My suspicions were aroused at the get go during the opening titles when I saw that the screenwriter, veteran Hollywood liberal Carl Foreman, got the lead credit, before even the actors. This alerted me to the fact that I was most likely in for an hour and thirty eight minutes of heavy, florid writing with emphasis on a worthy "message", in this case human brotherhood triumphing over racism. And sure enough Foreman didn't disappoint. So, if you like this sort of ponderous pontificating, with a white savior psychiatrist instead of a lawyer named Atticus, and an ending only slightly less obvious and phony than the one Stanley Kramer (the producer of this well intentioned but soapboxey pic) provided in "The Defiant Ones", with the black/white hand clasp, then you'll be as happy as a Democrat at a Harry Belafonte concert. As for me give me "Shadows" , "Nothing But A Man", or even "Sounder" as more nuanced, convincing treatments of the black/white "problem" in these United States. Let's give it a generous C plus rather than a C 'cause there were some good performances from Lloyd Bridges, Steve Brodie and Douglas Dick. (Some bad ones too from James Edwards, Jeff Corey, and Frank Lovejoy who were burdened with carrying most of Foreman's heavy water.)
Review of Home of the Brave
