The High wall

United States, 1952

Film
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Traces a prejudice against immigrants from its beginnings to its development into a socially damaging outburst. In the dramatisation, Tom Gregory’s father, frustrated in his white-collar job, has contaminated his son with the anti-Polish feeling which lets out his repressed hatreds. Tom’s mother also influences the boy with her defensive hostility to different ways of life. Doctors and social workers become involved after Tom’s teenage gang attacks a party in the home of a Polish teenager. The social worker reveals the causes of the teenage riot.

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Collection

In ACMI's collection

Credits

producer

Michael Road

production company

Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith

Columbia Foundation of San Francisco

Duration

00:30:00:00

Production places
United States
Production dates
1952

Collection metadata

ACMI Identifier

321316

Language

English

Subject categories

Documentary

Documentary → Docudrama

Documentary → Documentary films - United States

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Cross-cultural studies

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Culture - Social aspects

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Immigrants - United States

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Prejudices

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Racism

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Social conflict

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Social workers

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → United States - Race relations

Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → United States - Social conditions

Educational & Instructional

Educational & Instructional → Educational films

Family, Gender Identity, Relationships & Sexuality → Teenagers - Conduct of life

Short films

Short films → Short films - United States

Sound/audio

Sound

Colour

Black and White

Holdings

16mm film; Access Print (Section 1)

Please note: this archive is an ongoing body of work. Sometimes the credit information (director, year etc) isn’t available so these fields may be left blank; we are progressively filling these in with further research.

Cite this work on Wikipedia

If you would like to cite this item, please use the following template: {{cite web |url=https://acmi.net.au/works/68463--the-high-wall/ |title=The High wall |author=Australian Centre for the Moving Image |access-date=5 May 2025 |publisher=Australian Centre for the Moving Image}}