The Boy with Green Hair

I think it's fascinating that Grendel-13 and Aizek have the reactions to this film that they have stated below, and would bet anything in my wallet that they're both under 30 years old. This film was/is a parable. At the particular time it was created, it was a parable about the budding Cold War, and about the immediately past Holocaust. The focus was on the problem that having a difference, one not even chosen, should destroy one. That had destroyed six million Jews in the Second World War, and the film was partly about that. It had also begun to destroy people in America who thought that Communism might have something to offer. And, very directly, it had by virtue of the Second World War's very existence, destroyed the parents of thousands and thousands of children worldwide, even including some of those in the USA. Hatred based on no sensible matter had orphaned thousands in the USA, to put it directly. And what damn difference should it make if some kid's hair was all of a sudden green? (Interestingly, many kids nowadays have by their own choice and the miracles of modern dye technology, green hair -- but nobody could do so in 1948 without Divine intervention -- which was the ultimate point of the film, which the kids don't realize.) In that era, it made the difference that the youngster was "different." Being "different" back then was a Bad Thing to the majority. Not just an oddity. A Really Bad Thing. A Bad Thing Bad Enough to cause Execution. Literally. I was alive then. I saw this film when it came out. It was an audacious film, a film ahead of its time. This kind of stuff really and truly happened in the USA, Constitution be damned. Yes, it was a metaphor, but it has to be understood in the context of the times. Someone mentioned cross-dressing. That is completely unrelated, and is illustrative of a lack of understanding of the lesson of history that was being dealt with in the movie. The difference is one that is noticeable, inborn, and yet insignificant, like, to be pedantic, being Jewish. Cross-dressing is a choice; one may believe that the desire to do it is inborn, but the choice to give in to that desire is one made by the individual. There is no choice to be Jewish by birth -- or to be suddenly given Green Hair by Providence. And the consequences of a person's having a basic characteristic given by God are chosen by Man. Thus, we choose to kill six million Jews, or let them be killed. We also choose to treat someone who suddenly, by no choice of his own, turns up with green hair, as we choose to treat him. This is a really major film in the context of its time, and I must admit that it irritates me to see people who have no idea what they're talking about, since they haven't taken the trouble to learn about the context, say things about it that are just irrational. Sorry. But not very.

Peter Fry is a war orphan because his parents died during the London blitz trying to help war orphans. The school he ends up going to is having a clothing drive to help war orphans. When Peter's hair turns green, this marks him as having a special mission to tell everyone that war is bad because it causes war orphans. But the other children make fun of him on account of his green hair, and the adults pressure him into having it cut off because it is a public nuisance, an inauspicious beginning for Peter's special mission. Children might have enjoyed this movie when it first came out, and adults might have enjoyed it with them vicariously. But its simplistic message, never very credible in the first place, is drained of what little plausibility it might have once had by the fact that the world has not changed: we are still fighting wars, presumably causing children to become orphans. The idea of a little boy with green hair wandering around telling everybody that we need to stop fighting wars might have been an expression of hope in 1948 when this movie was made, but now it just seems naïve. The worst feature of this film is that it is premised on something supposedly noble, but which is in fact quite irritating. When Peter was very young, his parents left him with an aunt so that they could help the war orphans in London. Even if one of his parents felt the need to participate in the war effort, say, the father, we would expect the mother to stay with her son and take care of him, but they both figure they have more important things to do than raise their own child. When the aunt gets word that Peter's parents are dead, she passes him on to other relatives who don't want him either. This continues until he ends up with his grandfather. We are supposed to think of those relatives as being cold and selfish, but after all, they did not bargain on having to raise someone else's child. It is actually Peter's parents who are selfish. They are that strange breed of do-gooder who becomes so enamored with the idea of saving the world that he neglects his own family. Without pausing to be sure that Peter would be raised to maturity by a loving relative happy to take care of him if they died in the war, they just dumped him on his aunt and took off. There is one moment in the movie when Peter correctly concludes that his parents cared more about other children than they did him, but the movie insists that he is wrong, and at the end Peter is seen as understanding that they really did love him and that what they did was right and good. As insistent as the movie is in this regard, it still leaves us with a feeling of revulsion for parents who would abandon their child so they could devote themselves to some higher purpose.

'The Boy with Green Hair (1948)' feels very much like a British film. I'm not quite sure why, but it's probably not because of Pat O'Brien's would-be Irish accent. The manner in which director Joseph Losey blends vivid working-class realism with elements of fantasy reminded me of Carol Reed's 'A Kid for Two Farthings (1955).' Both films feature a boy protagonist using fantasy to find solace amid the harsh realities of life – in Peter Fry's case, to come to terms with the death of both parents during the London Blitz. Young Dean Stockwell, who the previous year had played Nick Charles Jr. in 'Song of the Thin Man (1947),' gives a surprisingly mature and sensitive performance as the youth whose hair inexplicably turns green one morning. Displaying unique range for an actor of his age (and upstaging his adult co-stars), Stockwell oscillates between fresh-faced enthusiasm, timidity, resolution, and, in the film's framing sequences, a hardened resentment towards society. Losey released his film in the relative calm between the end of World War Two and the slowly escalating Cold War, when the United States was still coming to terms with its losses. Far from simply being a fluffy, imaginative children's film, 'The Boy with Green Hair' has more ambitious aspirations, an anti-war film only years after Hollywood collectively urged audiences to stand up and fight. Given that the director was later blacklisted for alleged Communist affiliations, one finds it tempting to regard his film as political allegory of sorts. Stockwell's Peter Fry is an ordinary boy, liked and respected by his friends and acquaintances throughout town. Then he is physically branded with an arbitrary label, one that doesn't change the sort of person he was or is, but that is nevertheless viewed by society as unnatural and potentially dangerous. He is ostracised, harassed, and abandoned by his friends, ultimately forced to flee their persecution. Peter Fry was labeled with green hair; Losey, and hundreds like him, was labelled a Communist. Every time I watch a film with Pat O'Brien he's forced to play it straight, so it was good to see him having some fun as Gramps, a faded Irish vaudeville performer who takes Stockwell's war orphan into his home and proudly adopts him as a grandson. Behind the hammy accent there's something distinctly wistful about O'Brien's performance, the ghost of a tired old man clinging to his long-gone youth, unable to properly nurture the next generation because he never grew up himself. Robert Ryan also appears as a child psychologist who interviews Peter, but he's not given anything much to do aside from listening to the boy's story, his characteristic intensity temporarily subdued. The film is shot in sumptuous Technicolor that almost looks too vibrant to be real, pushing the border between reality and imagination. Overall, 'The Boy with Green Hair' is both an intriguing children fantasy and a powerful anti-war fable, tinged with that childhood innocence that makes every ideal seem so attainable.

As the film begins, young Dean Stockwell (as Peter Fry) is in a police station; obviously, the adults do not know where he belongs, or why his head is shaved bald. Robert Ryan (as Dr. Evans) gets young Stockwell to speak, after giving the hungry boy a hamburger. Stockwell tells his story: he was a war orphan, and was shuffled between relatives ("I sure lived in a lot of places"). Finally, he winds up with Pat O'Brien (as "Gramps"), a vaudeville-type actor. He and Mr. O'Brian form a relatively happy family. However, at school, Stockwell is teased, for being an orphan; specifically, he is told he resembles an "Unidentified War Orphan" depicted in a poster. That evening, O'Brien comforts Stockwell, and promises the next day will bring hope in the form of a surprise. The surprise is, of course, that Stockwell becomes "The Boy with Green Hair". This is a very unusual film, particularly for the time period; it is both thought-provoking, and entertaining. Stockwell and O'Brien are wonderful. "Nature Boy" is a beautiful, and apt, theme song. Stockwell's meeting with the War Poster children is very well done - still, quiet, and effective. However, the themes of "peace" and "tolerance" could be better connected. And, there are some minor story difficulties; for example, the milkman couldn't possibly be responsible for the green hair, unless Stockwell is the only milk drinker in town (stipulating the townspeople, as a whole, are of average intelligence). Still, a lovely film about being different, which we all are. ******* The Boy with Green Hair (11/16/48) Joseph Losey ~ Dean Stockwell, Pat O'Brien, Robert Ryan

It would seem that I am in the minority, but I found this film to be neither entertaining nor successful at getting its anti war message across. The underlying message is that war is bad, especially for children ..... do we really need a Hollywood director to tell us that? Its one and only redeeming factor is the quality of acting by a very young Dean Stockwell, that cannot be faulted, but the content I found boring and terribly condescending. It could be that this film was made in America for an American audience, I believe that in the UK we are not as sentimental as our friends across the pond. A film should be to entertain, but too many directors seem to have a penchant for jumping on the band wagon to voice left wing views, if not against war it is against capital punishment. I watched this film a few days ago and I would say that it has not worn well with age.

Well, here was another statement against war and man's inhumanity to man. What's the point anyway? It may make a fairly decent picture like this one, but man, being what he is, will always have another war. This movie was a little plodding for me, but it did give a good depiction of human nature, both good and bad.

I found this rather obscure, brightly lit film from Joe Losey a pleasant enough film, but very hackneyed and routine. On the positive side, Dean Stockwell does a good job, as does Pat O'Brien, whose "Gramp" is one weird feller. His accent is an oddball mixture of Irish and American, and his motivation seems very mixed. Does he really care for Peter much? He'd much rather be singing. One big bonus is that bizarre "coat-tails" song early on, with The King and The Gramp dueting. A very tuneful, jolly song it was too. It's a shame however, that it wasn't allowed to slip into the outlandish more. Basically, the script resolves into a heavy-handed anti-nuclear polemic, with no dramatic tension whatsoever. I agree with the sentiments, but had anyone working on this thought of subtlty, it would've been much more satisfying. A big drawback is the characterisation, which was lacklustre. It dosen't matter so much with old Gramp, as he's funnily portrayed, but barring he and Peter, no other character is given an ounce of depth. Barbara Hale as the "well-meaning teacher" seemingly paraded for a few minutes just for her attractiveness, and numerous other sketchy parts. Even "The King", (god knows of which country), proved a more satisfying character even in a two-minute song-and-dance number. So, it was agreeable, undemanding, inoffensive fare, but of the sort standing up to no scrutiny; it's not as fun as it could have been. Rating:- ** 1/2 (out of *****)

It's been years since I last saw this film, but it stays with me. I was an adolescent in the early 60's when I first saw The Boy With Green Hair on a local television station in southern California. It was one of those stations that has a playlist of movies which they repeat at intervals. I must have watched this film a dozen or more times, and each time I so completely identified with the character played by Dean Stockwell (even though I was a girl and had very brown hair). I'm sure it had something to do with my age, the times I was living in, and the fact that I was a bit different from the "popular" kids. I have looked for a video copy of this movie for years and finally discovered that the producer/owner of the movie pulled all rights for reproducing it because of some dispute, I can't remember now what it was about. At any rate, it is a real shame. I would certainly like to share this treasure with some young friends of mine. I think its message would come through, despite the years.

When I was little I saw this movie on tv. It made an impact that never left me. It is a "B" movie, but the message of cruelty to those that are different is an "A". I don't know if it would have had the same impact on me had I been an adult when I first saw it, but the message is still with me today. Sometimes I wish young kids today could see this movie, I wonder if it might make an impact on them also.

I, too, first saw this film a little while after it came out, when I was younger than the main character was supposed to be. It has stayed with me for the next half-century, and I considered myself very lucky to find a video in a sale bin about ten years ago. Really, it foreshadowed the '60's - it is not only about the fact that being different should be OK, but more about the consequences of intolerance, about folks' reactions, their illogic, and where those reactions can take us. This is all done with a nice soupcon of fantasy to make the moral point easy to understand (subtlety isn't the film's strong point). There's a story in the newspapers about a twelve-year-old boy in 6th grade who last week came to school with hair dyed green for St. Patrick's day, incidentally. Three guesses what happened to him.... See this movie.