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Gentleman's Agreement (1947)

tomatometer

78

Average Rating: 6.9/10
Reviews Counted: 32
Fresh: 25 | Rotten: 7

It occasionally fails to live up to its subject matter -- and is perhaps an 'important' film more than a 'great' one -- but the performances from Gregory Peck and Dorothy McGuire are superb.

63

Average Rating: 6.7/10
Critic Reviews: 8
Fresh: 5 | Rotten: 3

It occasionally fails to live up to its subject matter -- and is perhaps an 'important' film more than a 'great' one -- but the performances from Gregory Peck and Dorothy McGuire are superb.

audience

78

liked it
Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 5,106

My Rating

Movie Info

Adapted by Moss Hart from the novel by Laura Z. Hobson, this film stars Gregory Peck as recently widowed journalist Phil Green. With a growing son (Dean Stockwell) to support, Green is receptive to the invitation of magazine publisher John Minify (Albert Dekker) to write a series of hard-hitting articles on the scourge of anti-Semitism. In order to glean his information first hand, Green decides to pose as a Jew. As the weeks go by, Green experiences all manner of prejudice, the most insidious

PG,

Drama, Romance, Classics

Moss Hart

Mar 7, 2000

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment

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Cast

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All Critics (32) | Top Critics (8) | Fresh (27) | Rotten (7) | DVD (11)

Agreement was tame, cautious stuff even back then.

February 19, 2013 Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Top Critic IconTop Critic

By dispassionate critical standards, Gentleman's Agreement is not a success. It is a tract rather than a play and it has the crusader's shortcomings.

February 6, 2013 Full Review Source: The New Republic
The New Republic
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The movie is as powerful today as when it captured the Best Picture Oscar a few years after Hitler's genocide ended in Europe.

August 17, 2010 Full Review Source: ReelViews
ReelViews
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Gentleman's Agreement is an important experiment, honestly approached and successfully brought off.

February 18, 2009 Full Review Source: TIME Magazine
TIME Magazine
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It looks pretty timorous now.

February 17, 2009 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader
Chicago Reader
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[A] brilliant and powerful film.

February 19, 2008 Full Review Source: Variety
Variety
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Elia Kazan's furious look at barely dormant post-war anti-Semitism and the lengths of performance gets a classy Blu-ray release from Fox with interesting extras and a top-shelf A/V transfer.

February 18, 2013 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine

While this multi-Oscar-winning film was controversial at the time of its release, it now seems overly preachy.

November 1, 2007 Full Review Source: Film4
Film4

You'd think a 60-year-old movie about prejudice would be passé by now. You'd be wrong.

May 10, 2007 Full Review Source: Movie Habit
Movie Habit

[It] remains a classic crusading film.

December 12, 2006 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide
TV Guide's Movie Guide

An incisive look at the effects of anti-Semitism and the attempts to stamp it out.

October 24, 2006 Full Review Source: Cinema Sight
Cinema Sight

Tame and too hopeful by today's standards, but Kazan's message drama was important in 1947, representing one of the first time that the word Jew was explicity used in a Hollywood picture.

July 15, 2006 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com
EmanuelLevy.Com

Preachy but effective indictment of anti-Semitism

January 18, 2005
Nitrate Online

A frightening time capsule of ethnic intolerance.

July 21, 2004
Arizona Daily Star

Verdadeiro tratado sociológico sobre a intolerância e o preconceito, o filme continua a impressionar por sua ambição e por se manter atual quase 60 anos depois de realizado.

April 3, 2004
Cinema em Cena

The film does try to tackle a subject matter that has not been covered too well by Hollywood at the time, and for that alone it should be commended.

January 21, 2004 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Audience Reviews for Gentleman's Agreement

Very serious piece about silent prejudice, where the usual hallmarks of bigotry are hidden under a polished but greasy veneer of smiling good manners. Ahead of its time by decades at least, the crux of the tale interestingly happens inside of a blossoming love affair between two we-know-better-than-that cosmopolitans, ably delivered by Peck and (very underrated but nuanced and shining) Dorothy McQuire.
September 10, 2011
UniversalDreamer

Super Reviewer

Back when it was released during the late 1940s, this film was really quite something. It was a serious drma which tackled the issue of prejudice, specifically anti-semitism, something that really struck a chord given the historical evetns of the years preceeding it's release. I can see why it won some Oscars (including Best Picture), but I can't really say if it was the most deserving of the award or not.

It is a good movie though, although it comes across as rather tame and typical by moden standards. So, in order to really enjoy it, you just have to force yourself into the same environment that the film was made and takes place in. You can get enjoyment out of it if you don't do that, but you might not find the film to be as impactful, either.

It is a tad bit boring, and I think they could have handled the issues a little better, but, given the circumstances, they really pushed the envelope for the time, and did the best they could. I do like the performances though, because Peck is as reliable and watchable as always. The others are good too, but unfortunately, the score makes everyone seem more melodramatic than was probably intended.

All in all, a decent enough film that tries to explore some serious issues. Some of its relevancy has worn off, but the principles remain. If you want to see how important social and cultural issues were dealt with via film in the past, you could do a whole lot worse than this.
May 16, 2011
cosmo313
Chris Weber

Super Reviewer

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Latest News on Gentleman's Agreement

July 16, 2012:
Celeste Holm: 1917-2012
The Academy Award-winning star, whose films included Elia Kazan's "Gentleman's Agreement," was 95.

Foreign Titles

  • Gentleman's Agreement (1947) (DE)
  • Gentleman's Agreement (1947) (UK)
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