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Gentleman’s Agreement Movie Review

Gentleman’s Agreement is a 1947 drama film directed by Elia Kazan and starring Gregory Peck and Dorothy McGuire. It’s a tame, but wonderfully acted and moving film.

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“I’ve come to see lots of nice people who hate it

and deplore it and protest their own innocence,

then help it along and wonder why it grows“

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A reporter pretends to be Jewish in order to cover a story on anti-Semitism and personally discovers the true depths of bigotry and hatred. This was one of two films dealing with this issue released in 1947 with the other one being the inferior ‘Crossfire’. The movie was an important social drama of the forties that ended up taking home the Best Picture Oscar, but nowadays its impact has been blunted due to its tameness, which is a shame as the movie is still very powerful. I would say it is among the most underrated Best Picture winners.

Yes, the film only deals with the bigotry and prejudices of the upper-class, but it deals with its subject so well with so many moments that are sophisticated and effective to this day. There is a moment toward the end where the protagonist is frustrated with his girlfriend’s failure to speak against bigots and that scene was so powerful as it emphasized the importance of speaking out against hatred at all times. It also cleverly pinpointed that these smaller moments of bigotry will only pile up and lead into something bigger and more insidious if not tackled in its root.

The film is slow in its pace and certainly a bit too small-scale in its tackling of this issue. But I would much rather have a more limited in scope film that deals with the situations that it includes thoroughly than a more epic film that is muddled in execution. The premise itself was excellent and it was executed in a serious instead of comedic tone that it could have easily included, and that was a terrific choice as this issue demanded respect and dignity.

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Gentleman’s Agreement is worth seeing for the acting performances alone. This superb ensemble did a terrific job with every actor and actress delivering splendid work. Gregory Peck gave one of his best performances in the role of Phillip Green, a somewhat naïve but undeniably admirable activist of sorts. Peck was very believable and he delivered all of his lines with a lot of passion and conviction. But Dorothy McGuire was probably the standout of the picture as her character is the most complex of the bunch and the actress made her feel layered, complicated and oh so human.

The supporting players deserve a lot of praise too. Celeste Holm ended up winning an Oscar for her excellent, charismatic turn in the role of Anne, but John Garfield also should be praised for such an empathetic, wonderful turn. He should have been nominated too. Anne Revere was typecast as the mother, but she could do this role in her sleep, which is exactly what she did.

Elia Kazan directed the film with a lot of conviction and emotional resonance. This is one of his best works for sure. The movie’s pacing is not great, but the film still was engaging for the most part and wonderfully written, particularly in its sophisticated dialogue. It lacked the more showy technical aspects that you’d come to expect from a BP winner, but it was still very well made across the board and particularly moving in its powerful ending.

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