The House I Live In

This 1945 educational short, produced by RKO Radio Pictures, stars Frank Sinatra and confronts racial tensions threatening WWII-era America, intensified by events like the 1943 Detroit race riot. Filmed in black-and-white, it opens with Sinatra exiting a recording studio, stumbling upon a gang of boys harassing a Jewish kid. He intervenes with a gentle sermon on tolerance, singing “The House I Live In”—penned by Abel Meeropol—its lyrics praising a pluralistic nation of “all races and religions.” The film flashes to factory workers of diverse backgrounds forging war materials, underscoring unity’s role in industrial output amid fears of military vulnerability. Yet, its plea for harmony sidesteps the internment of Japanese Americans, a glaring hypocrisy. Directed by Mervyn LeRoy, it warns against demagogues exploiting prejudice, ending with Sinatra urging kids—and viewers—to reject division. Widely screened in schools and theaters, it’s a touching, if flawed, wartime call for solidarity over suspicion.