Crossfire

Be the first to write a review

Overview

This drama was one of the first major-studio efforts to confront anti-semitism beating the Oscar-winning Gentleman's Agreement by several months, and it features a standout performance from Robert Ryan as a bigoted soldier on the run. Monty Montogomery Ryan is a violent and unstable soldier who, while out on a pass, goes on a drinking spree with three buddies, Floyd Steve Brodie, Arthur George A. Cooper, and Leroy William Phipps. While boozing it up in a tavern, the four men meet Joseph Samuels Sam Levene and his...
See more details below
This VHS is Not Available through BN.com
See All Options

More About This Product

Overview

This drama was one of the first major-studio efforts to confront anti-semitism beating the Oscar-winning Gentleman's Agreement by several months, and it features a standout performance from Robert Ryan as a bigoted soldier on the run. Monty Montogomery Ryan is a violent and unstable soldier who, while out on a pass, goes on a drinking spree with three buddies, Floyd Steve Brodie, Arthur George A. Cooper, and Leroy William Phipps. While boozing it up in a tavern, the four men meet Joseph Samuels Sam Levene and his girlfriend Ginny Gloria Grahame, who invite the soldiers back to their apartment for a party. Monty, however, has a fierce hatred of Jews, and he later goes into a drunken rage in which he beats Joseph to death. Monty's friends can barely remember the incident through their liquor-shrouded memories, but they recall just enough to make themselves scarce when police detective Capt. Finlay Robert Young begins making the rounds looking for information on Joseph's murder. Sgt. Kelly Robert Mitchum, a soldier who knows the four men, begins to suspect that something is up, and he works with Finlay and Ginny to help ferret out the killer in his ranks, while Monty kills Floyd when he becomes convinced that he's going to talk to the authorities. While director Edward Dmytryk showed real bravery in bringing this story to the screen, it had greater repercussions than he might have expected; the film's controversial themes led to Dmytryk's denunciation by the House Un-American Activities Committee during the McCarthy-era investigations of the 1950s; luckily, unlike other filmmakers who suffered similar accusations by HUAC, Dmytryk continued to work steadily through the '50s and '60s.
Read More Show Less

Editorial Reviews

All Movie Guide - Michael Costello
Edward Dmytryk's classic noir on anti-Semitism in the military was adapted from a Richard Brooks novel, The Brick Foxhole, whose actual subject was homophobia in the army, which RKO found too hot to handle at the time. Like many noirs, it's steeped in the malaise of returning GIs, still recovering from the trauma of war and trying to adapt to a changed world. Dmytryk evokes a miasma of angst with the noir vocabulary of looming shadows, oblique angles, and low-key lighting. Robert Young's professorial detective leads the investigation, which takes on a collective quality as Robert Mitchum's sergeant becomes involved, the film counterpointing their quiet sanity against the disorientation of the mustered-out soldiers and the raging paranoia of the murderer. Robert Ryan is most impressive as the latter, a matrix of festering resentments of which his anti-Semitism is only one. The residue of the original story remains in a slightly off-kilter scene, apparently detached from the narrative, in which a GI George Cooper discusses his alienation with a sympathetic stranger Sam Levene. The first film to address the subject of anti-Semitism, it remains effective despite moments of preachiness. Test screenings of the film for Jewish audiences revealed their well-grounded concern that the association of such blatant pathology, as the murderer's with anti-Semitism, would allow viewers to ignore the far more commonplace and insidious forms of that prejudice. Due to the film's content, in October 1947, producer Adrian Scott and director Dmytryk were called to testify before HUAC and became the first two members of the famed Hollywood Ten, a group of producers, directors, and writers, including Ring Lardner Jr. and Dalton Trumbo, all of whom initially refused to testify against their colleagues, and were sentenced to prison terms. In return for an early release in 1950, Dmytryk identified former colleagues as Communists, and in 1951, named Scott, his friend, and the producer of his three best films, as a member of the Communist party. Scott never produced another film, while Dmytryk resumed his career, never to repeat the quality of his earlier work.
Read More Show Less

Product Details

  • Release Date: 11/5/1996
  • UPC: 053939639636
  • Original Release: 1947

    • Rating:

  • Source: TURNER HOME ENT
  • Format: VHS

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits
Robert Young Capt. Finlay
Robert Mitchum Sgt. Peter Kelley
Robert Ryan Monty Montgomery
Gloria Grahame Ginny Tremaine
Paul Kelly The Man
Sam Levene Joseph Samuels
Jacqueline White Mary Mitchell
Steve Brodie Floyd Bowers
Richard Benedict Bill Williams
William Phipps Leroy
Lex Barker Harry
Marlo Dwyer Miss Lewis
Robert Bray M.P.
Don Cadell Military Police
George A. Cooper Arthur Mitchell
Carl Faulkner Deputy
Harry Harvey Tenant
Tom Keene Detective Dick
Kenneth MacDonald Major
George Meader Police Surgeon
Philip Morris Police Sergeant
Bill Nind Waiter
Jay Norris M.P.
Richard Powers Detective
Allan Ray Soldier
George Turner M.P.
Technical Credits
Edward Dmytryk Director
Constantin Bakaleinikoff Musical Direction/Supervision
Gordon Bau Makeup
Russell A. Cully Special Effects
Albert S. D'Agostino Art Director
Harry Gerstad Editor
Alfred Herman Art Director
Roy Hunt Cinematographer
John Paxton Screenwriter
Clem Portman Sound/Sound Designer
Dore Schary Executive Producer
Adrian Scott Producer
Darrell Silvera Set Decoration/Design
John Sturtevant Set Decoration/Design
John E. Tribby Sound/Sound Designer
Roy Webb Score Composer
Read More Show Less

Customer Reviews

Be the first to write a review
( 0 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(0)

4 Star

(0)

3 Star

(0)

2 Star

(0)

1 Star

(0)

Your Rating:

Review Guidelines
Add Recommendations
Your Name: Create a Pen Name or

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Our reader reviews allow you to share your comments on titles you liked, or didn't, with others. By submitting an online review, you are representing to Barnes & Noble.com that all information contained in your review is original and accurate in all respects, and that the submission of such content by you and the posting of such content by Barnes & Noble.com does not and will not violate the rights of any third party. Please follow the rules below to help ensure that your review can be posted.

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

We highly value and respect everyone's opinion concerning the titles we offer. However, we cannot allow persons under the age of 13 to have accounts at BN.com or to post customer reviews. Please see our Terms of Use for more details.

What to exclude from your review:

Please do not write about reviews, commentary, or information posted on the product page. If you see any errors in the information on the product page, please send us an email.

Reviews should not contain any of the following:

  • - HTML tags, profanity, obscenities, vulgarities, or comments that defame anyone
  • - Time-sensitive information such as tour dates, signings, lectures, etc.
  • - Single-word reviews. Other people will read your review to discover why you liked or didn't like the title. Be descriptive.
  • - Comments focusing on the author or that may ruin the ending for others
  • - Phone numbers, addresses, URLs
  • - Pricing and availability information or alternative ordering information
  • - Advertisements or commercial solicitation

Reminder:

  • - By submitting a review, you grant to Barnes & Noble.com and its sublicensees the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use the review in accordance with the Barnes & Noble.com Terms of Use.
  • - Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right not to post any review -- particularly those that do not follow the terms and conditions of these Rules. Barnes & Noble.com also reserves the right to remove any review at any time without notice.
  • - See Terms of Use for other conditions and disclaimers.
Search for Products You'd Like to Recommend

Recommend other products that relate to your review. Just search for them below and share!

Create a Pen Name

Your Pen Name is your unique identity on BN.com. It will appear on the reviews you write and other website activities. Your Pen Name cannot be edited, changed or deleted once submitted.

 
Your Pen Name can be any combination of alphanumeric characters (plus - and _), and must be at least two characters long.

Continue Anonymously