CROSSFIRE (DVD/STND-1.37/ENG-FR-SP SUB) DVD

Crossfire
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 strumpet 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 his wife and Finlay 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. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Cast Robert Young as Capt. Finlay Robert Mitchum as Sgt. Peter Kelley Robert Ryan as Monty Montgomery Gloria Grahame as Ginny Tremaine Paul Kelly as The Man Sam Levene as Joseph Samuels Jacqueline White as Mary Mitchell Steve Brodie as Floyd Bowers Richard Benedict as Bill Williams William Phipps as Leroy Lex Barker as Harry Marlo Dwyer as Miss Lewis

Crew Albert S. D'Agostino - Art Director Alfred Herman - Art Director Edward Dmytryk - Director Harry Gerstad - Editor Dore Schary - Executive Producer Roy Webb - Composer (Music Score) Constantin Bakaleinikoff - Musical Direction/Supervision Gordon Bau - Makeup Roy Hunt - Cinematographer Adrian Scott - Producer Darrell Silvera - Set Designer John Sturtevant - Set Designer Russell A. Cully - Special Effects Clem Portman - Sound/Sound Designer John E. Tribby - Sound/Sound Designer John Paxton - Screenwriter Richard Brooks - Book Author

Crossfire
Edward Dmytryk's classic oir 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 oirs, 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 oir 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. ~ Michael Costello, All Movie Guide
 

Edward Dmytryk: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Director (nominated) Gloria Grahame: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Supporting Actress (nominated) John Paxton: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Screenplay (nominated) Robert Ryan: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Pic (nominated)

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Picture (nominated) British Academy of Film and Television, Best Film - Any Source (nominated) Cannes Film Festival, Best Socially Minded Film (winner) National Board of Review, Best Picture (nominated)

General Specifications: Language Options: English Subtitle Options: English, French, Spanish Sound Processing: DD1: Dolby Digital Mono Additional Features: cc Commentary by film historians Alain Silver and James Ursini Audio interview excerpts of director Edward Dmytryk Featurette: "Crossfire: Hate is Like a Gun" Subtitles: English, Français, and Español (feature film only) DVD Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1: Pre-1954 Standard MPAA Rating: NR DVD Discs Included: 1 DVD Sides: 1 DVD DVD Region Code: 1 Content Length: 85 min   DVD Chapters: Side #1 -- 1. Credits [1:16] 2. Murder Scene [4:48] 3. Everybody's the Type [5:14] 4. Guys in a Bar [4:04] 5. Only Story I've Got [4:10] 6. Helping Mitchell Escape [3:39] 7. Too Used to Hating [4:07] 8. Blurring Into Ginny [3:44] 9. Free Dance [3:11] 10. Ginny's Husband [4:15] 11. Snakes Are Loose [2:02] 12. Crazy Monty [5:27] 13. Balcony Reunion [6:14] 14. Questioning Ginny [6:58] 15. Those Guys Got Ways [2:28] 16. Hate Enough to Kill [3:54] 17. Questioning Leroy [3:38] 18. Real American History [3:05] 19. Saying Nothing [4:08] 20. Looking for Floyd [3:05] 21. Right House, Right Killer [5:27] 22. Cast List [:30]