ManiakJiggy This is How Movies Should Be Made

Humbersi The first must-see film of the year.

Sabah Hensley This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Jakoba True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Art Vandelay Best part of this 10-minute film is seeing a young, rail-thin Sinatra in the studio singing with a lush orchestra. And then he gets to show off some decent acting chops for a few minutes. But holy smokes, this is Hollywood Smug trying to spread itself across America and congratulating itself on its inclusiveness. In fact, they gave themselves an Academy Award for this little artifact. But Google the lyrics for The House I Live In Sinatra. Then Google The House I live In Robeson. The latter is remarkably well-written (by Jews later black-listed) and powerful (and sung by a black man also later black-listed). Whereas the Sinatra version has been bleached to a bland pointlessness, so anodyne and saccharine it should come with a diabetes warning. Apparently, the lyricist was outraged particularly by the deletion of the ''white and black" line. This is America (and particularly Hollywood) at its most self-congratulatory, and most cowardly (note not a single black kid in the mob of boys, either).

Horst in Translation ([email protected]) "The House I Live In" is an American live action short film from 1945, so this one is already over 70 years old. It runs for 10 minutes and even if the producers, writers and directors here are all Oscar nominees, the star is of course lead actor Frank Sinatra. It is a black-and-white film, but of course they had sound already during that time. So yeah, Sinatra is the grown-up in the center of the action here and he teaches a lesson to American kids who discriminated against a Jewish boy because of his religion. Sinatra's two stories both have military plots to them and this film is a statement in favor of freedom of religion, of course a crucial subject back then, especially when it comes to Jewery. I cannot say I am surprised the film won a Golden Globe and received a special unofficial Academy Award as well. Still there is no denying the stories seem a bit for the sake of it and random, but it's all good. The message is more important and you have to give them a thumbs-up for this emphasis on tolerance. Music's fine too, especially when Sinatra sings the title song in the end. I recommend checking this one out.

ackstasis It's sometimes difficult to watch such self-avowed "message films" from an earlier, seemingly-simpler era without a certain degree of cynicism. The issue of racism and religious tolerance is one that has been drummed into us from an early age, and, as we've grown, teachers and authority figures have sought out less blatant yet equally-effective means of getting the message across. 'The House I Live In (1945)' is about as unsubtle as "message films" come, and Frank Sinatra seems to be treating his audience like a child – indeed, perhaps this was the point, as the short was no doubt intended primarily to influence younger film-goers. Even so, I found myself curiously affected when Sinatra launched into that sincere patriotic speech about what it really means to be an American… and I'm not even an American! Released just two months after the end of WWII, director Mervyn LeRoy greeted war-weary audiences with a message of tolerance, togetherness and, above all else, hope. The music ain't bad, either.Fresh-faced Frank Sinatra – already a star, but not yet the superstar he'd become – opens the film in a recording studio, booming out "If You Are But a Dream" with a full orchestral accompaniment. When, between songs, Frank goes outside for a smoko, he observes a large group of kids bullying a young Jewish boy, their taunts provoked purely by his differing religion. Ol' Blue Eyes quickly puts a stop to this childish behaviour, delicately branding the bullies "Nazi werewolves" and scolding their irrational prejudice. He then earnestly and good-naturely lectures the group on the plain silliness of racial and religious discrimination, assuring them that every American culture, however it differs from our own, is still American at heart… unless, of course, you're one of those bloody "Japs." There's a hint of hypocrisy in pleading for racial tolerance while presenting one nation as the collective enemy, though you could hardly blame Hollywood for being less than enthusiastic about the plight of the Japanese in 1945.Sinatra drives his point home with a wonderfully heartwarming rendition of "The House I Live In," which was written in 1943 by Abel Meeropol. When the songwriter first heard the song on film, he was furious that the filmmakers had completely excluded three of his verses, which he considered crucial to the message. These omissions were most likely due to time restraints, but Meeropol understandably didn't take too kindly to them, and reportedly had to be ejected from the cinema. When it was first released, 'The House I Live In' was deemed such an important short film that it won a Golden Globe for "Best Film for Promoting International Good Will" and a Honorary Oscar for all involved. In 2007, it was judged to be "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" and added to the Library of Congress' National Film Registry, which is how I came to hear of it. While its approach may seem a little hokey sixty years later, this film remains quite watchable thanks to a young fella named Frank Sinatra.

F Gwynplaine MacIntyre "The House I Live In" is a movie which everyone ought to see ... not just for its substantial entertainment value, but for its true depiction of what it means to be an American. (I came to the U.S.A. from elsewhere as an adult, so I know how precious American citizenship is.) After the world changed forever on September 11, 2001, "The House I Live In" is more relevant than ever before.Frank Sinatra plays himself in this film. He encounters a group of street boys who are bullying another boy because they don't like his religion. Sinatra handles this issue intelligently and logically, offering some ideas that the boys haven't thought about. (For instance: What if one of your relatives got a blood transfusion from someone who has the "wrong" religion?)To top off his argument, Sinatra sings "The House I Live In", a song which is often incorrectly identified as "What Is America to Me?" This is a good song by any standards - nice tune, pleasant lyrics - but it's also one of the most moving statements of the American identity I've ever encountered. The usual flag-waving tactics of most patriotic film are completely absent here.Frank Sinatra was a complex man. His flaws were often displayed in public, while his virtues (such as his many philanthropic acts) were usually exercised only in private, without publicity. In "The House I Live In", Sinatra seems to exhibit his sincere belief in America's deepest values. And if it isn't sincere, then Sinatra was a better actor than he ever let on. Whatever else he may have been, Frank Sinatra was a patriotic American.There are many excellent films, but very few truly great ones. "The House I Live In" is a great film about the greatest nation in the world.