Directed by Mark Robson
Often cited as the first Hollywood film to examine prejudice against African Americans, Stanley Kramer's combat melodrama Home of the Brave is notable for its hard-edged take on a previously taboo subject. Produced on a low budget and reportedly completed in a then-record 25 days, Kramer shepherded the film under a veil of secrecy in an effort to circumvent outside interference regarding its controversial theme, and in order to scoop other "tolerance" pictures in production, including Elia Kazan's Pinky (1949) and Joseph L. Mankiewicz's No Way Out (1950).
Adapted from Arthur Laurents' award-winning play about anti-Semitism, the film's thematic shift to black-white relations was initiated by Kramer partially due to the fact that studio pictures such as Gentleman's Agreement (1947) and Crossfire (1947) had already successfully explored discrimination against Jewish Americans. According to biographer Donald Spoto, Kramer also felt that the play's reliance on exposition to convey a visceral understanding of racism could be powerfully overcome with a black protagonist.
Distributors apparently feared that. uncensored, the film 's subject matter (and unprecedented use of racial epithets) would inspire riots. However, in wide release, including exhibition in the South, the film enjoyed strong box office without incident. For his adaptation, screenwriter Carl Foreman received the Writers Guild's Robert Meltzer Award for "Screenplay Dealing Most Ably with Problems of the American Scene." The Chicago Defender's original review of the film concurred, stating that "[Home] comes closer to the true story of the Negro-white problem as developed in this country than anything yet made in Hollywood."
–Mark Quigley
Producer: Stanley Kramer Screenwriter: Carl Foreman Based on the play "Home of the Brave" by Arthur Laurents Cinematographer: Robert De Grasse Editor: Harry Gerstad Cast: Douglas Dick, Steve Brodie, Jeff Corey, Lloyd Bridges, Frank Lovejoy
35mm, 86 min.
Preserved from the 35mm nitrate original picture negative and a 35mm nitrate print. Laboratory services by Film Technology Company, Inc.
