Shades of Gray (1948)
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Synopsis of Shades of Gray
Though the most famous and controversial of the WWII "shell shock" documentaries, John Huston's Let There Be Light, was withheld from public view for nearly four decades, there were a few similar films made available for general distribution. One of these was Shades of Gray, produced under strict governmental supervision by the U.S. Army Pictorial Service. Because of the censorial hue and cry over the use of actual shell-shock victims in Let There Be Light, it was decided to use professional actors in Shades of Gray. The results are stiff and contrived, and not nearly as powerful as the images seen in the Huston film. In addition, the "solutions" offered by the film's psychiatrists seem to be pat and pedantic, as if all the mental problems fomented by the war could be resolved by a few carefully chosen words (it should be noted without further comment that the script was approved in advance by the Army's psychiatric technical advisers). Shades of Gray was directed by Joseph E. Henabery, whose film career extended all the way back to The Birth of a Nation (1915). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Complete Cast of Shades of Gray
- Director(s):
- Joseph Henaberry
- Writer(s):
- John Davenport, Mortimer Offner
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