''The Boy with Green Hair'' is a 1948 American fantasy-drama film in

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

directed by Joseph Losey in his

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

directorial debut. It stars

Dean Stockwell Robert Dean Stockwell (March 5, 1936 – November 7, 2021) was an American actor with a career spanning seven decades. As a child actor under contract to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he first came to the public's attention in films including ''Anchors A ...

as Peter, a young war orphan who is subject to ridicule after his hair mysteriously turns green, and is based on the 1946 short story of the same name. Co-stars include

Pat O'Brien Pat O'Brien may refer to: Politicians * Pat O'Brien (Canadian politician) (born 1948), member of the Canadian House of Commons *Pat O'Brien (Irish politician) (c. 1847–1917), Irish Nationalist MP in the United Kingdom Parliament Others *Pat O'Br ...

Robert Ryan Robert Bushnell Ryan (November 11, 1909 – July 11, 1973) was an American actor and activist. Known for his portrayals of hardened cops and ruthless villains, Ryan performed for over three decades. He was nominated for the Academy Award for B ...

, and

Barbara Hale Barbara Hale (April 18, 1922 – January 26, 2017) was an American actress who portrayed legal secretary Della Street in the dramatic television series '' Perry Mason'' (1957–1966), earning her a 1959 Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting A ...

. The film was released on DVD on March 10, 2010, as part of the Warner Archive Collection. The overall construction is an

allegorical As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory t ...

anti-war story, with the message that war always damages children.

Plot

Finding a curiously silent young runaway boy whose head has been completely shaved, small-town police call in a psychologist who discovers that the boy is a war orphan named Peter Fry. Peter tells the story of his life to the psychologist. After staying with a series of neglectful aunts and uncles, he is sent to live with an understanding retired actor named Gramp. Peter starts attending school and begins living the life of a normal boy, until his class gets involved with trying to help war orphans in Europe and Asia. Peter soon discovers that, like the children on the posters whose images haunt him, he too is a war orphan. The realization about his parents and the work helping the orphans makes Peter turn very serious, and he is further troubled when he overhears the adults around him talking about the world preparing for another war. The next day, after having a bath, Peter is drying his hair with a towel when, to his astonishment, he sees that his hair has turned green. After being taunted by the townspeople and his peers, he runs away. Suddenly, appearing before him in a lonely part of the woods, are the orphaned children whose pictures he saw on the posters. They tell him that while he is a war orphan, his green hair can make a difference and he must tell people that war is dangerous for children. He leaves determined to deliver this message to any and all. Upon his return, the townspeople, upset about a boy who is now different, urge Gramp to encourage Peter to consider shaving his hair so that it might grow back normally. Peter returns to the woods looking for the orphan children from the posters, but is chased by a group of boys from school who attempt to cut his hair. He later decides to get his head shaved and the town barber does the job. However, Peter leaves home in the middle of the night, wearing a baseball cap and carrying a baseball bat. Back in the present, Peter finishes his story. The psychologist tells him that when someone really believes something, they don't run away. Peter leaves and is reunited with Gramp in the station's waiting room. Gramp reads him a letter written by his father, intended for his 16th birthday. Peter's father relates his beliefs about how some things are worth dying for, and if people forget, to "remind them, Peter." Encouraged to keep sharing his message, Peter is sure that his hair will grow back in green again. The psychologist tells Dr. Knudson that he does not care whether the boy's hair was ever actually green or not, but that he agreed with what the boy had to say. Gramp and Peter go home.

Critical reception

Bosley Crowther of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' stated that he was not certain whether the green hair was a figment of the boy's imagination or if "it is intended as a strictly whimsical device."

Cast

as Gramp Fry *

as Dr. Evans *

as Miss Brand *

as Peter Fry * Richard Lyon as Michael *

Walter Catlett Walter Leland Catlett (February 4, 1889 – November 14, 1960) was an American actor and comedian. He made a career of playing excitable, meddlesome, temperamental, and officious blowhards. Career Catlett was born on February 4, 1889, in S ...

as The King * Samuel S. Hinds as Dr. Knudson * Charles Meredith as Mr. Piper *

Regis Toomey John Francis Regis Toomey (August 13, 1898October 12, 1991) was an American film and television actor. Early life Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he was one of four children of Francis X. and Mary Ellen Toomey, and attended Peabody High ...

as Mr. Davis * David Clarke as Barber * Billy Sheffield as Red * Johnny Calkins as Danny *

Teddy Infuhr Teddy Infuhr (November 9, 1936 – May 12, 2007), born Theodore Edward Infuhr, was an American child actor. Biography Missouri-born child actor Teddy Infuhr, youngest of four, moved with his family to Los Angeles when he was three and was initial ...

as Timmy *

Dwayne Hickman Dwayne Bernard Hickman (May 18, 1934 – January 9, 2022) was an American actor and television executive, producer and director, who worked as an executive at CBS and had also briefly recorded as a vocalist. Hickman portrayed Chuck MacDonald, B ...

as Joey *

Eilene Janssen Mary Eilene Janssen (born May 25, 1938) is an American retired film and television actress. Early life Eilene Janssen was born in Los Angeles, California on May 25, 1938, to Henry Janssen and Mary Ellen Thompson. Film career Janssen began her ...

as Peggy.

Dale Robertson Dayle Lymoine Robertson (July 14, 1923February 27, 2013) was an American actor best known for his starring roles on television. He played the roving investigator Jim Hardie in the television series ''Tales of Wells Fargo'' and railroad owner Ben ...

, William Smith and

Russ Tamblyn Russell Irving Tamblyn, also known as Rusty Tamblyn (born December 30, 1934) is an American film and television actor and dancer. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Tamblyn trained as a gymnast in his youth. He began his career as a child actor f ...

appear, but are not credited.

Score

The song "

Nature Boy "Nature Boy" is a song first recorded by American jazz singer Nat King Cole. It was released on March 29, 1948, as a single by Capitol Records, and later appeared on the album, ''The Nat King Cole Story''. It was written by eden ahbez as a tri ...

" written by

eden ahbez George Alexander Aberle (April 15, 1908 – March 4, 1995), known as eden ahbez, was an American songwriter and recording artist of the 1940s to 1960s, whose lifestyle in California was influential in the hippie movement. He was known to frien ...

and sung by an uncredited chorus was a primary theme of the score for the motion picture.

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...

's version of "Nature Boy" shot to No. 1 on the '' Billboard'' charts, and remained there for eight weeks straight during the summer of 1948.

Cultural references

The 2009 film '' Battlestar Galactica: The Plan'', which also starred (the adult) Dean Stockwell, made extensive reference to ''The Boy with Green Hair''. Director

Edward James Olmos Edward James Olmos (born February 24, 1947) is an American actor, director, producer, and activist. He is best known for his roles as Lieutenant Martin "Marty" Castillo in ''Miami Vice'' (1984–1989), ''American Me'' (1992) (which he also dir ...

, a fan of Stockwell's earlier film, had a replica of Peter's costume created for a war orphan character in ''The Plan'' named John. Olmos stated that he wanted John to have green hair, but the studio refused to allow it.io
Edward James Olmos interview
/ref> Stockwell's voice acting of Tim Drake in the

DC Animated Universe The DC Animated Universe (DCAU; also referred to as the Timmverse or Diniverse by fans referring to the creators and producers Bruce Timm and Paul Dini respectively) is a shared universe consisting primarily of superhero-based animated televis ...

film '' Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker'' would also draw inspiration from his performance in this film.

Reception

The film recorded a loss of $420,000.Scott Eyman, ''Lion of Hollywood: The Life and Legend of Louis B. Mayer'', Robson, 2005 p 420 Crowther gave praise to Stockwell and O'Brien's performances, with other actors being "adequate." He criticized the lack of clarity in regards to the boy's hair, stating that as a plot device it is "banal" and "strangely inconclusive", and the film's logic would be inconsistent with the other processes of the boy's imagination. In conclusion he stated "the gesture falls short of its aim." Although the film was passed with a 'U' certificate by the

British Board of Film Censors The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC, previously the British Board of Film Censors) is a non-governmental organization, non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national clas ...

on November 26, 1948, its UK release was held back until June 19, 1950. The film is recognized by American Film Institute in 2004's AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs list: "

" – Nominated "In the 40s", wrote '' OK!'' of a TV broadcast of the film in 2000, "Dean Stockwell was a cute kid with 16 films already on his CV. This one – a fantasy about a war orphan whose grief makes his hair colour change – was one of the not bad ones (''

The Mighty McGurk ''The Mighty McGurk'' is a 1947 American sports, drama, action, adventure, melodrama film starring Wallace Beery as a boozing ex-boxer brawling as a bouncer in a Bowery saloon. Plot Roy "Slag" McGurk (Wallace Beery), the former heavyweight boxing ...

'' – now, ''that'' was a bad one)."

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boy With Green Hair, The 1948 films 1948 comedy-drama films American comedy-drama films 1940s English-language films Films about orphans Films directed by Joseph Losey RKO Pictures films Films scored by Leigh Harline Films about bullying Anti-war films Films based on short fiction 1948 directorial debut films 1940s American films