While watching this film, I was under the impression that it had been made in the early 1950s and was amazed and impressed to see that it dates from 1944. Although not all the film's messages intertwine as neatly as they might, it is - overall - a great success. It seems surprisingly long for a film of its era as well, though it does not drag on the whole. Spencer Tracy gave me some clue in this role why he is considered to be such a great actor (you actually see his face change as he recovers from the near animal state the concentration camp had reduced him to) and Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy also put in top class performances. The depiction of the concentration camp is astoundingly vivid for the time, with the theme of seven crosses for either displaying the corpses of the escapees or for putting them to death being especially grim and - as the allies were soon to find out - no exaggeration as a symbol of the evil the Nazis visited upon millions who fell under their jackboot. Modern audiences may feel somewhat ambivalent about the idea of one of Tracy's dead friends from the camp acting as a voice within his soul, but I think even those not of a spiritual bent ought to concede it is depicted with a light touch that does not damage the film.
Add a Review
-
Kirasjeri12 September 1999Seven prisoners escape from a German concentration camp, and the Nazi commander vows to capture and crucify all of them. One by one they are captured in some harrowing scenes and put up on the crosses outside the camp. The seventh cross, already placed, awaits the final escapee - played by a desperate Spencer Tracy. The fear and claustrophobia of being trapped, even as an escapee, inside Nazi Germany is easily seen through Tracy's able eyes. Most notable is the German couple that eventually aids Tracy despite their fear; they are played touchingly by the famous husband and wife team of Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy, two of the great actors of our age. Signe Hasso plays a lovely but lonely maid with whom Tracy and she have a touching emotional connection. The hope symbolized by the couple and the maid within the darkness of Nazi Germany is at the core of the film. The issue of Tracy's escape - or non-escape - is almost irrelevant by then: the glimmer of humanity is seen even among the German people. Despite the apparent pessimism of the film, it is optimistic at its heart. And it is charming and beautifully done. Not to be missed.
-
claudio_carvalho20 January 2015In the fall of 1936, the Germans are purging the rebels and sending them to the Concentration Camp of Westhofen. One day, there is a break out and the prisoners Pelzer, Bellani, Aldinger, Beutler, Fuellgrabe, George Heisler (Spencer Tracy) and the leader Ernst Wallau escape. They are hunted down by the soldiers and the camp commandant builds seven crosses to put each escapee on each cross. The bitter George Heisler heads to his hometown Mainz without any help and loses his faith in the German people. Meanwhile one by one of the prisoners are captured by the German soldiers.
Once in Mainz, George seeks out his former girlfriend Leni (Karen Verne) that said that would wait for him but she is married and refuses to help him. Then he witnesses the suicide of Bellani and he meets his friend Mme. Marelli (Agnes Moorehead) that gives clothes and some money that she was keeping for Bellani to him. When George finally arrives at the address of his contact, he discovers that he had been arrested by Gestapo. Without any alternative, George decides to risk and visit his friend Paul Roeder (Hume Cronyn) and Liesel Roeder (Jessica Tandy). Meanwhile there are friends of George that want to help him but do not know where he is. Paul decides to help George with the support of his friend Fiedler (Paul Guilfoyle) and they bring George to an inn. But the waitress Toni (Signe Hasso) recognizes George and there is a reward of five thousand-Marc on him. What will happen to George?
"The Seventh Cross" is a dramatic and emotional movie with a great story of lost and regain of faith in the mankind. The story follows George Heisler and is anguishing, especially because the characters live in a dark period where it is not possible to know who is reliable or not. The conclusion is another plus in this great feature. My vote is eight.
Title (Brazil): "A Sétima Cruz" ("The Seventh Cross") -
JuguAbraham14 March 2003I familiar with Zinnemann's last five movies and am a great fan of his last one "Five days one summer", which has received more undeserving brickbats than bouquets from some wellknown critics. It is evident to me that Zinnemann was more 'sinned against than sinning.' After seeing "The Seventh Cross", I am convinced that this man was never given given his due recognition because he was so different from his peers.
The story of "The Seventh Cross" is narrated by a dead man. For us in the current decade having seen films like "The Others" such a script as this one is not uncommon. But in the Forties, this must have been groundbreaking.
The casting is superb. Spencer Tracy is fascinating and a superb choice. This is one of his finest performances--because he does not speak much--just like "Bad Day at Black Rock."
Agnes Moorehead appears for a few minutes but presents a delightful character that adds to the strength of the film. I thought Russ Tamblyn was the acrobat who does not speak a single line but the IMDb records indicate that I am mistaken. Was I? Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy were a delight to watch as always. The character of Signe Hasso (Toni) is probably the least appropriate character in the film but one guesses that necessity for a love interest for the lead character in a film like this.
For me the actors played a major part in making the film a wonderful viewing experience. But the real contributors to making the work impressive were Zinnemann and the cinematographer Karl Freund. The opening sequence showing the faces of the escapees establish the credibility of the two gentlemen behind the camera. The camerawork of Freund is always interesting but this film shows the chemistry between director and cinematographer.
Zinnemann's choice of subjects to film has always made me wonder about the man. It is evident that he was a very sensitive person who valued great ideals. He was probably heartbroken that his last film was not accepted as much as his other work based on popular novels and plays. -
luciferjohnson7 February 2000A truly outstanding film that has not received the distinction that it deserves, despite a first-rate cast and compelling, as well as unique for the time, subject matter.
Spencer Tracy plays George Heisler, one of seven prisoners escaping from a German concentration camp in 1936. The film traces his attempt to establish contact with the German resistance movement, and along the way he changes slowly from a hardened cynic, and regains his faith in mankind.
This is not a bang-bang action movie. The lack of overt violence is what makes gives the film a searing authenticity. This is based on a novel by Anna Seghers, whose husband was indeed imprisoned in a concentration camp. True, people knowledgeable about the era will find many technical errors. For one thing, all of the actors, including especially Tracy and Ray Collins, are simply too overfed to be believable concentration camp inmates. Also the film shows the SA running the camp, when I do believe the SS was running the camps by '36. I was not especially happy with the handling of the single Jewish character, who is a token character and not portrayed very favorably.
But this was 1944, not 1994, and this was the first film from Hollywood to depict concentration camps. Also I can't think of very many films that have more successfully captured the terror and despair of Nazi Germany, and also more clearly impart a moral message. In that regard it is very faithful to the book.
The performances by all, even the bit characters, are superlative. This was one of Spencer Tracy's finest roles, and supposedly the melancholy of his performance was to a large extent influenced by word that a young friend, who he knew from Boy's Town, had died in combat.
Cronyn and Tandy play Liesl and Paul Roeder, who try to help George Heisler. What makes this a very fine drama is how even secondary and bit characters are shown to change and evolve. Watch for Helene Weigel, wife of Bertold Brecht, playing an old female janitor watching Roeder being taken away in a car. Weigel was the inspiration for Brecht's Mother Courage.
Seghers was a Communist, as are the major characters of the book, and the politics of the author simmers below the surface without being explicitly expressed. Look closely at the characters playing Nazis and concentration camp guards, and generally most of the characters with accents. The majority are refugees from Nazi Germany, adding great authenticity to their performances. -
samhill52159 January 2010This one caught me by surprise. It seemed rather formulaic at first, straightforward propaganda to inspire the people back home in the last years of WWII. But as it progressed it became much more, a portrait of German society on the eve of the aggression that started it all. Some elements tended to the melodramatic, especially the romance between Tracy and Hasso. I mean come on, they're confessing their love for each other after barely spending a few minutes together? Frankly Tracy has never been a favorite of mine in his earlier roles. He always tended toward the self-righteous, the arrogant, the visionary with no human frailties.
The narration from Ray Collins, the first escapee to be caught and killed was also on the corny side. Remember he was the first to die yet he's narrating much of the story. That may have worked in 1944 but today that's pretty dated. There are more effective ways to accomplish the same thing. Moreover the pathos in his voice was also a little over the top.
The standout performances here were from Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy as a couple from the working class who are enjoying the benefits of National Socialist largess. Their situation perfectly illustrated how the Nazi social programs kept the German workers happy with subsidies and tax advantages. I'm impressed that a film from 1944 dealt with that in an honest and straightforward manner. In my opinion the standout scene is when the Cronyn returns home after being questioned by the Gestapo and finds Tandy sitting at the table in their apartment. She looks up at him and the look on her face goes from surprise to amazement to joy and then she releases all her pent-up emotions and breaks down in uncontrollable sobs as Cronyn tries to comfort her. What a moving moment and what a treat! -
Although slow moving, as was typical of Hollywood dramas of that era, The Seventh Cross tells a compelling story of the human spirit overcoming the evils of totalitarianism, and the recovery of one's faith in mankind during the midst of a societal distrust. George Heisel, portrayed by Spencer Tracey (one of his classic performances), is a broken man who has lost his faith in humanity who has escaped from a Nazi concentration camp with six others in the early days of the Reich when not all Germans loved the Fuerer and still had decent intentions. The Nazi Commandant vows to capture all seven and hang them on crosses he has built inside the camp. Six are caught, but Heisel escapes to Mainz, leaving the seventh cross empty. In Mainz, he realizes that he can't go to his old girlfriend (who has married a Nazi) or his family (his younger brother has joined the SS); almost all his friends have turned Nazi or been captured or killed save one, Paul Roeder and his wife Liesel (played by longtime married actors Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy). The Roeder's help get him in touch with members of the underground (including Paul Guilfolye, father of the actor on CSI) who help him escape to Holland. As he leaves, he realizes he must pay back not those who hurt him and broke him, but those that healed him, those who restored his faith in the God-given decency inherent in all of us if given the chance to rise to the surface. Sometimes it can arise in the most unlikely of places, but it is there.
To be placed alongside The Hiding Place, Schindler's List and Swing Kids. A must see for anyone who loves freedom. -
vincentlynch-moonoi13 November 2011"The Seventh Cross" is a film I have a watched a number of times, because it stars one of my very favorite actors -- Spencer Tracy Supporting actors include Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy -- real man and wife, and this was their first film together. Cronyn was an Academy Award nominee for his performance here. The supporting actor of note was Ray Collins (of later "Perry Mason" fame), one of the Concentration Camp victims here, who doesn't survive, but posthumously continues to narrate the film.
This was one of Fred Zinnemann's early directorial efforts, long before "High Noon". Interestingly, it was one of the earliest films to deal with the topic of Nazi concentration camps.
The film begins with a rather tortuous and overbearing opening score. We learn that 7 POWs have escaped from a concentration camp. They represent many factions of German society -- a writer, a circus performer, a school teacher, a farmer, a Jewish grocery clerk, and 2 who appear to be political activists (Tracy and Collins). The first few minutes of the film belong to Collins, as he is the first to be hunted down, tortured, and hung on a cross to die. Very little dialog (other than his narration), but this is probably the most dramatic of all of Collins' many screen performances. The Nazi commandant vows to find each escapee and hang each on another of the 7 crosses (hence the title).
The focus then shifts to Tracy, who also has, perhaps, the least dialog of any of his screen roles...because he is a man alone. Tracy does an admirable job of conveying his terror through facial expressions. We follow his journey to his home town of Mainz where surely his former girl friend will help him...but of course, she doesn't and even threatens to report him. The scene where Tracy watches as another escapee is chased along the rooftops is particularly effective...as the escapee elects to commit suicide, rather than be captured. Although he feels totally alone, here and there people give him a little help, and unbeknownst to him a small group of old friends are plotting to help him...if they can find him or he can find them. But, everyone is suspicious of almost everyone else. Who will choose loyalty to a friend over loyalty to the Third Reich? Tracy's character does escape Germany and he regains his faith in humanity...although the ending is quite abrupt.
Among the supporting actors of note were Signe Hasso (good and simple performance), Hume Cronyn (as a loyal friend; good performance); Jessica Tandy (as Cronyn's wife, also a good performance); Agnes Moorehead (in an odd role for her); and Herbert Rudley (as a loyal friend, played well).
This is a very well done movie, and many will want it on their DVD shelf. But it is a depressing film despite the upbeat ending. -
michaelRokeefe29 June 2011George Heisler(Spencer Tracy)is one of seven men that escapes from a Nazi concentration camp. The commandant has seven trees to be made into crosses to hang the captured escapees. Heisler battles hunger, thirst and fatigue and manages to be the last escapee to not be captured. He perceivers to carry out a bungled plan to reach sympathizers for temporary shelter, change of clothes and money. The one thing that keeps him going is the thought of his beloved Liesel(Jessica Tandy); but when he finds her she doesn't look the same as in his dreams...even worse she has married another man. He still needs help and a lot of luck to dodge Storm Troopers and get out of war torn Germany. Does Tracy ever turn in a bad performance? This also Ms. Tandy's screen debut. Others in the cast: Hume Cronyn, Agnes Moorehead, Ray Collins, Felix Bressart and Signe Hasso.
-
planktonrules10 January 2010This film has one of the most unusual styles of the day. In many ways, its narration by Ray Collins is very reminiscent of the narration by William Holden in SUNSET BOULEVARD. That's because like Holden, Collins is dead and gives the narration post-mortum! A strange plot device but very effective for this sort of film.
THE SEVENTH CROSS is a propaganda film meant to solidify the people back home in the war effort against Nazi Germany. However, the film is set in 1936--three years before the war began. The film finds seven political prisoners escaping from a concentration camp. The whole "seven crosses" reference regards the Commandant's (George Zucco) pronouncement that each of the seven men will be tracked down and hung from these crosses in the courtyard of the prison until they are dead--as a lesson to all those who would dare to consider escaping.
The main character of the film is Spencer Tracy. What makes this performance interesting is that he says almost nothing through much of the film. Collins narrates and things occur around Tracy, but he's so hollow and beaten by life in the camp that he just stares with a somewhat vacant look. As the film unfolds, his performance opens up as well--showing more and more of the familiar Tracy as he slowly recovers from the agonies of his confinement.
The rest of the cast is quite impressive. Many exceptional character actors (such as Felix Bressart, Hume Cronyn and his wife Jessica Tandy, Agnes Moorehead) were gleaned from the MGM roster for the film. Additionally, if you look at the extended list of the cast, you'll see that it is huge---much, much larger than usual. It's obvious that the studio pulled out all the stops to make this a first-rate production.
Overall, a very successful film because unlike some wartime films, this one is timeless and can be enjoyed and admired today because it is a very well made film--with a taut script and excellent acting. As I said, some wartime propaganda films don't work as well today because they are shrill and simplistic. This film has depth and has more to offer than usual. -
sddavis6323 July 2010Spencer Tracy headlines a fine cast as George Heisler, an escapee from a Nazi concentration camp in 1936 who has to depend on help from old friends to make his escape successful, all the while not really knowing who he can trust and being actively sought out by the Gestapo. The sense of fear and paranoia that's developed by the movie is quite ominous. Like Heisler, as the viewer you can never really be sure who can be trusted. Nazi Germany is portrayed (accurately!) as a dangerous place, unsympathetic to anyone who might be even remotely opposed to the regime. There's a sense of hopelessness here right from the start. Heisler is one of seven escapees - six of whom are quickly recaptured. Heisler himself feels totally alone, unsure who to turn to for assistance. He finally connects with an old friend (Paul, played by Hume Cronyn - whose wife Liesel was played by Jessica Tandy.) Not knowing that Heisler is a fugitive, Paul and Liesel take him in, and as they slowly discover what's going on, they become his hope and his lifeline.
There are some major weaknesses to this, unfortunately, which prevent it from being a first-class film. Tracy's role is unfortunately limited. The first half of the story especially is actually narrated more than acted - the narration being offered by one of Heisler's fellow escapees who died, and the movie implies is watching over Heisler as he tries to stay out of the Gestapo's clutches. The movie would have been well advised to have taken better advantage of Tracy's considerable acting talents. The addition of a romance (completely out of left field) between Heisler and a local waitress in the movie's last half hour seemed bizarre and totally out of place. Probably because of the sudden focus on the quasi-romance, Heisler's ultimate escape comes across as surprisingly (and disappointingly) easy and undramatic.
Aside from the believable portrayal of the bleakness of life in Nazi Germany, the movie is probably most surprising for offering at the same time a rather hopeful portrayal - the point is repeatedly made that not all Germans are soulless Nazis, and there are many individual Germans who take great chances to help Heisler. That was a bit surprising to me, since the movie was made during the height of World War II (in 1944) and as a result one might have expected a more negative portrayal of Germans than was actually offered. This was a good movie - it could have been a great movie if not for the weaknesses I mentioned above. -
sbynon9 January 2007I saw this movie for the first time at the tender age of 10; at the time I obsessed over the concept of WW2 and the reasons behind it. Even at 10, I understood the impact that this movie must have had on so many people around the world. The movie was actually banned in Germany because of its terrifying portrayal of the Nazis and their regime. With its controversial content, one might wonder why the movie was even made to begin with. As an adult, I appreciate this movie so much more than I did when I was young, mostly for its honesty and its hopeful message.
Even though the movie contains a lot of violence and graphic depictions (at least from a 1940's perspective), I think the movie is fine for children to watch. In fact, the events in the movie are quite accurate; therefore, the movie might be a nice history lesson.
Watch and you'll see! The seventh cross will hold a place in your heart for years to come. -
ccthemovieman-118 April 2006Boy, this a grim story, but it gets you involved, especially if you tend to be a bit paranoid. The story centers around Spencer Tracy's character "George Heisler" hiding from the Nazis in 1936 Germany, not knowing who to trust.
Although there's not much action, this is decently-paced with an unusual (and too corny) narrative from a dead man. The last 20 minutes, which should have been the most suspenseful of the film, instead wound up boring and too melodramatic.
What I did find interesting was the very young couple of Jessica Tandy and husband Hume Cronyn. I had forgotten what a beautiful woman Tandy was when she was young. She and Hume were the best part of this film. Tracy, meanwhile, doesn't have a lot of dialog.
The movie paints a horrible picture of pre-World War II Germany. There are several attempts to lift the spirits of the viewer as he watches this but overall it is a grim story of survival -
Turfseer2 November 2020The Seventh Cross is based on a novel of the same name by a German refugee, Anna Seghers. She wrote it around 1940 but the story is set four years earlier. The narrative concerns the fate of seven escapees from a German concentration camp. This is before the Nazi "final solution" was put into place with the escapees being mainly political prisoners. Segher's sympathies were with the Communists but none of the characters' political affiliations are stated explicitly during the film.
The seven crosses refer to the seven patchwork crosses ordered constructed by the camp commandant in the main yard of the camp. Each time a prisoner is caught-dead or alive-he is raised up and crucified as a warning to the camp inmates. Early on, one of the escapees is captured and serves as a narrator (despite the fact that this character has been killed).
The protagonist is the disillusioned political prisoner, George Heisler, played by Spencer Tracy, who has no dialogue during the first 20 minutes or so. The plot is weak with Heisler making his way to his home town of Mainz, attempting to make contact with members of the German underground so they can aid him in obtaining his freedom. As we pretty much can guess Heisler will be successful in escaping his pursuers; so there's little suspense here. The most interesting aspect of the film is the way it chronicles how the average German copes with living in a totalitarian state.
The sinister nature of the Nazis is ably captured here. Notably these characters (such as a Gestapo chief), all have German accents. Other characters in the film, however, have no accents and speak perfect English. This includes Tracy as Heisler-in an early scene, he steals a coat from a shed, while teenagers are playing soccer out in a field. Later one of the teens bemoans the theft of the coat and again no one speaks in an accent. Hence, the verisimilitude of many of these scenes feels compromised.
This is particularly true of the character Paul Roeder (played by Broadway veteran, Hume Cronyn). While Cronyn's earnest portrayal proves well-acted, he just feels too American to be believable. Again, consistent use of German or some kind of European accents would have improved the film considerably. Roeder ends up as the only guy Heisler can turn to as he attempts to evade a multitude of Nazis and local police, who are closing in on capturing him.
There's a good scene in which Heisler and Roeder have dinner with his wife Liesel (played by Cronyn's real-life wife and Broadway star, Jessica Tandy), along with their children. In it, Roeder expresses non-political views but support for Hitler due to the successful economic policies at the time. Not everyone is so supportive-when Heisler first looks up his old girlfriend, she threatens to turn him in. One of Roeder's busybody neighbors calls the Gestapo on him after she spies a strange man (who just happens to be Heisler), and Roeder ends up being interrogated by the Gestapo (when Roeder is finally released and returns home, Tandy brilliantly expresses her grief and relief after her husband reveals he is safe).
Director Fred Zinnemann intentionally paints a more optimistic view of the average German, suggesting not all of them were bad during the war. Characters like Roeper, the men in the Resistance as well as a maid, Toni (Signe Hasso), at an inn where Heisler is hiding, prove to be overly sympathetic and probably not representative of the overall population, who probably were much more willing to cooperate with the Nazi regime out of fear or willing compliance. Of course the full import of the Nazi extermination program was unknown at the time the film was made, and only once the extermination camps were revealed, right after the War, did public opinion in the US turn against the German people as a whole.
Anti-Semitism is hardly brought up in the film. There is a rather unsympathetic Jewish doctor who helps Heisler at one point-you would think Heisler would confide in him since he's Jewish-but he fails to do so. Despite the war having gone on for three years, Zinnemann (who was Jewish himself), perhaps feared the backlash from isolationists, who still harbored resentment against liberals and Jewish refugees, who urged America's entry into the war, a few years earlier.
Zinnemann's conscription of German refugees to play many of the bit roles in the film, adds to the film's verisimilitude. But Heisler remains a dull character, whose backstory is quite deficient. The unnecessary love scene with Heisler and the maid at the inn detracts from the overall narrative coupled with the anti-climactic climax, a real letdown, wherein Heisler simply obtains a passport from the resistance, and easily sails into the sunset on an unspotted ship leaving the harbor.
The Seventh Cross is a mixed bag featuring a plot that lacks suspense. The sense of dread among the populace under totalitarian rule is convincing enough, featuring some handy performances by real-life refugees from Nazi Germany. -
I recently viewed "The Seventh Cross" for the first time in many years and was favorably impressed both with the level of the acting, particularly Tracy, and the suspense that the filmmakers were able to generate in telling the story. Even though one suspects that a "happy" Hollywood ending is in the offing, it's a long time in coming -- and at times it seems that one's expectations will be unfulfilled.
A few historical notes:
Although this is usually classed as "World War II" film, one should keep in mind its chronology. The film was released in 1944; the novel, by Anna Seghers, on which is was based was published in 1942 and had been written in 1940-41; the film and novel are set in the fall of 1936; Seghers, a German Communist, had fled her homeland in 1933 to avoid Nazi persecution, and later lived in France and Mexico during the war years.
Shortly after Hitler came to power in 1933, the Nazi regime began to imprison thousands of Germans in "concentration camps." The inmates included many Jews, but most of the prisoners were held not for their ethnicity but for their anti-Nazi political views. (Gradually, the Nazis would expand their concentration camp population to include various religious dissidents, Gypsies, homosexuals, and certain common criminals.) Although the conditions of these camps were brutal and demeaning, the original "concentration camps" were not intended as "extermination camps" for Jews and other undesirables. The death camps would not be introduced until late 1941 and 1942.
At the time "The Seventh Cross" is set, political dissidents of the center and left still were the dominant type of prisoner found in concentration camps. Seghers based her book on the experiences of other German refugees she met in France in the late '30s, but she certainly had no direct knowledge of the concentration camps herself. However, by the time her book was published, many other accounts of the brutality of the concentration camps had made their way out of Germany and were widely circulated in the Allied nations. There were at least two pre-Pearl Harbor U.S. films that depicted concentration camps -- MGM's "The Mortal Storm" (1940) and Warner Brothers' "Underground" (1941).
There's very little in this film that pertains directly to the Holocaust. By the time MGM got around to releasing "The Seventh Cross" in 1944, the so-called "Final Solution" was well underway in Nazi-occupied Europe, but the horrors of the death camps were not generally known to most people in the United States until Allied troops entered German in the spring of 1945. Seghers was Jewish, but her leftist political ideology seems to have dominated her perception of Nazi persecution. Hollywood also was reluctant to focus on Hitler's anti-Jewish agenda. Anti-Nazi films, made before or after the U.S. entry into the war (December 7, 941), stressed the anti-democratic nature of Nazism and only occasionally mentioned Hitler's racial theories. Especially prior to Pearl Harbor, when many Americans still opposed U.S. involvement in the war, the predominantly Jewish studio heads feared that any specific mention of Hitler's anti-Semitic policies might be seen as "Jewish war-mongering." Their fear of being perceived as stressing Jewish interests, rather than "American" priorities in the war, carried over after Pearl Harbor.
Although many people tend to see "World War II" movies as all of a type, films made toward the latter part of the war, including "The Seventh Cross" tend to be less propagandistic and more thoughtful, whether they focus on the war itself or on the causes and ideologies that brought on the war. In some ways, "The Seventh Cross" can be seen as a movie that sought to prepare American and other Allied viewers for the post-war world. There were some people in the Allied nations in 1944 who would just as soon have seen Germany razed to the ground and all Germans, of whatever political stripe, exterminated or, at best, reduced to peonage. Although the overt message of "The Seventh Cross" is the restoration of a man's faith in the goodness of human nature, the subtext is that the "good German," the anti-Nazi German, did exist and was worth saving.
"The Seventh Cross" is no doubt rather dated, but the filmmakers do a masterful job in conveying the main character's sense of desperation and helplessness, as well as the fears of even the "innocent" in a police state. In an age when the Nazis have become pop culture comic figures, it is good to remind one's self what fascism really means. "The Seventh Cross" is not a bad reminder. -
rpvanderlinden16 April 2011This film stars Spencer Tracy as a concentration camp escapee named George Heisler who navigates his way to freedom through the perils of Nazi Germany. Along the way he meets many people who help him, and his cynicism and fatigue fade away. Early in the story, soon after he's left the camp, he meets a little girl, and in his mind he's sure that he'll kill her if she attracts the wrong kind of attention to him. Next he lurches into the home of his ex-girlfriend, frightening her. And no wonder, because his face has a twisted expression on it that frightened ME - in this moment Tracy is almost unrecognizable. This man's an animal, he's been through hell and he has no reason to believe that the world is anything other than a sewer. For my money this is a pretty startling opening for a 1944 movie.
Not to throw definitions around too freely, I'm tempted to describe this film as Nazi noir. Heisler weaves his way through German society of 1936, where it's the criminals who are in power, and scuttling through the streets are the folks who are merely trying to survive, in any way possible. At the back of our minds is the worrisome knowledge that things are going to get exponentially worse. Fred Zinnemann, the director, creates an atmosphere of claustrophobia and palpable dread where the night is filled with dark shadows and any tiny act of resistance to the Nazi regime is a colossal act of courage. There is almost no violence in the film, yet the threat of violence hangs heavy in the air. Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy play Paul and Liesel Roeder, a couple who are old friends of Heisler and who befriend him. Paul is politically neutral. He doesn't follow the news, and one gets the feeling that he would rather not know anything about what's going on. One of the fascinating threads in the film is his growing awareness. The scenes with Cronyn and Tandy are wonderful - real chemistry is bubbling here and they seem to belong together (and we all know what happened in real life). I must mention that George Macready and Agnes Moorehead are very good in small roles. There's considerable art and intelligence in "The Seventh Cross", and a preview of what was to come in Zinnemann's illustrious career. -
Michael_Elliott24 May 2008Seventh Cross, The (1944)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Hard hitting Ww2 drama has Spencer Tracy playing one of seven men who escape from a concentration camp. When the other six men are captured or killed, Tracy knows that the entire country will be looking for him so his desperate search for help grows more difficult. Whenever great WW2 films are discussed this one here hardly ever gets mentioned, which is a real shame because this film turned out to be a real gem that works on so many levels and once again features a great performance by Tracy. Zinnemann does a great job directing this film and what I loved most is the fact that Tracy's character is under constant threat of being captured and sent back to the camp. Tracy can't trust anyone and must take big risks in trying to reach out for anyone to help him and this here is perfectly captured by the director. There's a tense atmosphere running throughout the film and it's what I'd compare to a feather blowing in the wind. Tracy's performance has him, what seems like, floating through the air because we can feel the pain and terror in him of being caught. To make matters worse, he reaches his hometown where he must try and decide which of his former friends would help him and which would turn him in. Tracy's performance is very deep and intense but it seems as if he is walking on egg shells throughout the film and floating in the air. The way he moves about is something truly amazing to watch. Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy play a husband and wife who Tracy goes to for help. Cronyn nearly steals the film with his flawless performance. The only thing that hinders the film is some of the narration, which is a tad bit over the top at times. -
Anna Seghers wrote her deeply personal statement 'Das Siebte Kreuz' whilst in exile. Having left Germany in 1933, actual life under the Nazis could only be of her imagining but she undoubtedly learnt of the horrors second-hand from more recent exiles. Her novel is very much one of nostalgia for better days but for filmic purposes director Fred Zinnemann and his adaptor Helen Deutsch have concentrated on the man hunt element.
Despite being early in his illustrious career, Zinnemann's gift with actors is already evident although by all accounts he and his star Spencer Tracy did not get on. Having said that Tracy's journey as George Heisler from bitterness to renewed faith in human nature is most effective and is further testament to this actor's skills whereas the brief romance with the maid of Signe Hasso is less so, especially when compared to the way Renoir treats the touching relationship between escapee Jean Gabin and farm girl Dita Parlo in his masterpiece 'La Grande Illusuion'. The communist leanings of Heisler which reflect those of the author have understandably been glossed over whilst one could have done without Ray Collin's voice-over from the grave which for this viewer at any rate is a needless distraction.
Standout performances come from husband and wife Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy, two highly respected artistes who came full circle some forty years later in 'Cocoon'. Agnes Moorehead makes her presence felt in a brief appearance and the film boasts a supporting cast of emigrés from Nazism whose accents and sincerity add verisimilitude to the proceedings. As a piece of well-intentioned propoganda the film does what it says on the tin.
The inspired cinematography of Karl Freund transcends the studio-bound production and in his first feature of interest Zinnemann's direction although still 'work in progress', gives note of what is to come.
As a tragic footnote, Freund's wife had already perished in a concentration camp whilst Zinnemann did not learn until after the war that both his parents had suffered the same fate. -
This film version of the award-winning Anna Segers novel is the story of one man who manages to escape a Third Reich Era Nazi concentration camp, then continues his quest for freedom, aided by many friends, even strangers, who with their selfless kindness, at the risk of their own freedom and lives, feed, hide and otherwise tend to this man, whose only fault is that he was born a Jew.
This film serves as powerful testimony to the fact that humans are by nature kind and just, regardless of what brutal regime of terror and injustice they may live in. Opposition to the Nazi terror machine was not always violent and vocal, but, as seen here, silent, and without much furore. Many touching scenes show how virtual strangers lend support, doing so without taking credit, sometimes signaling with only a nod or a barely noticeable gesture.
The desire to aide the innocent and to have compassion for the oppressed is within us all. This film brilliantly reminds us of the genuinely good human qualities that set us aside from savages. Look for a youthful Jessica Tandy in a supporting role. This is a gem of a Hollywood Classic! -
richard-178716 October 2020Others have summarized the story line of this movie. I just wanted to record my reaction to this movie, which I found to be a very mixed bag.
At its best, this is a very dramatic movie with great cinematography, wonderful facial acting - primarily by Spencer Tracy - and great suspense.
When it is not at its best, this movie has flat dialogue that too often gets preachy - not all Germans are bad. Perhaps in 1944, when this movie was released, it was felt that Americans needed to be reminded of that as American troops first started to take significant losses starting with the D-Day landing in Normandy. Like the main character, who decides to focus on those who helped him escape Germany rather than those who tried to kill him there, perhaps Americans needed to be told that revenge against the Germans was not what we needed to focus on. Still, those preachy moments in the movie felt preachy to me.
Watch this for the good parts, the suspense, especially in the early part when there is more narration than actual dialogue. Tracy does a wonderful job conveying emotion with just his face. -
CommieTT28 July 2001This is a wonderful film.
At first, it seemed very much a propaganda film against the Germans, for all descriptions of Germany and its people were negative in the first part. Then, it slowly softens at the same rate as Spencer Tracy's character, George Heisler, regains his humanity.
Though it is never said outright, Tracy plays a Communist Party member (the closest they came to saying it was "anti-Nazi"), and that is why he was in a Nazi concentration camp in the first place. The roles played Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy (Paul & Liesel Roeder) were that of ordinary, hard-working Germans who didn't really care much for politics. When Heisler asks Cronyn if he likes the current government, Cronyn talks about how his wages are higher than ever before -- ignorant to the oppression happening all around him. In tougher times, Heisler had given Roeder a (Communist) pamphlet, and he recalls, "I didn't need a pamphlet -- I needed a JOB!"
Many acts of heroism help to keep Heisler alive in his struggle to escape Germany. Each of the characters have grown in their humanity. For example, the Roeders do not blame Heisler for the Gestapo calling on them and interrogating Paul (they now know the blame lies with the Nazis).
When Heisler mentions he has a debt to repay, Signe Hasso (Toni) asks, "you mean you owe money?" Heisler says, no. "Oh," Toni says, "you mean to get back at the Nazis who did this to you?" Heisler remarks, "just the opposite, my debt is to those who helped me."
The quote for the summary of this review comes from an anonymous (to Heisler) benefactor who brings Heisler his passport and instructions. He tells a story about ants in his deli working all day to move the contents of a sugar bowl to their ant hill. His metaphor means you can kill the revolutionary, but you cannot kill the revolution.
My rating: 10 -
kapelusznik181 March 2016***SPOILERS*** Tense drama with a number-7-of prisoners escaping from a Nazi concentration camp circa 1936 who are being tracked down by the Gestapo and when captured crucified for their "crimes" against the state. One of them the saintly George Heister, Spencer Tracy, goes through the ringer in what he's confronted with in finding among his friends on the outside world who was willing to help him and, if arrested, suffer the consequences. As the film progresses George finds out just who his friends are by them willing to risk their lives and safety of themselves and their families in getting him out of the country before the Gestapo gets their hands on him.
It's a tough grind for George with almost all those who try to help him end up getting arrested and sent to the local Nazi concentration camp in many cases being both beaten and executed. But as for George, who ends up with a nasty cut on his right hand, he if anything else learns that standing up, or in his case running away, to the Nazis is far better then giving into them and makes one, dead or alive, a much better person. All this running and hiding and in one case having the love of his life Leni, Karren Verne,who besides finding out that she's already married kicking him out of her house, she had since become a fanatical Nazi, and threatens to call the police on him soon starts to get to George. George finally gets help from his friend factory worker Paul Roder, Hume Cronyn, who after finding out he's an escapee from a concentration camp does everything to help him get legal papers and a passport, from the local anti-Nazi movement, to ship him out of Nazi Germany. This has Paul being ratted on by his landlady who after being arrested and interrogated by the Gestapo is let loose in telling and convincing them that he knows absolutely nothing.
***SPOILERS**** Hold up in a local bed & breakfast in the port city of Mainz George uses his boyhood charms as well as inner and heart felt, women always go for that, hurt feelings in being hunted down like an animal by the Gestapo to get the maid Toni, Signe Hasso, to help him out in his plight. It was Toni who at first, before she got to really know him better, was about to turn him over to the police for a 5,000 mark reward. Beside escaping from a Nazi concentration camp what was the reason he was there in the first place for the Nazis to offer that much money or marks to have him captured? The movie never tells us why! George finally makes his escape from Nazi Germany via a Dutch freighter in the dead of night to start a new life in free Holland. That's until four years later-May 1940-when the German Army occupied it.
P.S Based on Anna Segnes best selling novel of the same name-"The Seventh Cross"-that was to to later inspire Hans Werner Henz's 9th Symphony. -
SimonJack22 April 2013Several other reviewers discuss the plot of "The Seventh Cross," and a little bit about Anna Seghers, author of the book on which the film is based. My comments will be on some aspects not as much discussed. Most obvious is the historical significance of the book and this movie. The story takes place in 1936 and was written by Seghers in 1940, after she had fled Germany for Mexico. As others noted, this is one of a very few films made by Hollywood that mentions concentration camps. "The Mortal Storm" in 1940 was the first that I can recall. It starred Jimmy Stewart, Margaret Sullavan and Robert Young.
Seghers is the pen-name of Netty Reiling, a woman of Jewish descent born in 1900. Her home was Mainz, which is the place where much of "The Seventh Cross" takes place. Her Communist background is irrelevant to the story, except for two things. First – the prisoners who are the subject of this story had been members of the Communist party in Germany. Communists, Catholic priests, and political opponents were the first groups to be put into concentration camps by the Nazis. Second – Seghers, herself, had been arrested by the Gestapo, after she wrote her 1932 novel, "Die Gefährten" (The Companions).
I don't know any more details about her arrest or imprisonment. She obviously was released by the authorities. But then she waited to flee Germany until after the fall of France to the Germans in late June, 1940. From 1933 through 1939, some 475,000 Jews had fled Germany. Aside from the interest this bit of information may be to other viewers, I mention it because it points to the daring and risk that Anna Seghers took in remaining so long in Germany. Of course, had she not done so, we may never have gotten the wonderful story she wrote that is the basis of this movie.
What Seghers gave us in her book, and what the film shows very well, was the condition of the German people at that time – around 1936. This is a story about some of the common people. Those who may have been led to believe or hope in the lies and empty promises of the Nazis. It is about a few of those who kept in line on the surface, but were willing to fight the Nazis privately. We can see the blind fervor and loyalty of much of the population. And we can see the fear and caution of many. And, we can see the toil on human emotions and the human spirit in Spencer Tracy's character after he escapes and struggles to find anyone to help him. A combination of that helplessness and fear is evident also in Jessica Tandy's character, as she sits crying and wondering if her husband would return after being taken away by the Gestapo.
So, this film gives us a good picture of the human condition of the time – the fear by most, the despair by many, the hopelessness by some. And, then we see the ray of hope that Tracy's George Heisler begins to show as one person and then another is willing to help him. We can come to the same conclusion – so long as there are a few people who care and are willing to risk their security and life for others, there is hope for mankind.
Finally, "The Seventh Cross" stands as a truly great film on acting – the acting profession itself. The performances by every single character are excellent. They show in their actions, expressions and words, the full range of emotions – believably. Just concentrate on Tracy's Heisler alone. The role has few spoken lines – it may be the fewest of any star in any movie. But we see the slow transformation of that man from fear and despair to hope and optimism – almost entirely in his facial expressions and physical demeanor. Great acting, indeed! And "The Seventh Cross" excels in all its technical aspects as well – script, directing, lighting, cinematography, sets and costumes. An excellent, thought-provoking and entertaining film for all ages and all time. It's a good look at history that we should not forget. -
grantss23 March 2024Germany, 1936. Seven prisoners escape from a concentration camp. The camp commandant is determined to recapture them and make an example of them, erecting seven crosses in the camp on which to hang the prisoners. One by one the prisoners are recaptured or killed but the seventh is still free and determined to stay that way.
Filmed during World War 2, a film that aims to demonstrate the brutality of the WW2 German regime. Some of the plot is thus propaganda-orientated (not that this makes what is depicted any less true though), thus leads to a degree of preachiness in the dialogue.
The story is reasonably interesting though a bit dry. The story is a conventional, linear one and seems to simply amble from one scene to the next. I admire the sentiment being expressed but it is done in a way that's not entirely engaging or compelling.
Overall, it's watchable but not a must-watch. -
HotToastyRag15 September 2019The premise of The Seventh Cross sounds really good, which is why I rented it. Seven prisoners escape from a concentration camp in pre-WW2 Germany, and the leaders of the camp put up seven crosses with the intention of killing each prisoner who is caught. Told in the right way, this could have been an interesting, suspenseful movie, but the start of the movie shows six of the seven crosses occupied! Then, we hear a voice-over narration by Ray Collins, indicating the movie could still be saved. Maybe each of the escaped men narrate until they get caught and killed, and the next person takes over in the narration-that way even though we know who gets caught, we still can hold some semblance of suspense as to when they will get caught.
Sorry, folks. The Seventh Cross isn't nearly that clever. The seventh prisoner is Spencer Tracy, and for no reason, Ray Collins-who has already been caught and killed-narrates the rest of the movie. Spencer Tracy is the only prisoner with any screen time, and the rest of the movie is all about him. As usual, he gives his grumpy, one-dimensional delivery, and he never gives any indication he's been imprisoned for one day, let alone years. He's not emaciated, frightened, suspicious, traumatized, jumpy, desperate, or quick-moving. He's just Spencer Tracy. The only good part of the movie is the supporting cast, including husband and wife team Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy, Agnes Moorehead, Alexander Granache, and Felix Bressart, both of whom were real German refugees who found a new home in Hollywood!