Hollywood traditionally was hesitant to deal with anti-Semitism in contemporary America (the thirties saw a number of historical treatments including The Life of Emile Zola), but in 1947 it tackled the problem in a big way with Edward Dmytryk's Crossfire and Elia Kazan's Gentleman's Agreement, the latter based on Laura Hobson's novel. Gregory Peck portrays the reporter Philip Green who poses as a Jew in order to expose the prevalence of anti-Semitism in American society. He is enlightened by a well-spoken Jewish serviceman (John Garfield) and introduced to the "gentleman's agreement" that bars Jews from upper-class circles, but most of what he unearths is disturbingly close to home, in the attitudes of his fiancée (Dorothy McGuire), his mother (Anne Revere) and his co-worker (Celeste Holm). Audiences today might be uncomfortable with the film's earnest pleas for "tolerance"; but fine craftsmanship and an excellent cast help preserve the integrity of a courageous endeavor.