Crossfire

Crossfire (1947)

Runtime: 86 minutes

Directed by: Edward Dmytryk

Starring: The Three Roberts (Mitchum, Ryan and Young) Gloria Grahame, Paul Kelly

From: RKO

Starring The Three Roberts

Before I begin the review, let me mention that I've been doing better now than earlier in the week. Yesterday I had a bad tooth that was pulled; thank goodness for such things as pain pills, dental insurance and Amoxicillin. But I will start taking better care of myself... in addition, someone I know started having knee troubles and thankfully it was not as serious as first feared: instead fluid was drained and hopefully he'll be back up and kicking in a few days.

Anyhow, this famous noir will be gone from the Criterion Channel at the end of the month; thus, it was time for me to see this for free. Not only does it star three men named Robert (Mitchum, Ryan and Young), it was a rare noir to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture AND it was the first big production to address the topic of anti-Semitism. The film is based on a novel where the topic was homosexuality but regrettably it was far too early in an American movie to address what was seen as “perverse” at the time.

This spans about 24 hours in Washington D.C. A Jewish man is murdered and the signs point to one of several men who are soldiers that are currently demobilized. Two of them are Mitchum & Ryan while Young is the lead detective on the case. An accused suspect is on the run and among other adventures, briefly hangs out with Gloria Grahame. It may not take the viewer long to determine who the murderer was and that he's a prejudicial A-hole... but that does not make this tale any less interesting. Aside from the characters attempting to figure out who the culprit is, the killer actually kills again and there's an important subplot concerning the feeling of listlessness that soldiers experience after they return home from combat.

Mix in the expected noir photography where light and shadows is stressed, a quality cast performing an exciting/thought provoking story pretty well & a great speech from Young concerning bigotry existing throughout history, and this is a noir I was happy to stream on the Criterion Channel while it's still available-its last day is tomorrow.