I'll make this review short and to the point. I'm 55 and I've watched this movie for the first time. All I can say is it really opened my eyes. I'm not Jewish, but this quote from the movie really makes a lot of sense and can be used today for any race, religion, or sexual orientation. Professor Fred Lieberman: "Millions of people nowadays are religious only in the vaguest sense. I've often wondered why the Jews among them still go on calling themselves Jews...Because the world still makes it an advantage not to be one. Thus it becomes a matter of pride to go on calling ourselves Jews." I would highly recommend this movie.

Gentlemen's Agreement is often criticized for playing it safe but it's strength is the way it addresses the unspoken or unnoticed shades of bigotry. The people who would never physically harm another but is relieved they are not another race. The people who would be friendly but never friends with another race or religion.

The people who quietly accept others being excluded.

Celeste Holmes won best supporting actress for her role. I believe she did more for what her character says than for having a bigger impact on the storyline itself. Her character says all the right things and means them, she cuts off and confronts the ugliness. She ultimately has a rather minor role but she says the things we all hope we would say.

Gregory Peck it seems was born to play characters like Atticus Finch and. Phillip Schuyler. Dorothy McGuire may have the toughest part as she has to come to terms with her own lack of courage standing firm against prejudice and not wanting to make waves but ultimately she grows stronger unfortunately we don't actually get to see her in action this way we have to trust she will follow through.

John Garfield has a small but significant role as the one who can give real insight to anti Semitism .

The movie is still relevant and we can still learn from it.

On the one hand, Gentleman's Agreement has a highly enlightened prejudice, even today, let alone 1947. Gregory Peck plays a journalist who decides to pretend to be Jewish so he can attain a real-life perspective on anti-semitism. Peck's transformation from a determined writer looking for an edge to a crusader against prejudice is nothing short of profound. The twist of course is that Peck gets lost in the assignment, starts seeing himself as a Jew and struggles to maintain his composure amid all the anti-semitism he experiences. Considering that, it's a shame that the film's abilities to tell a story lag so far behind the movie's depth and boldness. There's a lot of emphasis on the romance between Peck and his editor's niece, which is pretty overdone for a pair who has as little chemistry as McGuire and Peck. I think the worst part of that is hearing Gregory Peck referring to McGuire's character as "my girl" like he's in middle school, especially considering I've always associated Peck with characters of tremendous maturity. Additional randomness comes from the fact that the film also focuses on Peck's relationship with his ailing mother, which doesn't have much to do with the central plot at all. What seemed to be an attempt to give a more well-rounded view of the character, the story felt bogged down by those elements. Still, a worthwhile movie, overall, *** out of ****