1947 film noir thriller tackles anti-semitism

Dark shadows and even darker intentions are at the center of "Crossfire," the 1947 film noir thriller getting a rare theatrical screening tonight as part of the Virginia Festival of Jewish Film at Roper Performing Arts Center at Tidewater Community College in Norfolk.

It was the first B-movie to receive an Academy Award best-picture nomination, and was groundbreaking in the way anti--Semitism was treated as a theme in a mainstream Hollywood movie. Nominated for five Oscars, it stars Hollywood bad boy Robert Mitchum and has Oscar-nominated performances by Gloria Grahame and Robert Ryan (as one of the great psychopathic villains of all film). It also received the top award of the Cannes Film Festival.

Set in Washington, D.C., among comrades back home after World War II, "Crossfire" begins with a murder - committed in shadows. There is little doubt, though, from the beginning, who the murderer is. The film builds suspense steadily on the questions of whether and how he will be captured. Most at question is a motive. There was no reason for the victim (played by Sam Levene of "Guys and Dolls" fame) to be killed except, maybe, because he was Jewish.

"Crossfire" is important, in part, because of the time it was released. The year 1947 was the same year that "Gentleman's Agreement," another groundbreaking film about Judaism in America, won the Academy Award for best picture. "Crossfire," though, was released several months before.

Its theme was considered shocking in its day. Although almost all the studios were run by Jewish moguls, there was a reluctance to rock the boat. It was Darryl F. Zanuck, the non-Jewish head of 20th Century Fox, who led the way in making "Gentleman's Agreement," which was shown at this festival three years ago. He, in fact, asked RKO not to release "Crossfire" in the same year - fearing a backlash.

"Crossfire" is based on a novel called "The Brick Foxhole" written by Richard Brooks while he was a sergeant in the Marine Corps. It concerned prejudice in the military but was vastly changed when it was turned into a movie. Brooks went on to become a major director ("Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," "Elmer Gantry") and marry British screen beauty Jean Simmons.

Director Edward Dmytryk was eager to take on "Crossfire" even though it had a low budget. He concealed the cheap sets by using shadows, fog and the darkness of night. He was blessed with a stellar cast, including the up-and-coming Mitchum. (Yes, he was a troublemaker. After the screening, I'll talk a little about some troublesome real-life meetings with him.)

The picture belongs, though, to Ryan, a respected stage actor whose screen outings were perhaps too often limited to villains. He is horrifyingly real as the loud-mouthed, intolerant and vicious murderer at the center of things. Grahame plays an understanding prostitute named Ginny (who claims she's from Virginia). Grahame is one of the great sassy presences in film history - often playing hard-bitten but vulnerable and misunderstood women. She scored as the elephant girl in Cecil B. DeMille's "The Greatest Show on Earth" and won an Academy Award for playing a Southern belle from Richmond in the classic "The Bad and the Beautiful." Here, she is both brazen and pathetic - turning just two scenes into a nominated performance.

The posters outside the theaters when "Crossfire" opened read "Hate is like a loaded gun!" This film is disturbing, particularly in a military community. Disguised as a thriller, it indicts the military world and the world in general.

The film will be followed by a reception and refreshments at Roper Performing Arts Center.

Mal Vincent, 757-446-2347, mal.vincent@pilotonline.com