Crossfire

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Sep 19, 2018 An excellent movie. At first, the movie seems like a straight ahead film noir. It's not hard to tell who the killer is but the motive remains uncertain. Eventually, it is discovered that a hate crime is involved. I like how the movie subverted my expectations like all good film noir should. Robert Ryan is truly creepy in this and embodied his violent character fully. Robert Young's performance was subtle but strong where it needed to be. This is one of the best movies of the 1940s and does a better job at dealing with anti-Semitism than more well known films like Gentleman's Agreement. See more

Kylo L Apr 29, 2018 I bought this socially conscious crime thriller based on the packaging and the actors. I had never heard of it, and that's a crying shame because this film deserves a wide audience, even today. It should be re-made with a more contemporary script because its message, regarding anti-Semitism and prejudice is more relevant than ever. Crossfire was adapted from the Richard Brooks novel The Brick Foxhole, in which the murder concerns a homosexual, whereas the film dropped the book's sub-theme of homophobia to focus on the more cinematically "acceptable" topic of anti-Semitism. That being said, I am surprised the original idea hasn't been filmed in the post-censorship era. I love the way the murder is filmed in shadows and thus the audience is "in the dark" as to the identity of the murderer until the climax. Although the killer's body language is instantly recognizable and the film has its characters drift to the same conclusion before the halfway point, the tension comes from proving it and saving the police's initial target, an innocent soldier. I could not imagine a better cast for the topic. I love Gloria Grahame in every noir she's been in, Mitchum is his usual laconic best, and Robert Young is the epitome of trustworthiness. It's tough seeing Robert Ryan, who I like in heroic roles, as the bigoted villain in this film. Crossfire didn't win any of the 5 Academy Awards for which it was nominated, which is a shame. Even though the similar Gentlemen's Agreement won Best Picture, Crossfire is superior due to its operating on two levels: an excellent murder mystery manhunt and a "message picture." Director Edward Dmytryk's stark, hard-hitting examination of a hate crime was way ahead of its time in 1947, and has lost neither its topicality nor its punch in the years since. See more

Theodore W Mar 17, 2018 Crossfire is a good movie about anti-semitic attitudes, but what a lot of people don't know is that the book the movie was based on, the brick foxhole, had absolutely nothing to do with anti-semitism. See more

Finn L Sep 23, 2017 Good plot and screenplay. Ingenious solution.

Hermione P Jun 24, 2017 Well acted with great mood,Considered a B movie but kicks the snot out of most thriller/mysteries of today..

Kylo S May 28, 2017 Ryan is SO good at his role--he IS the despicable soldier seen in this role--transmitting the guttural, reflexive, stereotypically ingrained Jew-hatred that existed in so many "good" Americans of the time, that the political undertones of just "WHY the USA denied entry" to Jewish refugees from Hitler's extermination program becomes clearer. Then, as we see the varying degrees of that prejudice show up in each of the peripheral characters--as they too are forced to face their less-admirable prejudices, we can begin to see the insidious and insipid consequences of hate and prejudice in each of us--I wonder how many made the leap to looking at their anti-Black hatreds after seeing this film--after so many GIs had been exposed to the bravery and American-ness of their Black-American soldiers during the war, DESPITE the fact that the military was 100% segregated until 1948. Perhaps President Truman's order desegregating the military in 1948 was influenced by the inner soul search occasioned by hard-hitting films like "Crossfire." See more

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Crossfire

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