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.
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Laurie Baron, Ph.D, is professor emeritus of European History at San Diego State University; a humor columnist (in his own name and in that of his dog Elona), and is an authority on Jewish-themed movies, particularly those dealing with the Holocaust. To see an archive of his stories, please click on his byline at the top of this page. He may be contacted via lawrence.baron@sdjewishworld.com