The Boy With Green Hair

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The Boy With Green Hair

1948

1h 22m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

80%

Tomatometer

10 Reviews

57%

Popcornmeter

1,000+ Ratings

Peter (Dean Stockwell), an orphaned boy, is adopted by Gramp Frye (Pat O'Brien) after his parents are killed in Europe while doing war relief work. The boy feels safe with his new caretaker, but when he is taunted for being an orphan, he gets demoralized. The next day Peter wakes up with green hair. Embarrassed and further ridiculed, Peter seeks solace in a nearby forest. To his surprise, he finds other orphans in the woods, who encourage him to spread news of the injustices of war.

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Richard Brody

The New Yorker

Few films so daringly span the local and the universal-or look so ravishing while doing so. Its eerie palette meshes perfectly with Losey's vision of a world out of joint.

May 13, 2019

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Josephine O'Neill

Daily Telegraph (Australia)

Young Dean Stockwell shows amazing thought and skill in playing The Boy With the Green Hair -- shown off admirably in the film's Technicolor.

Jul 21, 2021

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Christopher Kane

Modern Screen

It's a nice picture. It hits at bigotry, it pleads for war's forgotten victims, and certainly, Dean Stockwell's a most appealing young actor.

Jun 29, 2021

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Fernando F. Croce

CinePassion

Bracingly peculiar

May 27, 2015

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Kam Williams

NewsBlaze

A precursor to all those radiation fallout monster flicks of the Fifties. A telling cautionary tale worth a watch for far more than the nostalgic factor.

Rated: 4/4

Jan 7, 2010

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John J. Puccio

Movie Metropolis

...a rather simplistic antiwar fantasy that pounds its message into the ground for the last twenty minutes or more.

Rated: 5/10

Dec 29, 2009

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Terry S

I can't believe I saw this film when I was just 9 years old at our local ten cent theatre! All I remembered was how beautifully Nat King Cole sang the theme song. But this film is sure worth watching. In more ways than I can say.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

06/01/24

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Boyd C

an atmospheric fairytale with an emotional message.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/14/24

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Audience Member

Another great anti-war movie from RKO. Today a film like this can easily be misinterpreted; this is an anti-war film NOT a comedy. It requires a deep understanding of the way the second world war effected the home front in order to fully appreciate this masterpiece.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/19/23

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Audience Member

Oddball allegory about an orphaned boy whose hair turns green overnight. Is he prophet or pariah? Lush colour photography and a rich musical score can't disguise the saccharine whimsy and glacial pacing of this early Joseph Losey outing. It needs more savagery and less Pat O'Brien Oirish blarney.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/27/23

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Audience Member

wonderful score and awsome message for all times. This is a movie to remember and tell others about.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

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Audience Member

The best movie song ever sung: Nature Boy!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/26/23

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Joseph Losey

Director

Pat O'Brien

Gramp

Dean Stockwell

Peter

Robert Ryan

Dr. Evans

Barbara Hale

Miss Brand

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Synopsis

Peter (Dean Stockwell), an orphaned boy, is adopted by Gramp Frye (Pat O'Brien) after his parents are killed in Europe while doing war relief work. The boy feels safe with his new caretaker, but when he is taunted for being an orphan, he gets demoralized. The next day Peter wakes up with green hair. Embarrassed and further ridiculed, Peter seeks solace in a nearby forest. To his surprise, he finds other orphans in the woods, who encourage him to spread news of the injustices of war.

Director: Joseph Losey
Producer: Stephen Ames
Screenwriter: Ben Barzman, Alfred Lewis Levitt
Distributor: RKO Radio Pictures
Production Co: RKO Radio Pictures Inc.
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 16, 1948, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 4, 2020
Runtime: 1h 22m
Sound Mix: Mono
Aspect Ratio: 35mm

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