Magazine writer Philip Green (Gregory Peck) is hired to write a series on anti-Semitism. He decides to let everybody thinks he's Jewish and see what happens. He quickly finds out how strong bigotry and hatred against jews really is.
I've read back when this was made in the 1940s anti-Semitism was accepted and tolerated and this movie showed people how evil it was. I'm not Jewish but I've never had a problem with it and find it hard to believe people ever did. So this movie was an eye-opener for many people. Unfortunately it also comes across as obvious and sometimes overly preachy especially at the end when we get THREE speeches against it. Still it's not a bad movie at all and went on to win three Academy Awards including Best Picture.
Peck is good in his role and Dorothy McGuire was also OK as his girlfriend--but those two had no romantic spark between them. Their kisses came across as awkward and forced and I never believed they were in love. Celeste Holm is great in a supporting role and won an Oscar for it. Also John Garfield has a small but crucial role. Wonderful character actress Anne Revere is also in this. The script is sharp and intelligent and doesn't pull punches in its dialogue. It moves quickly too. Still, as a very liberal guy, I found it so obvious that it didn't really have a huge impact on me. I give it a 7.
I've read back when this was made in the 1940s anti-Semitism was accepted and tolerated and this movie showed people how evil it was. I'm not Jewish but I've never had a problem with it and find it hard to believe people ever did. So this movie was an eye-opener for many people. Unfortunately it also comes across as obvious and sometimes overly preachy especially at the end when we get THREE speeches against it. Still it's not a bad movie at all and went on to win three Academy Awards including Best Picture.
Peck is good in his role and Dorothy McGuire was also OK as his girlfriend--but those two had no romantic spark between them. Their kisses came across as awkward and forced and I never believed they were in love. Celeste Holm is great in a supporting role and won an Oscar for it. Also John Garfield has a small but crucial role. Wonderful character actress Anne Revere is also in this. The script is sharp and intelligent and doesn't pull punches in its dialogue. It moves quickly too. Still, as a very liberal guy, I found it so obvious that it didn't really have a huge impact on me. I give it a 7.