The Boy with Green Hair (1948) DVD

Peter Fry (Dean Stockwell - Quantum Leap) is a boy with no hair who refuses to speak to child psychologist Dr Evans (Robert Ryan) as to why he has been found lost and completely bald. But when the doctor shares his hamburger with him, Peter tells his incredible story expect doubting that the doctor will believe him. Peter, a typical American boy, is orphaned when his parents are caught in the London Blitz.

With no one wishing to tell him of his parents' fate, Peter is shuttled from one selfish relative to the next, ending with Gramp (Pat O'Brien) a kindly ex-vaudevillian. Peter learns from his teacher Miss Brand (Barbara Hale) that he is a war orphan and the very next morning his hair turns green! But other kids jeer at him; adults are perturbed, and even the kindly milkman turns against him. The absurd over-reactions of stupid people make his life a misery and drive him away.

The Boy With Green Hair is Joseph Losey's film parable of tolerance and pacifism that was way ahead of its time.