----- Original Message ----- 
On Sat, 28 Jul 2007 09:46:26 -0700, "FRANTZ, SUE"
>
> Has anyone see the movie "Golden Door"?  A student mentioned it when I was
> giving a brief history of intelligence testing in the U.S.  Here's a link
to the full
> review from the LA Times.
>
http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-et-golden1jun01,0,7266557.story

I haven't seen it but given that this film is a recent release that has
opened slowly and is still in distribution, I'd wager that that most
people have not seen it. Amazon has an entry for the DVD but it
hasn't been released yet.

For those folks who might be interested in this film, I suggest taking
a look at the compilation of reviews and ratings at the Rotten Tomatoes
website.  See:

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/golden_door/

Overall, the movie has a 7/10 rating calculated across reviews.

The New York Times review of the film (published May 25, 2007)
is available at:

http://movies.nytimes.com/2007/05/25/movies/25gold.html

>From the few reviews that I've read, only the LA review that
Frantz had quoted, I had  any direct reference to Goldard
but his presence would be felt by all coming into Ellis Island.
For more information on the man who coined the term "Moron",
some readily available webites include:

http://www.indiana.edu/~intell/goddard.shtml

and

http://www.indiana.edu/~intell/kallikak.shtml
>From the latter website we have the following text that may help
set the context for what immigrants may have had to expect on
reaching Ellis Island:

"The height of Goddard's success came at a time when America
was experiencing a large influx of immigrants from Europe. The
Immigration Restriction Act, passed in 1924 (which remained in
effect until 1965) was influenced by American eugenics' efforts.
In 1913 Goddard was invited to Ellis Island to help detect morons
in the immigrant population. In his Intelligence Classification of
Immigrants of Different Nationalities (1917) he asserted that most
of the Ellis Island immigrants were mentally deficient. For example,
he indicated that 83% of all Jews tested were feeble-minded, as
were 80% of the Hungarians, 79% of the Italians, and 87% of the
Russians. The result was that many immigrants were turned away
and sent back to Europe."

Out of curiosity, are there any psychological longitudinal studies of
immigrants to the U.S.?  Given the different waves of immigration
the U.S. has experienced, it might be of interest to see what such
studies say.

-Mike Palij
New York Unviersity
[EMAIL PROTECTED]





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