CinemaLit - Crossfire (1947)

February 21 - Crossfire (1947), 86 minutes, directed by Edward Dmytryk, starring Robert Young, Robert Ryan, Robert Mitchum, and Gloria Grahame.

Crossfire’s 1945 source novel was The Brick Foxhole by Richard Brooks, who’s best remembered as an acclaimed screenwriter and director (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Elmer Gantry). The Crossfire loose adaptation became a genuine rarity - a film noir and message movie rolled into one. While most noirs have lover’s jealousy or greed as criminal motivation, Crossfire’s plot engine is fueled by anti-Semitism. Riveting from start to finish, Crossfire is enriched by superb direction, acting, and writing, resulting in five major Oscar nominations: Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, and acting for Robert Ryan and that ne plus ultra film noir femme fatale Gloria Grahame. 

February 2025 CinemaLit - Race and Intolerance in American Classic Films

Common knowledge says Hollywood’s history of race is appalling. For decades, stardom was limited to white actors, while actors of color were consigned to supporting roles as butlers, maids, chauffeurs, and nannies. Even films inviting expanded casting, such as The Good Earth (1937) and Dragon Seed (1944), resorted to name actors in yellowface. Mickey Rooney as Mr. Yunioshi in Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) badly scars the movie. Birth of a Nation (1914) glorifies the Ku Klux Klan. The list goes on and on. Many a classic film, Gone with the Wind (1939) most famously, are marred by stereotypes that read poorly with today’s audiences.

Within this legacy are a handful of films that offered a vision beyond cinematic racist shorthand. While not all of the films completely escape the entrenched prejudices of their day, they allowed for complex stories and thoughtful performances from marginalized actors and laid the groundwork for more nuanced and ambitious storytelling. February at CinemaLit is devoted to four of these influential films, now recognized as landmarks in the history of race and racism in Hollywood. Join us for Intruder in the Dust (1949), Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967), Crossfire (1947), and Broken Arrow (1950).

Host or Publisher Mechanics' Institute