Street Scene (1931): Elmer Rice play about immigrants living in a tenement reveals the stereotypes they have of each other.
Black Legion (1937): Bogart movie about nativist racist group in Detroit. Euphemisms are used, but Jews also are implicit targets. Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube.
They Won’t Forget (1937): Fictional version of Leo Frank trial and lynching where he is suspect as a Northerner.
Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939): Exposé of Nazi spy ring whose antisemitism is cloaked in euphemisms. Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube.
Mr. Skeffington (1944): Jewish stockbroker marries a Gentile socialite much to the consternation of her brother. Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube.
Crossfire (1947): Film noir about an Irish American detective finding the murderer of a Jewish veteran. Amazon, Google Play, Vudu, YouTube.
Gentleman’s Agreement (1947): A Gentile reporter poses as a Jew to do an exposé on American anti-Semitism. Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube.
Open Secret (1948): A man uncovers a racist group trying to drive a Jewish shopkeeper out of the neighborhood.
The Young Lions (1958): World War II story contains subplot about antisemitism among American soldiers.
The Intruder (1962): William Shatner as an anti-integration agitator who sees desegregation as a communist Jewish plot.
Skokie (1981): Holocaust survivors in predominantly Jewish suburb try to stop planned American Nazi march in their village.
Fires in the Mirror (1981): Anna Deveare Smith’s remarkable on woman show about the Crown Heights riots. (first part of six online).
Betrayed (1988): FBI infiltrates neo-Nazi encampment. Amazon, iTunes, Vudu.
The Murder of Mary Phagan (1988) Dramatization of the Leo Frank trial and lynching. Amazon, DIRECTV, Xfinity.
Talk Radio (1988): Oliver Stone’s fictionalized recounting of the career and murder of Jewish shock jock Alan Berg. Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube.
Homicide (1991): A Jewish cop suspects an anti-Semitic motive for a murder he is investigating. Criterion Channel.
Never Forget: Survivor Mel Mermelstein’s court case against the Institute for Historical Review to prove the Holocaust happened.
School Ties (1992): A Jewish teen pretends to be Christian to play football for a private school. Amazon, Google Play, Hulu, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube.
Quiz Show (1994): Quiz show feeds answers to questions to a Gentile professor to beat a Jewish contestant. Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube.
Liberty Heights (1999): Jewish teenagers in Baltimore experience anti-Semitism when they venture out of their neighborhood. Google Play, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube
Focus (2001): Gentile man experiences anti-Semitism when he starts to wear glasses.
Crown Heights (2004): Television movie about the Crown Heights riots. Amazon, Sling.
Borat (2006): Sacha Baron Cohn’s character Borat finds that many Americans share his stereotypes of Jews. Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube.
The People versus Leo Frank (2009): Actors read from court transcripts and letters related to the trial and lynching of Frank.
American Experience: Henry Ford (2013): Documentary biography which has a section on Ford’s anti-Semitism. iTunes.
Indignation (2016): A New Jersey teen encounters antisemitism at a small Midwest college in the 1950s. Amazon, Google Play, HBO Now, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube.
Imperium (2016): FBI agent infiltrates neo-Nazi group with scene that remarkably foreshadows Charlottesville. Amazon, Google Play, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube.
BlacKkKlansman (2018): Black police detective and Jewish cop infiltrate KKK group. Amazon, Google Play, HBO Now, Hulu, Vudu, YouTube.
Viral: Anti-Semitism in Four Mutations (2020): Documentary about contemporary antisemitism in France, Hungary, the United States, and the United Kingdom. PBS May 26, 2020.
Republished from San Diego Jewish World