Crossfire (1947)

Crossfire is an American crime film first released in 1947, directed by Edward Dmytryk.  The film is based on a novel by Richard Brooks and stars Robert Young, Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan, Gloria Grahame and Paul Kelly.  It has also been released under the title: Cradle of Fear.  Our overall rating for this film is: very good.


One evening, Samuels, a recently discharged US marine, is brutally killed.  Captain Finlay takes charge of the murder investigation and quickly homes in on three suspects – the three soldiers who were in Samuels’s company shortly before he died: Montgomery, Keeley and Mitchell.  The first two have cast-iron alibis, but Mitchell has gone missing.  Convinced of Mitchell’s innocence, Keeley sets out to find him.  Mitchell is in a confused state and can scarcely recall anything that happened the night before.  Meanwhile, the murderer is still at large and, to cover his tracks, is ready to kill a second time...

Hollywood’s reaction to the Holocaust in the aftermath of WWII was immediate but somewhat tentative, suggesting great anxiety over how the public would respond to such a difficult subject.  1947 saw the release of two films which dealt with the thorny issue of anti-Semitism: Edward Dmytryk’s Crossfire and Elia Kazan’s Gentleman’s Agreement.  Both films were box office hits, both garnered widespread critical praise, and both were nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award (it was Kazan’s film that won).   Dmytryk’s is the more interesting of the two films, because it delves deeply into the psychological basis for racial hatred and uses a far more distinctive auteur approach.

The film was based on the novel The Brick Foxhole by Richard Brooks (who would himself become a prominent film director in the 1950s). The murder victim in this novel isn’t a Jew but a homosexual.  Since Hollywood censorship at the time prohibited any mention of homosexuality, the motivation for the killing was changed to anti-Semitism – although some hints of the book’s original premise remain in the film.  The idea of one soldier luring another back to his apartment only to be killed in a violent outburst has more veracity if gay seduction was part of the mix.  As well as the issue of anti-Semitism, Crossfire also touches on another important social theme: how soldiers manage to adjust to civilian life after serving in combat.  It is a subject which merits a film in its own right, and one which has remained relevant in every decade since WWII.

Crossfire is often cited as one of the best examples of American film noir, although it is worth noting that the film noir techniques were employed primarily not for aesthetic reasons but because of financial constraints.  The film was shot in just twenty days on a budget of half a million dollars, most of which went on the cast.  The film noir style was an effective way of hiding the cheapness and paucity of the sets and to focus our attention on where the money went, the performances of the lead actors.  

It is certainly not a conventional film noir.  There is no real element of mystery or suspense.  It’s not so much a whodunit as a "why-did-he-do-it" and has the narrative minimalism (and some of the sinister undertones) of a Harold Pinter stage play. Veteran cinematographer J. Roy Hunt pushes film noir technique to its extreme.  Most of the time, the screen is filled with large close-ups or tight two-shots, with the set draped in a heavy darkness.  Great use is made of shadows to stress the lurking menace lying beneath the surface of seeming normality.  It’s daringly experimental but the overall effect is stunning, lending the film an intensely claustrophobic atmosphere.

Whilst strong in some areas, the film has some notable deficiencies in others.  The dialogue-heavy screenplay is peppered with clichés and its moral messages are dressed in tedious platitudes.  The characterisation is equally uninspired, making it hard for any of the cast to make much of an impact.  The one character that does stand out is Montgomery, superbly portrayed by Robert Ryan.  This was the first of the many vicious, psychologically flawed characters that would form the mainstay of Ryan’s long and illustrious film career.  The actor was offered the part of Montgomery because he had so liked the original novel that he asked Brooks to consider him for the role if ever a film adaptation was made.  Both men had previously served in the US marines.  

The release of Crossfire coincided with the beginning of the Communist witch-hunts that were instigated by Senator Joseph McCarthy.  Both the film’s director Edward Dmytryk and its producer Adrian Scott refused to testify before the HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee) – two of the famous Hollywood Ten.  After a year in prison and blacklisted from working in Hollywood, Dmytryk continued his career in England, where he made three films.  On his return to the United States in 1951, he sold out to the HUAC, admitting brief membership of the American Communist Party and denouncing 26 others.  Although he was able to resume his filmmaking career, few if any of his later films could match the emotional intensity, psychological depth and alluring poetic style of Crossfire.

© James Travers 2008

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