.a little more action please" sang Elvis Presley. Obviously, no-one had listened to this song before making this film. If only they had, we might have had a little more action. It's a very talky affair and whilst the message is strong, the overall experience is laborious. The film is way too dark – can we have some light, please? – which gives it a film-noir feel and fits with the dark subject matter. But, how about some light once in a while? We also get all the dialogue delivered by every character in a gloomy low-key manner. It reminded me of Eastenders. Who knows, the cast may well have been using this film as an audition piece for that crass soap opera? The actors are all good but the tone of the film never changes and this makes it a ploddingly dull affair and scenes drag on. Soldier Robert Ryan (Montgomery) is a great bigot, he is a scary bully and is the standout in the cast. The film almost gets interesting at the end but at the final denouement slips back into more talking and then things end very conveniently and quickly. It's a film that is way over-rated by people who think a film is good if the message is sound. They forget that the primary purpose of a film is to be entertaining. Hail the wisdom of Elvis.

As most people know, CROSSFIRE was made the same year by Hollywood as Darryl Zanuck's Oscar-winning GENTLEMAN'S AGREEMENT. Both films depict the ugliness of anti-semitism (though CROSSFIRE's original story was about the killing of a gay man in the military). While the subject matter is similar, the tone (and overall effectiveness) of each story differs significantly. For one thing, I think GENTLEMAN'S AGREEMENT seems better to some because of its polished production values-- compared to CROSSFIRE which has much grittier staging.However, the main problem I have with GENTLEMAN'S AGREEMENT is that it lacks action. A film can still have a lot of thought-provoking dialogue, but exciting things need to happen. By comparison, CROSSFIRE is much more kinetic, explosive, powerful-- because we see things going on that illustrate the reality of anti-semitism. It is much less an experiment than GENTLEMAN'S AGREEMENT-- more the actuality, seeing anti-semitism play out before our eyes on screen.In the final analysis, Zanuck's Oscar winner seems like a long-winded sermon-- while Dore Schary's CROSSFIRE is a plot-driven indictment of one of society's great evils.

You can Insert any Class of People into the Open Ended Sentence...I hate ____. Because that is Really what the Movie is about Hate or Bigotry. The Film's Source Material was Homosexuality, the Film Inserted Jews into that Blank Above.When Robert Young's Detective gives His now Famous Speech, He says it All, even Ending with, "...once You Continue Hating, where will it Go, "...to people with striped neckties." This is a Daring and Dark Excursion, via Film-Noir into the Twisted Mind of a Hater, a Bigot that Loses Control and Murders in a Drunken Rage.There is a an Off-Kilter Ambiance to the Whole Film with Distortions and Dream-Like (drunken) Sequences Shot with Odd Lenses and Sharp Shadows and Soft, Out of Focus Scenes, and High-Contrast and Low Lighting. It Really is Film-Noir, not Only in the Look but with the Returning and Confused Soldiers Hastily Re-inserted into Public-Life, some Faring Better than Others.Paul Kelly makes an Odd Appearance as a Completely Whacked Ex-Lover of B-Girl Ginny and it is Another Example of just How out of Sync Things were at War's End. It Becomes Slightly Surreal and He and Ginny are a Civilian-Military Counterpoint to Film-Noir's Take on an Out of Orbit Society that had yet to Settle into a Superficial, but Embraced, Post-War America.It is a Powerful Film and One of the Few Noirs to get Recognition from the Academy. It didn't Win any but had Several Nominations Including, Picture, Director, Script, Robert Ryan, and Gloria Grahame.

Edward Dmytryk directed this landmark film noir about the brutal murder of a Jewish man that points to the guilt of one of a group of soldiers. Robert Young plays Homicide detective Finlay, who believes the murder to be anti-Semitic in motive, though can't understand why. Robert Mitchum plays an army sergeant who conducts his own investigation, that leads to a disturbed and hate-filled soldier played by Robert Ryan, though another soldier is also suspected, and the detective and sergeant try to prove his innocence, and trick Ryan into a confession. Intriguing and bold thriller has fine direction and writing, with equally good acting by the lead actors(all named Robert!)