Gentleman's Imitation

by Damian M. Moorman, Dayton2Vegas.com

(This is my opinion on the similarities and differences between "Gentleman's Agreement" (1947) and "Imitation of Life" (1934), two very important movies dealing with religious and racial discrimination.)

In "Gentleman's Agreement," the main character (Philip Schuyler Green) pretends to be Jewish to purposely undergo the many common injustices inflicted on Jewish people at that time, while in "Imitation of Life," the character (Peola Johnson) pretends to be white, so as to avoid the racial discrimination she had struggled with her whole life. The filmmakers used these two polar opposite devices to graphically depict the impact of religious and racial prejudice and discrimination on individuals, as well as their families and friends. While these two films contain many differences in cast, directing, and appearance, they still share important similarities that go beyond filmmaking into humanitarian issues.

"Gentleman's Agreement" is a 1947 film about a journalist going to the extreme to research anti-Semitism. Academy award-winner Gregory Peck plays the main character, Philip Schuyler Green, who acts as if he is Jewish to gain first hand knowledge on the difficulties many Jews faced during that time. This film was based off of Laura Z. Hobson's book with the same title which was released in the same year.

Green is investigating anti-Semitism because he has to write an article about it for his job. He gets away with acting like he is Jewish in New York because he just moved to the city at the beginning of the film. What Green doesn't know is that he'll soon find out his journey is going to be a lot tougher than what he had originally expected. Prejudice is all around Green, including his work place, local restaurants, hotels, and right in his own home. Green's son even feels the pain of being "Jewish" as his fellow classmates teased him after school one day.

Green becomes passionate about trying to stop the anti-Semitism present in New York, but his efforts fall to the wayside. Kathy Lacey, played by Dorothy McGuire, is the love interest of Green. She is the one who came up with the idea for his article. However, it quickly becomes too much for her to handle when her family judges Green unfavorably after they find out he was supposedly Jewish.

This movie was very controversial when it was released. People on both sides of the argument towards Jews expressed heated reaction to this film. It is very interesting that the director chose not to have the main character actually be a Jew in the story, but only to pretend he was one. There was one main Jewish character, Greene's long-time friend Dave Goldman, played by two-time Academy Award nominee John Garfield. His presence onscreen gave a different yet powerful perspective on what it feels like to be judged and ridiculed for standing up for personal beliefs.

Before the movie ended, Green truly discovered the presence of bigotry in the world. This was an extremely powerful film that received critical acclaim for its cast and crew. "Gentleman’s Agreement" was nominated for eight Academy Awards in 1948. It took home top honors for Best Picture, along with Best Director (Elia Kazan), and Best Supporting Actress (Celeste Holm). The filmmakers were very successful in exposing the impact of the prejudice against the Jewish people.

By using a non-Jew posing as a Jew, the audience first relates to Gregory Peck because he is just like us (only better looking). All he does is say he is Jewish and he gets worse treatment. He has not changed at all; he is the same exact person. I feel very sympathetic for his anger and frustration. The hypocrisy expressed in the title, "Gentleman's Agreement," is one true highlight of the movie.

The second movie I chose to write about is "Imitation of Life." This 1934 film is about a young white female who hires a black woman to be her maid. Both women are near the same age and have daughters that are also similar in age as well. Bea Pullman, played by Academy Award-winner Claudette Colbert, is the young white woman who's trying to make enough money to properly raise her daughter. Delilah Johnson, played by Louise Beavers, is Bea's black housekeeper. The reward for Delilah's work is free room and board for her and her daughter.

Bea and her daughter Jessie quickly became close to Delilah and her daughter Peola. They became as close as family. Fortunes turned when Bea opened up a pancake restaurant that sky-rocketed with the help of Delilah's labor and original recipe. Bea Pullman becomes even richer as she takes her friend's idea to expand the company. Bea's close friend Elmer Smith, played by Ned Sparks, suggested to her the idea of growing into an extremely successful pancake flour corporation. This idea took off as they marketed Delilah as an Aunt Jemima-like figure.

"Imitation of Life" flashes forward around fifteen years, soon after the time Bea makes it big with her pancake ventures. Bea's love interest in the movie, Steven Archer, played by Warren William, enters the story at this time. Minor drama ensues when Bea's now eighteen year-old daughter Jessie falls in love with Mr. Archer while Bea is away for a week.

In contrast to "Gentleman's Agreement," the tragic impact of discrimination and prejudice in "Imitation of Life" is revealed to the audience by having Peola "passing" as white. She believes her treatment as a black girl would be so much worse that she pretends to be white, denying her heritage, even to the point of ignoring her own mother. This understandably devastates her loving mother. Again the audience feels great empathy for Delilah and even Peola, as well as shame for creating an environment where such behavior would appear to make sense. Everyone is touched by the tears of Peola after her mother has passed away and she realized that she betrayed her mother.

Peola was played by Fredi Washington, who faced many similar troubles of discrimination in her own life. Her strong performances made many people believe she would become a star, but American film was not ready for a leading black woman in the 1930s. "The movies were not ready for idealized tragic black heroines. Audiences preferred mammies and Jemima's who could be laughed at or enjoyed or pitied but who would not strike at their consequences" (Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, & Bucks, p. 62)

"Imitation of Life" ended with Bea settling the love triangle by choosing her daughter over her fiancé. Bea calls off the engagement because she knows that it would hurt Jessie too much to go through with it. In contrasting decisions, Peola selfishly puts herself first when deciding about the future while Bea cares more about doing what's best for her daughter Jessie. "Imitation of Life" was nominated for three Academy Awards in 1935 including Best Picture, Best Assistant Director, and Best Sound, Recording.

The interesting connection between "Gentleman's Agreement" and "Imitation of Life" is the struggle with discrimination due to their race and religion. These two movies are great examples of the writers and directors presenting a social problem on the big screen as a form of art.

While researching "Imitation of Life," I began to look deeper into the acting career of Louise Beavers. Beavers, who played Bea's housekeeper in the movie, was not a stranger to this role. She appeared in many films in the 1920s to the 1930s almost always playing a submissive character, such as a servant, slave, or maid. Many movies that came later in American film also had characters similar to Delilah Johnson, such as Granny, Ethel Waters' character in "Pinky" (Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, & Bucks, p. 152). This brings up the question of whether it was better, with regards to the advancement of racial equality, for African-Americans to have had minor stereotypical roles in early American films or to have none at all. I think that any roles in film, albeit many were stereotypical, were a step in the right direction towards incorporating black actors and actresses in American film.

The big screen offers an artistic and affective way to show how the majority of people in the United States have many times acted out of hatred towards the minority for unjust reasons, whether because of their religion or race. It's important today that we understand how Hollywood depicted politics, race, and gender throughout the history of film. Both "Gentleman's Agreement" and "Imitation of Life" are great examples of how Hollywood can successfully convey key ideas to the audience. I felt intellectually and emotionally persuaded not to pre-judge people based on their religion or race after watching these movies, which is a true testament to the power both films posses.