Crossfire **** (1947, Robert Young, Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan, Gloria Grahame, Paul Kelly, Sam Levene, William Phipps) – Classic Movie Review 2171

Director Edward Dmytryk’s gripping and intelligent 1947 low-budget film noir crime thriller Crossfire is a flashback-told conscience-raiser about the hate murder of a Jewish man in a New York hotel. Apart from being a fine thriller, it is notable as Hollywood’s first serious attempt to attack racial and religious bigotry.

The man has apparently been killed by one or more of a group of soldiers just out of the army. If so, the questions are:’ who?’ and ‘why?’.

Robert Young stars as police homicide captain Finlay who uncovers evidence that the demobilised soldiers are involved in the death of Joseph Samuels. Robert Mitchum also stars as Sergeant Keeley, who starts his own investigation to clear his friend Mitchell (George Cooper), who looks guilty through circumstantial evidence.

Among the many and various fine virtues of Crossfire are the distinguished performances from the three contrasting starring Roberts (Young, Mitchum and Ryan), J Roy Hunt’s Expressionist night cinematography and John Paxton’s thought-provoking screenplay. Notably, the victim is changed in the movie version from being a homosexual in Richard Brooks’s original novel The Brick Foxhole.

There was a clutch of 1948 Oscar nominations, five in all, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Ryan), Best Supporting Actress (Grahame) and Best Screenplay, but it won none. And it didn’t turn its 1949 Bafta nomination for Best Film from any Source into a win either. It did win the Best Social Film award at the 1947 Cannes Film Festival though, and quite rightly.

It was Ryan’s only ever Oscar nomination. He strongly opposed McCarthyism and its abuse of innocent people. A pacifist, he campaigned for civil rights and restricting nuclear weapons.

Tragically, however, this was the very type of liberal-minded, left-leaning movie that started the McCarthy witchhunt, and Dmytryk was destined to be one of the Hollywood Ten, shamefully jailed for his beliefs, convictions and conscience.

Also in the cast are Gloria Grahame as Ginny, Paul Kelly, Sam Levene, Jacqueline White, Steve Brodie, Lex Barker, Richard Powers, Richard Benedict, William Phipps, Marlo Dwyer, Harry Harvey, Carl Faulkner, Jay Norris, Robert Bray, Philip Morris and Allen Ray.

Although it was a hit, grossing $1,300,000 on a $250,000 budget, no American studio would hire blacklisted Dmytryk until he named names to the HUAC in 1951. Producer Adrian Scott got no further screen credit for two decades, and died before he could see Crossfire.

Crossfire is directed by Edward Dmytryk, runs 85 minutes, is made and released by RKO Radio Pictures, is written by John Paxton, based on Richard Brooks’s novel The Brick Foxhole, is shot in black and white by J Roy Hunt, is produced by Dore Schary and Adrian Scott, is scored by Roy Webb and Constantin Bakaleinikoff and designed by Alfred Herman.

William Phipps died on 1 June 2018, aged 96.

William Phipps, who made his big-screen debut as Leroy in Crossfire, died on 1 June 2018, aged 96. Among his 229 credits, he voiced Prince Charming in Disney’s cartoon classic Cinderella (1950), starred in Arch Oboler’s end-of-the-world melodrama Five (1951) and played Wash Perry in The War of the Worlds (1953) and Doug Smith in Cat-Women of the Moon (1953).

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2171

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Grahame as Ginny in Crossfire.