Lost Boundaries

Scott Carter is a skilled doctor -- and a man without prospects. Rejection letters from hospitals pile up. His young wife is pregnant with their first child. Unable to land a job because of his race; Scott (Mel Ferrer) decides. "For one year of my life;" he says; "I'm going to be a white man." That one year becomes two; then 10; then 20. But it's still only a matter of time before Scott's secret is out and he confronts racism in the New Hampshire town he's served for decades. A light-skinned black family passes for white in this powerful; fact-based tale. Produced by Louis de Rochemont; one of the most acclaimed filmmakers of the late 1940s; Lost Boundaries belongs to a forward-looking cluster of postwar films that declared war on society's ills. Like Boomerang!; Pinky; Gentleman's Agreement and others of the era; it resonates with conviction; proving great issues are the stuff of great filmmaking.

• drama