it. Gentleman’s Agreement runs less than 2
hrs. A new scan is in order. Utilize Blu-ray’s storage capabilities to their
fullest. Bottom line: Recommended with marginal reservations.
FILM RATING (out of 5 – 5 being the best)
3
VIDEO/AUDIO
3
EXTRAS
2.5
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