Joseph Losey's first feature is an allegorical fantasy about racial prejudice and war--connecting the two through the simplicity of a child's vision. Child actor Dean Stockwell plays the young orphan, Peter, who lives with a kindly old man, Gramps (Pat O'Brien). Peter is given to fantasies which the adults find troublesome, and when his hair turns green, he finally becomes a pariah in the town. The unabashed, uncompromising “message film” was criticized by American critics but hailed as a masterpiece by the French--in both cases for its attempt to deal with complex problems through a purified ideal. Today the film is interesting as an early attempt to show fantasy on film while minimizing “special effects” (creating some confusion between fantasy and reality in the film) and taming the garishness of Technicolor. The stark simplicity of George Barnes' photography contrasts with the baroque imagery of Losey's later films.
The Boy with Green Hair holds an important place in the history of the Cold War in Hollywood. Both scriptwriter Ben Barzman and director Losey were later blacklisted. The Brecht-influenced Losey was hounded out of Hollywood in 1950 and worked in Europe under pseudonyms for a number of years. The Boy with Green Hair was made at RKO under the liberal aegis of producer Dore Schary. Before the film's release, however, the company was bought by Howard Hughes, who set about revamping the studio's image, beginning with this film whose effects he sought to soften by having scenes rewritten and re-shot. The outcome was so unsatisfactory, however, Hughes agreed to release the film in its original form.