Hand in Hand (film)
| Hand in Hand | |
|---|---|
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Poster
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| Directed by | Philip Leacock |
| Produced by | Helen Winston |
| Written by |
Sidney Harmon Diana Morgan |
| Starring | Loretta Parry Philip Needs |
| Music by | Stanley Black |
| Cinematography | Freddie Young |
| Edited by | Peter Tanner |
| Distributed by |
Warner-Pathé Distributors (UK) Columbia Pictures (US) |
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Release date
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1960 (UK) February 6, 1961 (USA) |
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Running time
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78 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Hand in Hand is a 1960 black and white Associated British Picture Corporation dramatic film about the friendship between two young children, one a Roman Catholic boy about nine, the other a 7-year-old Jewish girl.
Filmed in the summer of 1960 under the title "The Star and The Cross", Hand in Hand was released theatrically in the United States in 1961 by Columbia Pictures. Although ABPC's distribution arm in the United Kingdom, Warner-Pathe Film Distributors, screened the film for the British press in late 1960, it remained unreleased in the UK until 1963, when it finally went out nationally on the ABC cinema circuit as the supporting feature for the Tony Hancock comedy The Punch and Judy Man. It was shown to American children and adults when released on the CBS Children's Film Festival 1967 season hosted by Kukla, Fran and Ollie.
Michael O'Malley (Needs), rushes to his priest to tearfully inform him that he has accidentally killed his closest friend, Rachel Mathias (Parry). The story is told in flashback as Michael recounts their friendship, when he first befriended Rachel by hurrying her away from a group of schoolboys who were verbally bullying her on the playground. They quickly become the best of friends. The young children decide to become "blood brothers" by pricking their fingers and rubbing the blood together. They set off for an adventure, hoping to go to London to visit the queen, but instead are picked up by a kindly elderly lady (Sybil Thorndike) who takes them to her home for tea, pretending that she is a princess and that her mansion is one of the queen's homes, but that the queen is currently away. Her amiable deception goes over perfectly, and the children have a great time visiting with her.
Michael and Rachel are aware that they go to church on different days and their religions are somewhat different, but they do not ponder the specifics. However, when a somewhat overbearing and destructively-outspoken classmate informs Michael that Rachel is Jewish and that "the Jews killed Christ", an outraged Michael rushes to Rachel at their clubhouse and angrily confronts her, "Why did you kill Christ?" Rachel is shocked and insistently denies it: "I didn't kill him. I don't even know him." Michael and Rachel conclude that God is angry at them for becoming friends, but they are not sure if He will forgive them. They decide to attend church with each other to see if God is mad at them, believing they will die if He does not want them to go to each other's church. Michael sneaks into the synagogue with Rachel the next Saturday and is somewhat puzzled and intimidated by the ceremony, but he stays and seems to like it as time goes on, especially after a kindly rabbi shows him a passage in the Torah that speaks of God's love shielding him from all fear. The next day, Rachel goes with Michael to his church, and while Rachel is initially somewhat unnerved by the services and statues, she too feels more comfortable after a while.
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