The Boy with Green Hair (1948)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Joseph Losey

Writers:

Betsy Beaton (story)
Ben Barzman (writer) ...

Release Date:

16 November 1948 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Family

Tagline:

Please don't tell why his hair turned green!

Plot:

This parable looks at public reaction when the hair of an American war orphan mysteriously turns green.

Plot Keywords:

Hair | Parable | War Orphan | Runaway | Psychologist

Cast

Pat O'Brien	...	Gramp Fry
Robert Ryan	...	Dr. Evans
Barbara Hale	...	Miss Brand
Dean Stockwell	...	Peter Fry
Richard Lyon	...	Michael
Walter Catlett	...	The King
Samuel S. Hinds	...	Dr. Knudson
Regis Toomey	...	Mr. Davis
Charles Meredith	...	Mr. Piper
David Clarke	...	Barber
Billy Sheffield	...	Red
Johnny Calkins	...	Danny (as John Calkins)
Teddy Infuhr	...	Timmy
Dwayne Hickman	...	Joey
Eilene Janssen	...	Peggy

Runtime:

82 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:K-12 | Sweden:Btl | UK:U

Filming Locations:

McKinley Home for Boys - 13840 Riverside Drive, Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Moulin Rouge! (2001)

Soundtrack:

HOW MANY MILES TO DUBLIN TOWN?

HAIR TODAY,GONE TOMORROW AN UNFORGETTABLE CLASSIC

I saw the Boy With Green Hair a long time ago and it stayed with me. It was hard to imagine all that fuss even back in the 1960'3 over one poor kid who's hair just happened to turn green. But, like others have mentioned consider the times and the era. World war Two had just ended and the Cold War had just begun. I can still remember people picking on"long hairs" in the early sixties because they let their hair grow a bit. This is a very memorable, stay with you classic about tolerance of different people, especially those with no choices in the matter. It is worth watching and renting and possibly buying. Too many movie critics on these pages and with older movies try to applies today norms and political correctness to decades old movies when the norm was different then. The movie is an excellently acted parable. I am surprised it hasn't been released on vhs or dvd or just plain shown more often on some of the cable movie channels. Unlike today, no kid back, especially a boy would have dyed their hair green. It may be a movie from a different era but the message is still the same regardless of the times. It may be dated a little, but it is still a classic.