Gentleman's Agreement (1947) on Netflix
Widowed journalist Philip Schuyler Green moves to New York City with his mother and his son Tommy. Asked to write a magazine series on antisemitism, he decides to pass as Jewish.
- Netflix3.9/5
- IMDb7.2/1019,366 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes82%
Trailer
Plot summary
Philip Schuyler Green is a widowed journalist who leaves Los Angeles for New York City to work at Smith's Weekly, a national magazine, bringing his mother and his son Tommy with him. His editor, John Minify, proposes a series of articles on antisemitism, though Green doubts the subject can be handled in a new way. The suggestion came from Minify's niece Kathy Lacy, a divorced schoolteacher he meets at a lunch party. Green, a gentile, decides to present himself as Jewish so that he experiences the prejudice directly.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Gentleman's Agreement (1947)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The film's politics angered the House Un-American Activities Committee: Elia Kazan, John Garfield and Anne Revere were all called to testify, Revere refused, and Garfield refused to "name names". Both were blacklisted, and Garfield died of a heart attack at 39 before a second hearing.
- Darryl Zanuck decided to film Laura Z. Hobson's novel after the Los Angeles Country Club refused him membership, wrongly assuming he was Jewish.
- The part of journalist Philip Green was first offered to Cary Grant, who turned it down; Gregory Peck took it even though his agent warned it would endanger his career, and Jewish actor John Garfield accepted a lesser role to be part of the film.
- Before filming began, Samuel Goldwyn and other Jewish film executives asked Darryl Zanuck not to make the film, fearing it would stir up trouble, and warned that Hays Code enforcer Joseph Breen might not let it pass the censors.
- Darryl Zanuck was honored as B'nai B'rith's "Man of the Year" for 1948 at a downtown Los Angeles gala for a crowd of over a thousand, whose variety show included the Hollywood film-world debut of the team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.
