The PlayFinder™

THE STORY: Hollywood, 1946. Jewish movie mogul Sam Baum prepares to give notes to Gentile screenwriter Garfield Hampson on his screenplay about anti-Semitism. Time is of the essence. Zanuck at Fox has his own “Jew Movie,” Gentleman’s Agreement, and America can only take one. Gar arrives, excited and optimistic. Sam chats him up, but then gets to the point: The script is too Jewish; Gar has written it “as a Jew, and not as a Gentile.” The men argue about the script, about what it means to be American, what it means to be Jewish. Sam invites Gar to his son Adam’s Bar Mitzvah, so he can see what Jews are really like. Late Saturday night, the Bar Mitzvah is winding down, and Sam slips into his study. Adam appears, in his plaid suit and yarmulke. Sam takes the yarmulke from him. Adam asks if he can sing him his portion. Sam refuses, gives his son a “shake hand lesson” instead. Gar appears, a little drunk, with a present for Adam: tools. Adam leaves. Sam asks Gar what he’s learned from the Bar Mitzvah. Gar is appalled by it. Sam calls him a communist. Adam appears. Sam asks him to drop his pants to show Gar what makes him Jewish. Adam runs off. All is lost. Sam and Gar cannot get on the same page. Gar asks if Sam’s fear is about money. Sam calls Gar a “Jew hater,” and finally understands the genius of Zanuck, hiring Moss Hart, a Jew, to write Gentleman’s Agreement. “Only a Jew could write a Jew and not think of writing a Jew.” The movie is off. Gar leaves, devastated. Adam returns. Sam apologizes to him, and asks him to sing his portion. Adam sings as Sam weeps.