Hand in Hand (film)

"Hand in Hand" is a 1960 British film about the friendship between two young children, one a Catholic boy about nine, the other a 7-year-old Jewish girl. The film won 14 international film awards including a special Golden Globe award for "Best Film Promoting International Understanding." Director Philip Leacock was also a top 20 finalist among 1961 theatrical motion pictures for "Best Achievement in Directing" by the Directors Guild of America. The movie stars British child actors Philip Needs and Loretta Parry.

"Hand in Hand" was released theatrically in the United States in 1961 by Columbia Pictures but it is perhaps best known by its several airings on the CBS Children's Film Festival between 1968 and 1972. To date, it has never been released commercially on VHS or DVD.

Plot

Michael O'Mally (Needs), a nine-year-old, rushes to his priest to tearfully inform him he has killed his closest friend, Rachel Matthias (Parry). The story is told in flashback as Michael recounts their friendship, when he first befriended Rachael Matthias after she is bullied at school. They quickly become the best of friends. The young children decide to become "blood brothers" by pricking their fingers and running the blood together. They set off for an adventure, hoping to go London to visit the queen but are picked up by a kindly elderly lady (Sybil Thorndike) who takes them home and feigns her house is one of the queen's homes but she is currently away.

Michael and Rachel are aware they go to church on different days and their religions are somewhat different but they don't ponder the specifics. When a classmate on schoolgrounds however informs Michael that Rachel is Jewish and "the Jews killed Christ", Michael rushes to Rachel at their clubhouse and angrily confronts her, "You killed Jesus!" Rachel is shocked and insistently denies it, she doesn't even know who Jesus is. 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, feeling they will die if he doesn't want them to go to each other's church. Michael sneaks into the synagogue with Rachel the next Saturday and is somewhat puzzled by the ceremony but he stays and seems to like it as time goes on. The next day, Rachel goes with him to church and while somewhat frightened by the services and statues, she too feels comfortable after a while.

Having concluded it is acceptable to God that they remain friends, Michael and Rachel decide to take an inflatable raft on a river for their next adventure, a trip to Africa. When the raft enters a dangerous area of the river, Rachel is knocked off board. Michael pulls her out of the river but she is unconscious. He runs to get help and adults in the area call for an ambulance. The film then returns to the present moment with Michael is grief stricken and telling the priest he killed Rachel. The priest comforts him and tells him Rachel may be all right and takes him to Rachel's home to see how she is. They are met at the door by Rachel's rabbi who is leaving and informs them she is recovering well but perhaps it would be better to visit her tomorrow. Michael rushes home happy that his friend is alive and the priest and the rabbi speak warmly to each other before walking away in different directions.

External links

*imdb title|0053889|Hand in Hand