The Boy With Green Hair (1948)

After his parents are killed in WWII, an orphan (Dean Stockwell) is passed around a series of indifferent relatives before settling in with his grandfather (Pat O'Brien). But one morning when he wakes up, his hair has turned green! This causes fear and consternation among the adults and makes him a victim to the school bullies. Based on a short story by Betsy Beaton and directed by Joseph Losey (THE GO BETWEEN) in his film directorial debut. Dang! This is one heavy handed and preachy social message movie. One can look at it as an allegory about anyone who is "different" but the movie was intended as an anti-war tract. I appreciate its message but if a movie like this is going to succeed, it needs to have some sort of subtlety to it and let the audience slowly understand what they're seeing rather than being treated like imbeciles and hit over the head with a "message" hammer. Although the film was a box office flop, its theme song Nature Boy was a big hit for Nat King Cole (who doesn't sing it in the movie) reaching number one on Billboard's charts. With Robert Ryan (wasted), Barbara Hale, Walter Catlett and Dwayne Hickman.