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Gentleman's Agreement Overview:

Gentleman's Agreement (1947) was a Drama - Romance Film directed by Elia Kazan and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck.

The film was based on the novel of the same name written by Laura Z. Hobson published in 1947.

SYNOPSIS

The best of the few Hollywood treatments of anti-Semitism. Peck gives the right gravity to his role of a magazine reporter who comes to understand in a personal way the barriers imposed by prejudice when, to add depth to his magazine feature, he takes on a Jewish identity. Hart wrote the script, based on the novel by Laura Z. Hobson.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

Academy Awards 1947 --- Ceremony Number 20 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best ActorGregory PeckNominated
Best ActressDorothy McGuireNominated
Best Supporting ActressCeleste HolmWon
Best Supporting ActressAnne RevereNominated
Best DirectorElia KazanWon
Best Film EditingHarmon JonesNominated
Best Picture20th Century-FoxWon
Best WritingMoss HartNominated
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Gentleman's Agreement Quotes:

Anne Dettrey: Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the most brilliant of them all?
Phil Green: And what does the mirror say?
Anne Dettrey: Well, that mirror ain't no gentleman.
Kathy Lacey: I called up my sister Jane and blurted it out, and she squealed, "Kathy!" as if she had given up any hope of anyone ever asking me. She's aching to meet you. She and her husband are giving a big party for us on Sunday. By the way, won't we have to let Jane in on it?
Phil Green: I hadn't thought so.
Kathy Lacey: But we will, won't we? Your mother knows.
Phil Green: She had to. Jane and her husband don't. If you want to keep a secret...
Kathy Lacey: But wouldn't it be sort of exaggerated with my own sister? Your sister-in-law, almost. I do think it would be inflexible of you.
Phil Green: I suppose it would be, inside the family. But they won't let anybody know, will they?
Kathy Lacey: They won't breathe it. They want to fight this awful thing just as much as you and I do.
Phil Green: I'm going to let everybody know I'm Jewish.
Kathy Lacey: Jewish? But you're not! Are you? Not that it would make any difference to me. But you said, "Let everybody know," as if you hadn't before and would now. So I just wondered. Not that it would make any difference to me. Phil, you're annoyed.
Phil Green: No, I'm just thinking.
Kathy Lacey: Well, don't look serious about it. Surely you must know where I stand.
Phil Green: Oh, I do.
Kathy Lacey: You just caught me off-guard.
Mrs. Green: I never realized pain could be so... sharp.
Phil Green: You still think of your mom, Tommy?
Tommy Green: Sometimes. Not all the time. Just sometimes. How old was I when she died, Pop?
Phil Green: You were four years old. It's been a long time.
Tommy Green: You ever gonna get married again?
Phil Green: Maybe. You want me to?
Tommy Green: I don't care. I like it fine this way.
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Gentleman's Agreement Facts
John Garfield (real name Julius Garfinkle) was happy to take on the supporting role of Dave as he felt the film's subject was one that needed to be heard.
Celeste Holm is on record as saying that she found Gregory Peck to be no fun to work with.
When other studio chiefs, who were mostly Jewish, heard about the making of this film, they asked the producer not to make it. They feared its theme of anti-Semitism would simply stir up a hornet's nest and preferred to deal with the problem quietly. Not only did production continue, but a scene was subsequently included that mirrored that confrontation.
Laura Z. Hobson wrote her novel after Senator John Rankin's anti-Semitic comments were applauded in Congress. It was then serialized in Cosmopolitan from November 1946 to February 1947, immediately causing quite a stir. This prompted Darryl F. Zanuck (who was one of the few studio heads who was not Jewish) to snap up the novel's rights.
The movie mentions three real people well-known for their racism and anti-Semitism at the time: Mississippi Sen. Theodore Bilbo, who advocated sending all African-Americans back to Africa; Mississippi Rep. John Rankin, who called columnist Walter Winchell "the little kike" on the floor of the House of Representatives; and Christian Nationalist Crusade leader Gerald L.K. Smith, who tried legal means to prevent Twentieth Century-Fox from showing the movie in Tulsa. He lost the case, but then sued Fox for $1,000,000. The case was thrown out of court in 1951.
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