Very well executed

Touches You

Excellent but underrated film

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

(Flash Review)Coming out of WWII and releasing an honest portrayal of anti-Semitism was a bold film decision for the time. The protagonist is a journalist who has been tasked with writing a series of articles about anti- Semitism in America. He decides to take a highly personal approach by pretending he is Jewish by changing his last name to one that is presumed to be Jewish and going through daily life and seeing what sorts of discrimination he is confronted with. There would be no story if there was none so you see how discrimination affects him, from subtle to blatant, and how he handles it. The film is very plain and honest; not flashy. But it does strike the topic head on and a film you could imagine being shown to high school kids. Very good story and acting as well as an important theme for the time. Even today as the perspective is not something you'd see done today.

A reporter (Gregory Peck) pretends to be Jewish in order to cover a story on anti-Semitism, and personally discovers the true depths of bigotry and hatred.Looking back, this film may seem a little bit over the top at times. But it likely is not terribly exaggerated. Even now (2015) being Jewish means something. The prejudice may not be quite as strong, and I don't know if "restricted" hotels still exist, but the subtle dislike has certainly not gone away.What makes this film extra good is the timing, not long after World War II. Sometimes we (America) likes to say we were heroes who saved the Jewish people from the Holocaust. But, this is not really true, and even if it was, it does not mean the Americans were not prejudice in the 1940s.

Reporter Phil Green is hired by magazine publisher John Minify to write an article on anti-Semitism, but he just cannot figure out how to approach the subject. We watch the movie patiently waiting for him to come up with the idea of pretending to be a Jew. When he finally reveals that on a previous occasion he pretended to be an Okie in order to write about the plight of the Okies, and that on another occasion he pretended to be a coal miner in order to write about coal mining, we are a little irritated that it took him so long to think about pretending to be a Jew. Having done this sort of thing twice before, it should have occurred to him right off. This delay might have been improved dramatically if someone else had suggested the idea to him. We might imagine his mother saying, "You once pretended to be an Okie to learn what it was like to be an Okie, so why don't you pretend to be a Jew?" But since the movie has Phil come up with the idea himself, we can't help thinking, "It's about time!"When he finally does start pretending to be a Jew, he is shocked by all the prejudice he encounters, as when he tries to check into a high-class hotel and is refused service. Well, what did he think was going to happen? In fact, he seems to know less about anti-Semitism than everyone else in the movie. We get the impression that the person most ignorant about anti-Semitism has been picked to write an article about it. His girlfriend Kathy has to tell him that people with houses in nice neighborhoods have a gentleman's agreement not to sell or rent to Jews. Why is it that she knows about this, but he does not? Maybe she should be writing the article. At the very least, Phil could have collaborated with his Jewish friend and his Jewish secretary. Instead, the man who knows least about anti-Semitism thinks he has to write the article all by himself.And this raises the question, Why not have a Jew write the article? It does turn out that the magazine Phil is going to write the article for discriminates against Jews in its hiring policy, which Minify changes when he becomes aware of it. But that doesn't explain why Minify, who seems so determined to combat anti-Semitism, did not hire a Jew to do the job from the very beginning. We almost get the feeling that the article (and the movie itself, for that matter) would not be meaningful unless the Jewish experience were filtered through the mind of a gentile.Furthermore, since Phil is not a Jew, it is hard to believe that he would feel the effect of prejudice the same way a real Jew would. Phil acts deeply offended when he encounters prejudice. But if I had pretended to be a Jew in order to be able to write about anti-Semitism, every time someone offended me, I would gleefully sneak off to the restroom to write down notes, thinking, "Boy, this is going to be good stuff for that article I'm going to write."

Part of this movie is watching Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire and Celeste Holm lounging about in rococo luxury looking fabulously glamorous. Over and over Peck and McGuire insult each other, apologise overly profusely and kiss with the passion of Siamese fighting fish.The rest of it is a bit like a George Bernard Shaw play, where the actors have a philosophical discussions about anti-Semitism exchanging long speeches. It is contains quite deep discussions of various types of prejudice. It gets a bit preachy at times. At times it backs speeches with music reminiscent of Battle Hymn of the Republic -- way over the top.Dean Stockwell plays the son Tommy. He is an angelic, hyperactive child who provides the only welcome action in the rather static film.The basic plot is Peck pretends to be Jewish in order to write a magazine story about the prejudice he experiences. The prejudice is relatively subtle. I could hardly see it being sensational enough for a series in a magazine. I suppose the writer did not want the audience to discount that such prejudice happens, rather to say, "That is pretty bad, but what really happens is much worse."There is no scene when Peck gives the bad guys a swift kick in the pants. The fight has just started and it is up to you in the audience to do battle.