Gentleman's Agreement

A legendary drama—the film won three Oscars, including for best director and best film—by Elia Kazan, a great Hollywood outsider who, on the one hand, made a number of controversial masterpieces that changed the face of American cinema (A Streetcar Named Desire, On the Waterfront, Baby Doll), and, on the other, was hated for testifying before McCarthy’s House Un-American Activities Committee. The film tells the story of a journalist (Gregory Peck) hired to write a series of articles about anti-Semitism in America. To gain a deeper understanding of the subject, he claims to be Jewish—he doesn’t have to wait long to see the effect. Incredibly uncompromising (it’s worth keeping in mind that the film was made just after World War II), Kazan exposes—and not for the last time—the hypocrisy of American elites and ordinary citizens living under the guise of constitutional harmony. Though made over 70 years ago, Kazan’s classic film remains penetrating and valid today.