The High Wall

Produced for public service groups including the Illinois Department of Mental Health and the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith, this dramatized story follows a Chicago teenager whose prejudice against Polish immigrants leads him to violence. The “high wall” refers to psychological walls of bigotry that are passed down from insecure parents and teachers to children like a disease. A school psychologist who narrates the film argues that if children are raised in loving homes they will be immunized against ethnic and racial hatred. This half-hour film from the Library of Congress is feautured on the National Film Preservation Foundation’s website. close