Crossfire is a B-Movie at its Best

 

CROSSFIRE (1947)

Directed by Edward Dmytryktryk

RKO, 86 minutes, Not-rated

★★★★

 

 

There was no rating system in 1947, but a “funny” thing happened on the way to making Crossfire. It was adapted from The Brick Foxhole by Richard Brooks, a novel about prejudice against homosexuals. That topic was utterly taboo under the infamous Hollywood Hays Code. That meant that the film eventually directed by Edward Dmytryk had to find another angle: antisemitism. Dmytryk turned out the first B-movie to be nominated for Academy Awards, five of them to be exact. (A “B-movie” was a low-budget film that was often the opener for a double feature.)

 

The war against fascism was over and Hitler’s plan to wipe Judaism from the face of the Earth collapsed, though he did slaughter about half of the world’s Jews. Remember, though, that GIs were not sent home the day after Germany’s surrender. It took time to demobilize millions of troops. Many former combatants remained in uniform lingering around bases and nearby cities until they could be processed. They had been through hell together and the tight bonds forged by war remained in place. Loyalty and fealty to superiors play big parts in Crossfire.

 

The movie opens with the murder of Joseph Samuels (Sam Levine) and Captain Finlay (Robert Young) is helping track down the killer. Soldiers were officially under his supervision and it was known that several had been with Samuels before he died. Samuels, a Jew, met GIs Floyd Bowers (Steve Brodie) Corporal Mitchell (George Cooper) and several others at a bar. As an ex-soldier who had fought in the First World War, Samuels kindly invited them to his apartment for drinks. They were joined there by Private “Monty” Montgomery (Robert Ryan).

 

Crossfire is a case of too many suspects and investigators. Soldiers cooperated with Captain Finlay’s queries, but they were also protective of their mates. Sergeant Peter Keeley (Robert Mitchum) begins an informal investigation of his own with the goal of clearing Mitchell and Leon (William Phipps), the latter a not-too-bright GI whom Keeley feared would be framed. Montgomery is outraged by the entire investigation and thinks the police and Finlay may be trying to pin the murder on his friend Bowers.

 

As things like this go, suspicion leads to deflection and breeds more suspicion. Mitchell, a square egg who wants little more than to reunite with his wife Mary (Jacqueline White), admits that he got so drunk that he didn’t remember much other than a disagreement between Monty and Samuels. He embarrassingly admits that he spent the evening in the company of Ginny Tremaine (Gloria Grahame). He insists he simply slept off the booze and left the next morning when her husband came home. Is he on the level?

 

Things get messier when one of the suspects ends up in the morgue, a victim of foul play. Finlay is convinced that antisemitism was the reason Samuels was killed and speculates that the second murder was a cover up. He devises a successful entrapment plan worthy of Miss Marple (though she never carried a gun!)

 

Strong performances help hide the low production values of Crossfire. Give credit to the Roberts: Young, Mitcham, and Ryan. They complement each other superbly. Young was calm and rational; Mitchum perplexed and inquisitive; and Ryan furtive and determined. It should also be noted that Grahame got a Best Supporting Actress nomination, through her role was a bit too thin to warrant it. (Crossfire did not win any Oscars because it lost to a better film about antisemitism, Gentlemen's Agreement.)

 

Dmytryk proved an old adage. If a director has great actors and knows how to handle them and keep their egos in check, the external look of the film matters less than you might think. As I noted in another review, Dmytryk gained notoriety during the Hollywood Red Scare because he cast suspicion that some in the movie industry were communists. How ironic, given that the Red Scare broke out the same year Crossfire was released, a film that deals with similar themes of fear, suspicion, and accusation. He might have been a fink, but the man knew how to direct. Crossfire is a forgotten gem worth resurrecting.

 

Rob Weir