Gentleman's Agreement

An at times very good but above all well-meaning message movie which at times hammers home its points overly directly, the kid and Peck's love interest stand-ins for the intended uneducated audience. That being said, the point of a movie like this is didactic in nature and the Best Picture prize is, I'd wager, most of all a tip of the hat recognizing the importance of raising the issue. All that aside, it's a thoroughly solid film.

It's a good movie but seems to be too preachy for its own good. I'm sure it was riveting in 1947 but now it feels severely dated for a movie made by Elia Kazan and led by Gregory Peck. Overall it's a good watch but it's an odd movie to be among the ranks of best picture winners.

A little too preachy and slowly paced, but Kazan--a superb director of actors--brings out unexpected acting resources from everybody involved. Peck is good, particularly at expressing contempt and anger, although perhaps not quite at his best, but McGuire, Garfield, Holm, Revere, Havoc, Jaffee and Roy Roberts have never been better.

I think Kazan is a fairly poor director. The film is ambitious for its time and Peck carries it well, but the entire presentation is so bland and static that I found myself losing interest rapidly. The image and composition are so much an afterthought that this might as well be a radio drama. Even then, the writing could use some polish -- I was far more interested in Anne than Kathy. It's not hard to see why it won Best Picture, though, considering who the voters are. Is that anti-semetic? ;)

High points for Celeste Holm's character Anne Dettrey; sadly, many more negative points for the heavy-handed magic wand that "ends" Kathy's hypocrisy, and the character of Kathy herself.

For a film made almost 70 years ago, it didn't feel that old to me. Some critics and viewers have argued that the message has not transcended the many decades that separate us from this issue, but I did not feel that way at all. The film and its message felt just as relevant today as it likely was during its own time. The performances are amazing and the script is terrific! I cannot recommend this film enough. Winner of 3 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director.

Elia Kazan's antisemitism movie easily ranks among the Academy's weakest Best Picture recipients. The ungainly screenplay features plenty of clunky exposition, contrived events and a hopelessly dreary romance, but worst of all is the heavy-handedness of the film's message, which strips it of all intended power. The cast generally struggle too, with only the wonderful Celeste Holm impressing in any significant capacity.

May be a bit too earnest.

Based on the subject matter, it's sad to say that this film still holds up more than 70 years later. There are some holes, but the story, unfortunately, still has meaning.

Amazing how relevant and on-point topical Gentleman's Agreement (1947) is still today with its racial message. A little bit like watching CNN in these times. Morally high, emotionally manipulating and condescending in its delivery, but so right on every point. Exactly the reason it won't change the minds of those that needs that change in racial attitudes, but those that are on the same page will absorb its message fully.

Best movie I've seen in a long time. Excellent performances by the entire ensemble. Great writing, a little pushy at times but a great story to be told. Wonderfully complex characters, especially Kathy. A+

If there is a way to make an audience feel the rage and pain of asking for accommodation in an establishment that simply will not do so, though both you and the evasive schmuck on the other side of the desk know why, and he will not say because he's aware of how shamefully his actions are viewed, then that way is how your movie should play out. Such is the case with Gentleman's Agreement.

Just the sort of "socially-conscious" flick Hollywood loves to congratulate itself with by giving awards to. Peck sure had a great speaking voice, and decently good looks. But he's ultimately so bland that it's impossible to work up any indignation at all over the way he's treated while pretending--totally unconvincingly--to be Jewish.

A pretty good drama, but lacking in a few respects. It's one of the first films ever to deal directly with antisemitism and it takes a very didactic approach in doing so. I suppose that's fine, and the success of the film may indicate that the message was well-spread, but the film seems to have an awareness of its own importance and that lends an unfortunate air of blandness to the proceedings. Kazan is generous to the supporting cast but Peck is dull.

Feels more like watching a campy old PSA than a Best Picture winner. Though to be fair Gregory Peck running around owning bigots is always a good time.

Interesting movie, let down by an overly preachy script and weak cast chemistry.

Some may call it over explanatory and heavy-handed, but 70 years later we're still having these types of conversations about racism and prejudice. There are so many Kathys that really do need things spelled out slowly for them or they just don't get it. It's not a particularly exciting movie, but it's importance for the time (made just after the horrors of the Holocaust) and criticism of "nice people that don't do anything in the face of injustice" are significant.

On the heels of the Holocaust, I see the need for an Important Picture to lecture us on the "good people who remain silent," but I kind of feel like the need for a formulaic happy ending crossed the film's powerful moral wires, and we're left with a mixed message. This is a lecture, though, make no mistake. Whether you're irritated by that probably has more to do with your own biases than anything else. Yeah, it's dated. But the subject matter sadly isn't.

Timely, but dated. "Gentleman's Agreement" pushes it's agenda without an ounce of subtlety and far less tact than you might hope. If the goal here is to convince racist people that racism is wrong, bludgeoning them isn't the way to do it, but even if it was effective, this came out two years after the end of the second world war, and I think Hitler already convinced the bulk of the world that Jewish people don't need any more persecution.

It's not hard to understand why this was rewarded way back when. By modern standards it's quite preachy and even questionable. But well made.

There must have been a way of dramatizing this story beyond the chosen treatment of lecture.

It still has some powerful things to say about privilege, even if it does get a little old by the time everyone and their mother (literally) has had a chance to give a full-length sermon.

This may be considered tame now, but it still works

The message of the film is eternal: the silence of otherwise good people needs to end before change can occur. Peck is a little stiff and hard to believe as a writer, and the speech is a little stiff too. Watch it for Celeste Holm and John Garfield.

This is a film that needed to be made and a message that needed to be told. Thank goodness it was ahead of its time.

Slow to get going and it was quite hard to warm to the characters but it is thought provoking and it must have quite ahead of its time.

Why doesn't the magazine hire a Jewish writer for this story? All the sanctimoniousness is completely undermined by this.

75.500

Okay so that was hopelessly outdated...

Brilliant movie. Some of the acting is a little bad, but the story is awesome.

Give me a fucking break.

Amazing Gregory Peck movie.

Aside from the occasional rousing speech, the writing & direction are too stiff and dialog delivery seems mostly unnatural despite Peck's talent. Plot isn't woven stringently although the relationship thing is gripping. If there is or was a kind of antisemitism in existence in the USA as depicted here, it is to be hoped that this picture helps combat the mentality that creates these "restricted hotels" and "Gentleman's Agreements". Therein, and not in its cinematic virtues, lies its true value.

Boring and heavy-handed.

Despite being very obviously crafted to push buttons it does so extremely well and reveals some visceral emotional truths.

Starts off slow, but ultimately makes some good points. The character's aren't very compelling (other than Celeste Holm's character; she's always awesome), but there are some pretty good monologues later on.