Crossfire (1947) User Reviews (108)

Another Sadly Missed Type Of Movie.

[jpdoherty · 7/10 · 20 April 2010]

RKO's "Out Of The Past" (1947) is regarded by many as the finest Noir ever to come out of Hollywood. But CROSSFIRE, made just prior to it the same year, was a fair contender for that coveted title. Produced by Adrain Scott for RKO, the recognized home of Noir, it was magically photographed in beautifully defined black and white by J.Roy Hunt. Written for the screen by John Paxton from a novel by Richard Brooks it was stylishly directed by Edward Dmytryk and was fleshed out with an imaginative cast headed by the three Roberts - Young, Mitchum and Ryan plus Gloria Grahame, Sam Levene and Paul Kelly.

A Jew (Levene) is murdered in a hotel room by anti-Semitic GI Montgomery (Robert Ryan) leading to pipe smoking detective Robert Young investigating three soldiers who are suspects. Interestingly, in the original novel it is a homosexual that is murdered, but in 1947 homosexuality was very much a taboo subject to put on the screen so the murder victim was changed to be Jewish. The change had little effect on the story's impact for it is still a dynamic and potent drama.

CROSSFIRE is not only a fascinating well produced motion picture but it also has a fascinating look to it. Taking place entirely at night the deserted dark wet streets, filmed with a bug-eyed lens, together with the shadow filled interiors make for some of the most startling and vibrantly shot sequences ever seen in pictures. Also, though it is sparsely scored by RKO's resident Noir composer Roy Webb there is a thundering and punchy Main Title and a reflective love theme. Webb must have been saving himself for his masterpiece "Out Of The Past" which would come later that year. Also heard in the night club scenes in CROSSFIRE is the great New Orleans trombonist Kid Ory (1886/1973) And His Creole Jazz Band (uncredited) playing some wonderful jazz numbers. And later in Grahame's apartment Ory can be heard again on the radio playing the marvellous Jelly Roll Morton composition "Whinin' Boy Blues" which lends a persuasive atmosphere to the drab surroundings.

Performances are generally good! Robert Young is excellent in what is probably his best remembered role as the detective. But disappointing and wasted is Robert Mitchum! He doesn't really have very much to do in what amounts to nothing more than being cast in a sombre and subdued role. The acting honours however must go to Robert Ryan's blistering performance as Montgomery the violent Jew hating GI. His sneaky and scary portrayal deservedly earned him an Acadamy Award nomination. Also effective is Sam Levene as Samuels the ill-fated Jew and Gloria Grahame as the girl in the night club who picks up the naive George Cooper. And watch out too for a young Lex Barker in one of his first film appearances.

Not as good as the magnificent "Out Of The Past" that came later that year but still an engrossing and tight little thriller from that once great RKO studio in Hollywood who produced exceptional movies that we can never forget and which now, sadly, Hollywood itself seems to have forgotten.

A viewing treat

[BruceCorneil · 8/10 · 19 July 2003]

Definitely a "must see" for all fans of film noir.

Thanks to a fine script and crisp, razor sharp direction, a top cast comes together and works like a well oiled clock to produce a crackerjack psychological thriller. Wonderful characterizations articulate the movie's powerful message about the dangers of racial and religious intolerance.

It's difficult and almost unjust to single out any one, particular performance because there isn't a weak link in the entire company. But Robert Ryan as the hateful and violent white supremacist is truly spine chilling.

Making this film in the 1940s would have taken a lot of courage. Now,all these years later, at a time when contemporary movies are dominated by a ridiculous over abundance of foul language, bare breasts, crummy acting and deafening soundtracks, it's refreshing to get back to the basics of quality film making with a viewing treat like "Crossfire".

Another low budget gem from the Hollywood archives .

Good movie, could have been great

[Putzberger · 8/10 · 3 May 2009]

"Crossfire" feels like an underdeveloped masterpiece -- it's well acted and beautifully filmed, but thinly written and way too short. As is, it's just a decent police procedural with hints of film noir (at its zenith in 1947) and social commentary (also trendy at the time) thrown in for good measure. It's remembered today as one of the first two Hollywood films to deal with anti-Semitism, and as being much better than the similarly-themed "Gentleman's Agreement" (no mean feat). But its real subject is the difficulty that WWII soldiers, as trained killers, were having as they made the transition to civilian life. (For a more genteel take on this topic, try "The Best Years Of Our Lives.") A man is beaten to death in the first few frames of the film. We do not see his attacker. The movie is about the investigation of this murder, which is actually pretty straightforward, but it takes some unnecessary detours, like when the main suspect, a depressed soldier, winds up in the apartment of Gloria Grahame, a dance-hall hooker with a really weird pimp played by Paul Kelly. There's also a civics lecture halfway through the movie that slows the proceedings to a crawl, and the ending is tidy enough for a cop show. But otherwise it's a pretty decent mystery. Still, what a great noir it could have been. Director Edward Dmytryk drops a few hints at the subject of the original novel -- homosexuality, not anti-Semitism -- like when sadistic creep Monty seethes at the image of his friend Mitch talking with a strange man at a bar. And the cast is excellent. Robert Ryan makes for a very credible cretin, and even becomes a little sympathetic in his final scenes, not unlike Peter Lorre as the child murderer in "M." He deserved an Oscar but lost to Edmund Gwenn that year (you can't beat Santa Claus). Robert Mitchum is onhand as a soldier friend of the accused killer. Was Mitchum a great actor or a great star? Someone else can figure that out, but his sleepy eyes and bemused half-smile work very well here since they imply that his character knows something everyone else doesn't. (And he does.) And Robert Young, as the detective assigned to the murder, is surprisingly gritty, discarding his usual avuncular affability even when he has to deliver the civil-rights sermon midway through the picture. There's no question that Bogart or Tracy would have been brilliant in the role, but neither of them were at RKO in 1947 so you'll just have to deal with Dr. Welby. Still, Young is good enough to make you wish someone had cast him in a detective drama instead of "Father Knows Best," which he hated and which drove him to alcoholism and suicide attempts. The man deserved better than smarm and Sanka.

Fascinating Noir with a dynamite cast.

[Infofreak · 24 July 2003]

'Crossfire' is a very interesting movie. It begins like a murder mystery, but it becomes obvious very quickly who the murderer is, and the plot becomes more concerned with his motive. And it is his motive which makes the movie so interesting. 'Crossfire' is a "message" movie but it is also a cracking good drama, and that's what I enjoyed about it. Plus the cast is dynamite - Roberts Preston, Mitchum and Ryan, and the beautiful Gloria Grahame ('In A Lonely Place'). Mitchum doesn't have a big a role as you might expect (the movie was released the same year as 'Out Of The Past' in which he gives a much more substantial performance), but he's always great to watch, and Robert Ryan ('The Wild Bunch') steals the movie as a very nasty piece of work. I find many 1940s romance and comedy movies to be too corny for my taste, but the crime movies are much more to my liking. They are usually grittier and more realistic, and 'Crossfire' is a great example of this. Highly recommended.

The depth of Robert Ryan's acting

[shrine-2 · 7/10 · 16 January 2000]

Edward Dmytryk directed this shadowy movie about a murder investigation involving demobilized military personnel. Robert Young gets to lecture us about hatred, Robert Mitchum walks through most of this picture, and Gloria Grahame revisits the feistiness she exhibited in "It's A Wonderful Life." It's Robert Ryan who gets at the heart of the matter: anti-semiticism. He goes so deep into his role as Monty Montgomery (Imagine parents named Lawrence calling their son Larry!), that the drama sits squarely on his shoulders, and he is more than up to the challenge. Without him, the movie would be commonplace. Ryan has played a number of memorable villains in his day ("Bad Day at Black Rock;" "Billy Budd"), but this performance put him on the map. With Sam Levene as the murder victim.

Murder and Prejudice

[claudio_carvalho · 8/10 · 24 September 2013]

In the Post WWII, Police Captain Finlay (Robert Young) investigates the murder of the Jewish Joseph "Sammy" Samuels (Sam Levene) in his apartment after a beating with his team. Out of the blue, soldier Montgomery "Monty" (Robert Ryan) comes to the apartment and tells that three soldiers - Corporal Arthur "Mitch" Mitchell (George Cooper), soldier Floyd Bowers (Steve Brodie) and himself - had been in the apartment drinking with Sammy, and Mitch would have been the last one to leave the place. Finlay finds Mitch's wallet on the couch and he becomes the prime suspect.

Finlay visits Sergeant Peter Keeley (Robert Mitchum) and he tells that his friend Mitch is a sensitive artist incapable to kill a man. Keeley decides to investigate the case to protect and clear the name of his friend. When Keeley discuss the evidences with Finlay, the captain concludes that Mitch did not have the motive to kill Sammy, who was a stranger that he met in a bar. Now Captain Finlay has another suspect and he decides to plot a scheme to expose the assassin.

"Crossfire" is a great film-noir, with top-notch director (Edward Dmytryk) and cast with three Roberts - Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan and Robert Young; excellent story of murder and prejudice; magnificent screenplay that uses flashbacks to disclose and solve the mystery; and very impressive quotes. The theme - hatred against Jews - is unusual and this is the first time that I see a film-noir with this type of sordid story (and without the femme fatale). My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Rancor" ("Rancor")

Note: On 23 May 2023, I saw this film again.

Pretty Good Noir.

[rmax304823 · 7/10 · 11 July 2005]

I haven't read the source, Richard Brooks' novel "The Brick Foxhole," which I hope is not as infelicitous as its title, but I understand the original villain was a homophobe not an anti Semite. (And to be honest, Sam Levene is written as a gay guy who picks up a drunken soldier.) But, okay, you have to go with the flow. Consider 1947. Not even anti-Semitism has been treated on screen yet. Many of the people responsible for contemporary movies were themselves Jews but anti-Semitism had been verboten for years because it was considered unpleasant. So we can hardly blame the makers of this film for not leaving the victim a homosexual. Now that's REALLY unpleasant -- and besides there might have been many among the audience rooting for Robert Ryan to get away with it. We are by no means free of prejudice but we've still come a long way since 1947.

Watching this again for the first time in years I was impressed with the rather slow pace of the first half of the movie, the many shots of two people talking, the shadows, the time that passes between the question and the answer, the uninspired editing. But I could live with that because of the film's subject matter and because of a few other things.

One of the things that keep me glued to events as they unfold so deliberately is Robert Ryan's performance. The guy does a splendid job. At times he can seem thoughtful, cheerfully subordinate and helpful to the police -- "Any way I can help, yes sir." Then, alone or with another soldier, the simmering hatred rises to the top, not so much through what he says but the way he LOOKS. That scowl, that penetrating stare, those dark eyes glittering. Wow.

The film has taken a lot of heat because of Robert Young's preachy speech about his Grandfather's murder. That doesn't bother me at all, although I guess Dmytryk didn't have to have Young shove his face into the camera while talking about "MICKS and PAPISTS". Still, taking the context into account, it's one of the more shocking moments of the film. Part of its impact is due to Young's almost casual delivery of the message, and part of it is due to the message's not having been heard on screen before.

Another feature of the film that transforms it almost into the surreal is the Paul Kelly character and his relationship to the whore Gloria Grahame. Holy Guacamole, what elliptical conversation Kelly is given to. "You know what I told you? All those things I just told you? They're all lies." His character neatly crosses pathos with creepiness. It's impossible to know what to make of him. He adds virtually nothing to the plot but the movie would be a lot less without his presence.

It's a moody, murky film. Its people live in the dark. And there is murder afoot. Practically no one screams or shouts. The horror that these men have experienced and that some of them still carry with them like malaria seems just beneath the surface.

See it if you have a chance.

Dmytryk transmutes message movie into stylish postwar thriller

[bmacv · 9/10 · 25 March 2002]

Taut and organically gripping, Edward Dmytryk's Crossfire is a distinctive suspense thriller, an unlikely "message" movie using the look and devices of the noir cycle.

Bivouacked in Washington, DC, a company of soldiers cope with their restlessness by hanging out in bars. Three of them end up at a stranger's apartment where Robert Ryan, drunk and belligerent, beats their host (Sam Levene) to death because he happens to be Jewish. Police detective Robert Young investigates with the help of Robert Mitchum, who's assigned to Ryan's outfit. Suspicion falls on the second of the three (George Cooper), who has vanished. Ryan slays the third buddy (Steve Brodie) to insure his silence before Young closes in.

Abetted by a superior script by John Paxton, Dmytryk draws precise performances from his three starring Bobs. Ryan, naturally, does his prototypical Angry White Male (and to the hilt), while Mitchum underplays with his characteristic alert nonchalance (his role, however, is not central); Young may never have been better. Gloria Grahame gives her first fully-fledged rendition of the smart-mouthed, vulnerable tramp, and, as a sad sack who's leeched into her life, Paul Kelly haunts us in a small, peripheral role that he makes memorable.

The politically engaged Dmytryk perhaps inevitably succumbs to sermonizing, but it's pretty much confined to Young's reminiscence of how his Irish grandfather died at the hands of bigots a century earlier (thus, incidentally, stretching chronology to the limit). At least there's no attempt to render an explanation, however glib, of why Ryan hates Jews (and hillbillies and...).

Curiously, Crossfire survives even the major change wrought upon it -- the novel it's based on (Richard Brooks' The Brick Foxhole) dealt with a gay-bashing murder. But homosexuality in 1947 was still Beyond The Pale. News of the Holocaust had, however, begun to emerge from the ashes of Europe, so Hollywood felt emboldened to register its protest against anti-Semitism (the studios always quaked at the prospect of offending any potential ticket buyer).

But while the change from homophobia to anti-Semitism works in general, the specifics don't fit so smoothly. The victim's chatting up a lonesome, drunk young soldier then inviting him back home looks odd, even though (or especially since) there's a girlfriend in tow. It raises the question whether this scenario was retained inadvertently or left in as a discreet tip-off to the original engine generating Ryan's murderous rage.

Ignorance, Intolerance & Irony

[seymourblack-1 · 7/10 · 20 March 2010]

"Crossfire" is ostensibly a murder mystery but what distinguishes it from other similar movies of the period is the killer's motive, which is anti-Semitism. The story highlights examples of the kind of ignorance which fuels bigotry and contains references to a "hillbilly" and an Irish immigrant who also suffered maltreatment because of their ethnicity.

The movie's plot is based on Richard Brooks' novel called "The Brick Foxhole" which is about a hate crime where the victim was gay. It's ironic that this story about a form of intolerance should be met with intolerance by the censors who stipulated that, for the screen version, the type of bigotry involved should be changed to anti-Semitism. Another irony is the behaviour of a soldier who seems fiercely proud of having served in a war against the Nazis and yet embraces their hatred of Jews. The director and producer of this movie also suffered another type of intolerance when they were blacklisted after being called to appear before the "House Un-American Activities Committee". All these points just seem to underline the deeply entrenched and intractable nature of the whole problem of bigotry as depicted in this movie.

When Police Captain Finlay (Robert Young) investigates the murder of Joseph Samuels (Sam Levene), he discovers that on the night when he was killed, Samuels had been socialising with a group of soldiers and one of these, Corporal Arthur "Mitch" Mitchell (George Cooper) is quickly identified as the prime suspect. Further information is also gathered from Montgomery (Robert Ryan) who is another of the soldiers who was present that night and Sergeant Keeley (Robert Mitchum) who's a friend of Mitchell. Keeley, with the help of some other soldiers, then searches for Mitchell and when he finds him, hears his account of what he did on the night of the murder including his meeting with a dance hall hostess called Ginny Tremaine (Gloria Grahame).

Keeley helps Michell to avoid being arrested and tries to identify the murderer. Ginny Tremaine is questioned but her information is insufficient to prove Mitchell's innocence but Finlay's investigations lead him to recognise the motive for the crime and subsequently, he sets up an elaborate trap which leads the real culprit into exposing his own guilt.

"Crossfire" is a movie with a message and the identity of the murderer is revealed at a very early stage in the story. The "message" is conveyed in a way which was, no doubt, appropriate for the period in which it was made but by today's standards seems rather heavy handed. The cinematography by J Roy Hunt is just wonderful with low key lighting and creative use of numerous strategically placed table lamps combining to evoke a look which is perfectly compatible with the drama being played out on screen.

Despite it being a low budget production, "Crossfire" was a great box office success and benefited from having an absorbing and very relevant story with a marvellous cast, two of whom were nominated for Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor (Robert Ryan) and Best Supporting Actress (Gloria Grahame). The additional nominations for Edward Dmytryk (Best Director), producer Adrian Scott (Best Picture) and John Paxton (Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay) are just further evidence of the positive recognition which this movie justifiably received.

A study of hate crime through the lens of film noir

[imogensara_smith · 8/10 · 18 September 2006]

As a rule, there are few things more dispiriting than Hollywood's attempts to be courageous. Mixing caution with heavy-handedness, "message movies" pat themselves loudly on the back for daring to tackle major problems. CROSSFIRE is not entirely free from this taint; it includes a sermon on the nature of senseless hatred that is embarrassingly obvious, assuming a level of naivity in its audience that's depressing to contemplate. As late as 1947, it was a big deal for a movie to announce that anti-Semitism existed, and that it was bad. (It was unthinkable, of course, for Hollywood to address the real subject of the book on which the movie was based—its victim was a homosexual.) Nevertheless, thanks to good writing and excellent acting, CROSSFIRE remains a persuasive examination of what we would now call a hate crime.

Postwar malaise was one of the major components of film noir, and CROSSFIRE addresses it directly. The film is set in Washington, D.C. among soldiers still in uniform but idle, spending their days playing poker and bar-crawling. Joseph Samuels (Sam Levene), an intelligent and kindly Jew, explains that the end of the war has created a void: all the energy that went into hating and fighting the enemy is now unfocused and bottled up. Samuels meets three soldiers in a bar: the sensitive Mitchell, who is close to a nervous breakdown, the weak-willed Floyd Bowers, and Montgomery, a tall, overbearing bully who nastily belittles a young soldier from Tennessee as a stupid hillbilly. The three soldiers wind up at Samuels' apartment, where the drunken Monty becomes increasingly abusive, calling his host "Jew-boy." Samuels is beaten to death, and Mitchell disappears, making himself the prime suspect for the killing.

Unraveling the crime are Detective Finlay (Robert Young), dry and by-the-book, and Sergeant Keeley (Robert Mitchum), a thoughtful and experienced friend who knows Mitchell is incapable of murder. Among the pieces of the puzzle are Ginny (Gloria Grahame), a nightclub hostess who met Mitchell and gave him her apartment key, and Floyd (Steve Brodie), who as a witness to the crime holes up terrified in a seedy rooming house. While there is no real "whodunit" suspense, the story remains gripping, and the trap laid for the killer is extremely clever.

The strong noir atmosphere saves the movie from feeling didactic or sanctimonious. The cinematography is a striking shadow-play, with inky darks and harsh lights, rooms often lit by a single lamp filtered by cigarette smoke. World-weariness is as pervasive as noir lighting. "Nothing interests me," Finlay says quietly; "To nothing," is Ginny's toast in the nightclub. Gloria Grahame, the paragon of noir femininity, nearly steals the movie with her two scenes. Platinum-blonde, jaded and caustic, she's the quintessential B-girl, poisoned by the "stinking gin mill" where she works ("for laughs," she says bitterly), her sweet face curdling when Mitchell tells her that she reminds him of his wife. Now and then a wistful kindness peeks through her defensive shell, as when she dances with Mitchell in a deserted courtyard, then offers to cook him spaghetti at her apartment. When he goes there, he meets a weasely, crumple-faced man (Paul Kelly) who seems to sponge off Ginny, and whose conversation is a dense layering of lies and false confessions. Gloria blows Mitchell's good-girl wife off the screen in a scene where she's asked to give Mitchell an alibi. Slim and frail in her bathrobe, with her girlish lisp, she lets us see just how often Ginny has been insulted and dismissed as a tramp.

Robert Young is a nondescript actor, and he stands no chance against Mitchum's charisma, but he does a good job of keeping his pipe-smoking character, saddled with delivering the movie's earnest message, this side of pompousness. Mitchum, meanwhile, gets some cool dialogue, but not nearly enough to do; still, even when he's doing nothing but lounging in a corner you can't take your eyes off him. The third Robert, Ryan, creates a fully shaded and frighteningly convincing portrait of an ignorant, unstable bigot; we see his phony geniality, his bullying, his resentment of anyone with advantages, his "Am I right or am I right?" smugness; how easily he slaps labels on people and what satisfaction he gets from despising them.

CROSSFIRE's message seems cautious and dated now, though not nearly so much as the same year's A GENTLEMAN'S AGREEMENT. Finlay's speech about bigotry cops out by reaching back a hundred years for an instance of white victimhood, reminding us that Irish Catholics were once persecuted; next it could be people from Tennessee, he says, or men who wear striped neckties. Or maybe blacks, or Japanese, or homosexuals, or communists? The script seems afraid to mention any real contemporary problems. It sweetens its message by making the Jewish victim saintly, as though his innocence were not sufficient; and it takes care to exonerate the military, having a superior officer declare that the army is ashamed of men like Montgomery, and stressing that Samuels served honorably in the war. Still, it did take some guts to depict, immediately after World War II, an American who might have been happier in the Nazi army, and the movie's basic premise is still valid. If Monty were alive today, he would have gone out on September 12, 2001, and beat up a Sikh.

If you are going to preach to your audience, you need to entertain them as well

[JamesHitchcock · 7/10 · 23 June 2021]

Captain Finlay, a police detective, is called in to investigate the murder of a man named Joseph Samuels, who has been found dead at his home. There is no obvious motive for the crime, but Finlay suspects that the murderer may be one a group of soldiers seen drinking with Samuels in a bar.

"Crossfire" was based on the 1945 novel "The Brick Foxhole" by Richard Brooks, better known as a Hollywood screenwriter, director and producer. There is, however, one major difference between the novel and the film. In the novel, the victim was gay and the motive for his killing was prejudice against homosexuals. In 1947 the Production Code, which prohibited any mention of homosexuality, was in full force, so Brooks's theme of homophobia was changed to anti-Semitism. Samuels was Jewish, and Finlay comes to believe that the murderer may have been motivated by hatred of Jews.

The film was nominated for an Academy Award for "Best Picture" but lost out to "Gentleman's Agreement", which also dealt with the theme of anti-Semitism. This was a controversial theme in 1947 only two years after the end of the war; Americans preferred to believe that anti-Semitism was something confined to Nazi Germany and did not want to admit that it was still a problem in their own country.

In terms of its visual style, the film is made in the expressionist film noir style, with strong contrasts between light and dark. Most scenes are filmed indoors, often at night, and the film has that standard noir fixture, a sultry blonde played by Gloria Grahame. (Most sultry noir blondes were played either by Grahame or by Lizabeth Scott). There is a fine performance from Robert Ryan as Montgomery, the soldier whom Finlay suspects (rightly, as it turns out) of being the killer. In his private life Ryan was well-known for his liberal political views, but he was often cast as (in his own words) "the kind of character that in real life he found totally despicable"- prejudiced individuals, capable of both verbal and physical violence, and the hate-filled Montgomery is a fine example. Ryan received an Oscar nomination for "Best Supporting Actor", the only nomination of his career. Grahame was nominated for "Best Supporting Actress". There is another good performance from Robert Young as Finlay, at first calm and dispassionate but who later becomes more emotionally involved in the search for the killer when he realises what the motive for the murder was. This is connected with his own family history; they are Irish Catholics and have suffered from anti-Catholic bigotry. (All three leading male actors are called Robert, the third being Robert Mitchum as another soldier).

The film may be a crime drama, but in another respect it is not typical of noir, a genre which usually involved a considerable degree of moral ambiguity. Because of its subject-matter it is a "message film", and moral ambiguity is a luxury which film-makers cannot afford if they want to convey a social, political or moral message. The moral distinctions in this film are much more black-and-white than in most noirs, with few shades of grey. There is no point making a film about anti-Semitism or some other form of racial prejudice if the message which comes across is "Well, I'm not supporting racism, but on the other hand I'm not condemning it either. I just don't want to be judgemental".

I would not myself have voted for "Crossfire" as Best Picture; in my opinion the best film of 1947 was the British-made "Brighton Rock", and my favourite among the nominees that year would have been another British picture, David Lean's "Great Expectations". (That film was actually made in 1946, but not released in America until the following year). It is, however, a lot better than the dull, overlong, talky and preachy "Gentleman's Agreement", a prime candidate for the "Worst Picture ever to win Best Picture" award and one of a number of examples which prove that it is possible to make a bad film in support of a good cause. Director Edward Dmytryk seems to have remembered something which Elia Kazan evidently forgot while making "Gentleman's Agreement", namely that if you are going to preach to your audience you need to entertain them as well. 7/10.

Cracking noir thriller with socio-political moral

[thehumanduvet · 8/10 · 4 February 2001]

Brilliant thriller, deserving far more fame, Mitchum and Ryan are awesome in their starring roles, as is the entire supporting cast. A truly gripping film noir featuring some wonderfully images and some great dialogue, at the heart of it all is a strong message of tolerance and understanding. Based on a novel concerning homophobia, this movie attacks post-war anti-emitism, and all intolerance and hatred, with considerable power. Though parts may seem a little preachy to modern audiences, it still has the power to shock, and works very well as a thriller in its own right. A credit to all involved.

Decent B-Movie

[gavin6942 · 7/10 · 28 September 2016]

A man is murdered, apparently by one of a group of soldiers just out of the army. But which one? And why? "Crossfire" received five Academy Award nominations, including one for Best Supporting Actor and Gloria Grahame for Best Supporting Actress. It was the first B movie to receive a best picture nomination. This is remarkable on two counts: one, that a B movie got nominated, but also that it was deemed worthy. While not a bad film, it certainly has many qualities we think of with "B" pictures.

The really unfortunate thing is the use of anti-Semitism rather than homosexuality as in the original novel. The idea of someone hating Jews (at least to the point of murder) seems dated, whereas a homosexuality film would have been revolutionary and still impressive today (especially if the Irish Catholic speech stayed in).

"A little less conversation

[AAdaSC · 4/10 · 26 June 2017]

.a little more action please" sang Elvis Presley. Obviously, no-one had listened to this song before making this film. If only they had, we might have had a little more action. It's a very talky affair and whilst the message is strong, the overall experience is laborious. The film is way too dark – can we have some light, please? – which gives it a film-noir feel and fits with the dark subject matter. But, how about some light once in a while? We also get all the dialogue delivered by every character in a gloomy low-key manner. It reminded me of Eastenders. Who knows, the cast may well have been using this film as an audition piece for that crass soap opera?

The actors are all good but the tone of the film never changes and this makes it a ploddingly dull affair and scenes drag on. Soldier Robert Ryan (Montgomery) is a great bigot, he is a scary bully and is the standout in the cast. The film almost gets interesting at the end but at the final denouement slips back into more talking and then things end very conveniently and quickly. It's a film that is way over-rated by people who think a film is good if the message is sound. They forget that the primary purpose of a film is to be entertaining. Hail the wisdom of Elvis.

"The best years of our lives"turned film noir.

[dbdumonteil · 15 September 2002]

SPOILERS Not only does this movie boasts three Roberts,but it also possesses all that makes a film noir great:a murky sticky atmosphere, a fine supporting cast , a lot of characters we remember even if they appear on the screen barely fifteen minutes(Gloria Grahame and her husband for instance).The first scene sets the tone:a murder ;we can only see the shadows on the wall.

Edward Dmytryk,whose career would dismally end (the likes of "Shalako") ,was here at the height of his powers:he films his story with a stunning virtuosity and there are unforgettable moments:the scene in the Jew's apartment seen thru the eyes of the drunken soldier;the way the director films brilliant Robert Ryan ,using dizzying high and low angle shots.He's arguably the stand-out and his performance is really spooky;the conversation during which you can only see Ryan's face in a mirror;all these stairs which seem to be death traps.

It seems that these soldiers can only survive in the dark:in the nightclubs,in Grahame's seedy apartment,in a movie theater.They are just about at breaking point,as if they had come from hell to wind up in another one.But one should notice that ,at least in the first half of the movie,their camaraderie,their solidarity remain intact:brothers in arms indeed;the police are the enemy.

Robert Young's cop is a thousand miles above your usual detective routine:the scenarists achieves the feat of including his own story (actually his grandfather)in this murder mystery.He really pleads for the right to difference:today the Jews,tomorrow the hillbillies from Tennessee ,then the guys with striped ties...His words have a contemporary feel:it's because they don't know the Jews,the fags (check the novel)that some people use them as scapegoats.

Robert Ryan's portrayal is one of the most frightening of all the film noir genre.It's interesting to compare his part with the one he plays in Robert Wise's "odds against tomorrow"(1959).In both movies ,his character is a racist or anti-Semite;in both movies no explanation.Ryan was known for his very liberal ideas,what a clever actor he was!

Really good. Impressed.

[gazzo-2 · 7/10 · 17 July 2008]

I was also especially pleased to find Robert Young in the lead role, as the cool as a cucumber detective in this. He smokes his pipe, kinda looks down his nose at the perp, and then pulls out the evidence, generally to devastating effect. Having seen him mostly as either Marcus Welby, Sanka-man or Father Knows Best-I thought it was neat watching him play a very serious role in a convincing manner.

Robert Mitchum is alright, basically does an investigation and glowers and so forth. He's much better in this than he was in Racket-which was a rush job(and then some) that just didn't work. This one does.

Finally high marks to Robert Ryan(who was Also in the Racket). In that one, he over-acted. In this one, he plays against type as a racist violent man, and is positively scary. He was nominated for the Oscar that year and prob. shoulda won it. This was a good good actor.

***1/2 outta ****. Check it out.

The ending was worth waiting for and the 3 Robert's pulled off a winning Trifecta

[Ed-Shullivan · 8/10 · 17 February 2022]

Very few films have been provided an all star cast to work with such as Crossfire and the film was deserving of the "gotchya ending" superb twist for the crime solvers. A murder takes place in the opening scene and through a sequence of conversations that take place we are walked through flashbacks to find out who the murderer is but will the slick Detective Finlay (Robert Young) figure out who is the murderer. Two of the demobilized military personnel who enjoy playing poker as a past time are Keeley (Robert Mitchum) and Montgomery (Robert Ryan) who get right into the middle of the police murder investigation. It is no coincidence that three of the key performers in Crossfire are actors named Robert and each is a film star in their own right and bring their A game to the films story line.

Add the stellar acting of the two female stars in Gloria Grahame who plays dance hall girl Ginny, and the beautiful Jaqueline White who plays a more obscure role as Mary the sympathetic wife of the number one murder suspect Mitchell (George Cooper) we have the makings of a superb murder mystery film produced in 1947, some 75 years earlier.

The murderer is a racist and homophobic brute (although in 1947 the film treaded lightly on the homosexual undertone of the film) responsible for his own downfall by the clever Detective Finlay and without giving away any spoilers the ending is worth the long anticipated wait. I give Crossfire an overall exceptional 8 out of 10 IMDB rating.

Great Message, Great Symbolism, Very Good Movie

[secondtake · 7/10 · 2 July 2009]

Crossfire (1947)

Great Message, Great Symbolism, Very Good Movie

It's hard to go totally wrong with Robert Mitchum, Robert Young, and Robert Ryan all together as the three male leads, and with director Edward Dmytryk pulling together a complicated murder and detective yarn. That's reason enough to watch it once and even twice.

You might need a second look to fully catch the plot as it is explained (too much) or shown in flashback (also too much) because it's a little complicated without good reason. But it makes sense overall, and we see early on (too early probably) who the culprit is, and even why.

Besides the drama, well done in typical noir lighting and filled with those short quips that make post-war films dramatic, there is the social message, the anti-anti-Semitic point of it all. It only borders on preachy once or twice, and it's such an obviously good point to make we watch it being made approvingly and wait for the plot and the dramatic acting to take front row. Which they do, especially Young, who is a brilliantly laconic and patient detective, and Ryan, who is mean in a believably crude and angry way (Ryan is good at that, his typecasting reasonable). Mitchum mostly plays a watered down version of what he is famous for, and the fourth known acting force, Gloria Grahame, is a great, brief, presence even if slightly dispensable.

Though the movie is dominated by the sequence of events and by the message, both of which grow in force as we go, it is really easy to watch just for the lighting, camera-work, and acting, including the classic fight scene that opens the first few seconds of the film, all done with shadows.

The archetypes of soldiers presented is very deliberate, and this might be something people at the time were very familiar with and could relate to as much as the anti-Semitism thread. The shell-shocked soldier rendered helpless (but still intrinsically capable), the modest youngster without confidence (but capable, too), and the weary but outwardly able veteran are all there. And of course, the angry, violent soldier who is a product of the war, too. This last is also a responsibility of society--even the army goes all out to make good on the injustices here, not just because they are criminal, but because they stem from the wear and tear of a long awful war.

The audience then, more than now, could really get, but it's there to appreciate still.

Hate and prejudice

[jotix100 · 8/10 · 20 January 2005]

Edward Dmytryk's "Crossfire" is a rare film coming from the Hollywood of the 1940s. This was groundbreaking territory for Mr. Dmytryk and the studio because of what the director and his adapter, John Paxton, decided to do with the novel, in which the film is based.

If you haven't seen the film, please stop reading now.

Richard Brooks novel was about the killing of a gay soldier. In the movie, the subject matter was turned around to prejudice against Jews, a theme that was taboo during that time in the American cinema. It's to Mr. Dmytryk's credit to have had the courage to get involved with this film project, at all.

The movie is an outstanding piece of film making because the way the director presents it. Obviously influenced by the film noir style, we are taken to the Washington of the post war. The opening scene about the brutal murder of Samuels shows such unusual cruelty being inflicted to a decent man, who we don't know yet, or why has been killed, but who didn't deserve to die in such horrible fashion.

The basis of the murder is prejudice, pure and simple. We realize how in the mind of an ignorant man, the mere fact of being successful and different, plays in the mind of the assassin. Samuels stands as the sacrificial lamb, the same way the gay soldier is the victim in the novel. The parallels are well drawn.

This film makes compelling viewing because of the brilliant star turn of Robert Ryan, as Montgomery. Mr. Ryan was an actor that always played interesting roles, but never so well as in "Crossfire". Also, there is a great appearance by Gloria Grahame, as Ginny, the prostitute with her heart in the right place.

The rest of the cast play as an ensemble. Robert Young, as the police detective in charge of the investigation plays is a decent man who has known prejudice first hand in his own family and speaks loudly against it. Robert Mitchum plays a cool Sgt. Keeley who is deeply touched by the crime when one of his men is accused of committing it. Sam Levene is excellent in his small role of Samuels.

This is a film to watch because of it probably the first to speak out loud against ignorance.

Solid film noir with moral complexity

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 30 July 2015]

CROSSFIRE is an interesting little mystery-cum-film noir production that reminded me a little of a proto RASHOMON. A man is murdered by his peers and a detective and his allies must figure out who's the killer and what exactly happened during the events leading up to the killing. They undercover a hotbed of racial hatred as the motives become clear...

Edward Dmytryk's movie is well shot, well lit, and tells an interesting, unusual storyline that's a far cry from the typical film noir production involving gumshoes, femme fatales, and criminal bosses. At the same time, he employs the talent of a number of actors familiar from those films: Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan, and Gloria Grahame can all be relied upon to give effective performances and they help to make this film an intriguing and timely viewing experience.

Cradle Of Fear.

[hitchcockthelegend · 8/10 · 10 February 2009]

A man by the name of Joseph Samuels is found brutally murdered in his apartment. It would appear that Samuels was visited by a group of drunken soldiers the previous evening, and with one of them seemingly missing, the evidence certainly implicates the missing soldier. But as detective Finlay digs deeper into the case he finds that they could be barking up the wrong tree, and that this crime is dealing with something desperately sad and vile - anti-Semitism.

Crossfire was born out of the novel written by Richard Brooks, adapted by John Paxton and directed by the shrewdly excellent Edward Dmtryk. Crossfire (originaly titled "Cradle Of Fear") is a taut and gripping picture that boldly tackles anti-Semitism. Though the makers were forced to tone down the story from the original source, the novel is about homosexual hatred as opposed to anti-Semitism, what remains, largely due to RKO supremo Dore Schary and producer Adrian Scott, is a sort of creeping unease that drips with noirish style.

The cast features three Bob's, Young, Mitchum and Ryan, with noir darling Gloria Grahame adding the emotional female heart. Though only third billed, it's Robert Ryan's picture all the way, his portrayal as the bullying, conniving Montgomery is right from the top draw and perfectly showcases the talent that he had in abundance. Ryan had good cause to give Montgomery some of is best work for he had served in the Marine's with Richard Brooks himself, both men having discussed the possibility that if the novel was to be made into a film, then Ryan wanted in and to play Montgomery. Thus the genesis of Ryan's career as weasel types was well and truly born!

Gloria Grahame also puts in a wonderful and heartfelt turn, which is all the more remarkable since she was being plagued by her abusive husband at the time, one Stanley Clements. He was known to be violent towards her and his constant presence around the set irked other members of the cast, but Grahame, probably channelling real life emotion, became the character of Ginny and shone very bright indeed. Both Bob Mitchum and Bob Young come out with flying colours as well, to really seal the deal on what proves to be a smartly acted picture.

Crossfire was released before the other 1947 anti-Semitic picture, "Gentleman's Agreement", and raking in over a million and a quarter dollars at the box office, some of its thunder was stolen by the Academy Award winning picture from Fox Studio. Nominated for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Ryan), Best Supporting Actress (Grahame), Best Director and Best Screenplay, it won nothing. Yet critics of the time hailed it as a brilliant shift in American Cinema, and today it stands tall, proud and dark as a bold and excellent piece of work. 8.5/10

You Can Read Between The Lines

[Theo Robertson · 7/10 · 28 August 2005]

I referenced CROSSFIRE at the IMDb before watching it on television a couple of days ago and what I found very interesting is that the original source novel featured the murder victim being a homosexual and not a Jew . This is very interesting not to mention helpful because it makes the story much easier to understand if you look upon murder victim Joseph Samuels as being homosexual rather than Jewish . For example if anti- semitism is prevalent would Joseph Samuels with his obviously Jewish sounding name invite strangers back to his flat ? But I guess RKO or any other Hollywood studio would be closed down and its studio heads thrown in prison if they'd have even thought of making a movie dealing with a homophobic murder and the movie has developed the anti-semitism angle with lines of dialogue like " Some of them are named Samuels and some of them have funnier sounding names " . Unfortunately am I seeing some anti British rhetoric here because of the mandate in Palestine by having the villain called Montgomery ? Am I reading between the lines too much ?

Regardless of this we can all agree that this is a very well acted piece of film noir with fine performances from Robert Young as Captain Finlay , George Cooper as Cpl Arthur Mitchell and a disconcertingly young Robert Mitchum as the idealistic Peter Keeley , but they're all over shadowed by Robert Ryan as Montgomery a role for which Ryan was Oscar nominated and it's this performance you'll remember the movie for long after the credits have rolled .

Powerful, well-made but a little overstated

[preppy-3 · 8/10 · 11 April 2001]

A bigoted soldier kills a man for being Jewish and tries to pin it on a fellow soldier. Not as good as the novel it was based on ("The Brick Foxhole") in which it was a gay man who was killed...but Hollywood wouldn't touch that in 1947. That said, it's still a very good film. The anti-Semitism is handled very well, but it's hammered into the audience that bigotry is bad...well duh! But this was 1947. The picture is well-acted by the entire cast (especially Robert Young and Robert Ryan) and the tone is very dark...as it should be. Very atmospheric too. A deserved big hit in its day...well worth seeing.

Ugly and penetrating...not entertaining, yet engrossing

[moonspinner55 · 6/10 · 16 April 2011]

As an Army sergeant just released from duty, Robert Ryan creates a scary, thoroughly thought-out characterization, that of a man who has seen battle and killing but is now set free on the streets of America--with no agenda and nowhere to channel his pent-up rage. This "important picture", adapted from Richard Brooks' novel, deals with the police investigation into the beating death of a Jewish civilian, with soldiers as their suspects, yet Ryan's three-dimensional portrait of a man on the edge elevates the material beyond the crime genre. While sorting out the different scenarios which led to the innocent man's death, police captain Robert Young keeps a subdued, beleaguered head, which allows Ryan the room to go into his nervy Jekyll-and-Hyde arias. There isn't much suspense or surprise in the story, and one can't tell for sure if any was intended; Edward Dmytryk has directed the film in a brutal and straightforward fashion. The original theme of Brooks' story was homophobia but, that being deemed too controversial for 1947, it was changed to anti-Semitism; the irony, of course, was that Dmytryk caught the attention of the House Un-American Activities Committee on the basis of this plot-point and was subsequently investigated (later serving jail-time for refusing to cooperate). **1/2 from ****

Good scene in the end

[HotToastyRag · 4/10 · 18 August 2018]

Three Roberts for the price of one admission ticket: Robert Young, Robert Mitchum, and Robert Ryan. What a promotional poster! While this one is a classic because it gave the third Ryan his only Oscar nomination, it feels a little dated by today's standards. However, if you loved Gentlemen's Agreement, the film that won Best Picture of 1947, you'll probably love watching Crossfire.

The opening scene of Crossfire shows a man being murdered. He's struggling with his attacker and they crash into a lamp; the scene goes dark and the audience doesn't get to see what happens next. The little sliver of light in the other room shows one man dead and the other man's bottom half walking out of the apartment. The rest of the movie follows Detective Robert Young trying to figure out the murder, with flashbacks from Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan, George Cooper, and Gloria Grahame.

If you're not familiar with these actors, you might be held in suspense a little longer than I was. I'm extremely familiar with them, and at the risk of sounding indecent, I immediately recognized the bottom half of the murderer in the opening scene.

Although Robert Mitchum got second billing, he wasn't really given anything to do, and although Robert Ryan got an Oscar nod, he doesn't really do anything different than he does in all his other typical movies. Robert Young comes across as an idiot until the very end, when he comes up with a goosebump-raising plan that almost makes the rest of the plot worthwhile. I really liked the twist at the end, but the rest of the movie was a bit boring, since it's no longer 1947.

DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie might not be your friend. When George Cooper says, "Things went a little blurry," the flashback is smudged and it will make you sick. In other words, "Don't Look, Mom!"