Evening star., 1948-03-25

oplayers. Many of its sequences pack
"a considerable dramatic wallop.
: Producer Daryl r. Zanuck should
q be prouder, however, of the fact that
: he had the courage to make it than
Of the fact that it won the Academy
Award as the best motion picture of
-1947. 1t is not the best motion pic
-ture Of 1947. The new Palace film
: Is, though, one of the finest steps in
the right direction Hollywood has
taken in many a year and If honors
are distributed on that basis it de-
serves every one it receives.
"Gentleman's Agreement" as you
know If you read Laura z. Hobson's
novel of the same name, deals with
anti-Semitism and it minces no
words in dealing with it. It is brave
enough to protest the expressions
'"hke" and dirty Jew" by admit
ting that they do exist and letting
.them get onto the sound track. It
ds picture with a message, but it
II not a preachment; the message
ik an integral part of a sequence of
dramatic events.
** ~
Moss Hart's screenplay for the
goth Century-Fox picture follows
closely the story pattern Of the book
from which 1t was adapted. It's
hero is an intense young writer, who
Is assigned to do series of articles
on anti-Semitism for a magazine
Seeking a new "angle," he comes
up with the decision to seek his in
formation first hand, to pose as a
jew himself to see what happens.
What happens startles and shocks
ihim. He meets anti-Semitism where
Ihe never knew 1t grew before. I'M
mediately, when he tells his girl
friend Of his plan, his romance is
thrown into q state OF tension.
s"You're not a Jew, are you?" is her
first REACTION. "Oh, 1t wouldn't
make any difference, of course. But
you're not, really, are you?"
The pounding horror Of anti
Semitism builds up as the writer
learns how it is to be Jew. He
meets anti-Semitism in his Jewish
secretary. whose distaste is for that
other kind, the kikey ones" He
meets 1t in the protesting some-of-
Observation-Disclosures types. He
meets it when his son is tormented
by bullies who won't stay and fight;
they just yell and run away" He
meets it everywhere, in outright
discrimination and in small, pain
full darts of insult.
Everywhere, he adds information
to the series of articles he has in
the work. A learned scientist ex-
plains that, as a scientist he has no
religion and, also as scientist, he
knows there is no such thing as a |
Jewish race, therefore he is a Jew
only because people call him one.
The writer's childhood friend, a |
Jewish Army officer, returns from
overseas and tells him he is a fool
for deliberately seeking out the in
dignities his masquerade is sure to
bring on.
"Gentleman's Agreement" piles UP
an increasing dramatic impact as
It's hero discovers some of the more
brutal facts of life. 1t becomes in
creasingly tense as he eelearns about
anti-Semitisrn on it's large scale and
sees it wrench from him the girl
who claims not to be anti-Semitic,
but who accepts it in her friends
with calm, who sees no harm In
the "gentlenan's agreement" to re-
strict home ownership In a fashions
able part of Connecticut.
1t is a motion picture with a
strong emotional drive. It becomes
something less than a perfect ex-
ample of cinematic art, however,
when 1t works toward conclusion
that seems all too contrived.
In the latter moments of the
story, Miss Hobson first and Mr..
Hart after her have dropped the
curtain of inevitability to let them
selves be seen pulling strings. The
message must be gotten across, so
the writer's mother reads it In an
excerpt from one of his articles. His
Jewish friend must find a house so
he can bring his family East and
take an offered job, so the writer's
girl friend finally consents to let
him have her place in that ere
stricted" section of Connecticut.
This, of course, proves that she Is
taking up the fight, so the writer
rushes to her arms.
The complaint is not that anti
Semitism is not likely to end that
abruptly and happily, but rather
that the whole climax seems a
shade too pat.
X
This does not mean that Gentle