crossfire ( 1947 ) great message and great symbolism and very good movieit hard to go totally wrong with robert mitchum and robert young and and robert ryan all together a the three male lead and and with director edward dmytryk pull together a complicate murder and detective yarn . that reason enough to watch it once and even twice . you might need a second look to fully catch the plot a it be explain ( too much ) or show in flashback ( also too much ) because it a little complicate without good reason . but it make sense overall and and we see early on ( too early probably ) who the culprit be and and even why . besides the drama and well do in typical noir lighting and fill with those short quip that make post war film dramatic and there be the social message and the anti anti semitic point of it all . it only border on preachy once or twice and and it such an obviously good point to make we watch it be make approvingly and wait for the plot and the dramatic acting to take front row . which they do and especially young and who be a brilliantly laconic and patient detective and and ryan and who be mean in a believably crude and angry way ( ryan be good at that and his typecast reasonable ) . mitchum mostly play a watered down version of what he be famous for and and the fourth know act force and gloria grahame and be a great and brief and presence even if slightly dispensable . though the movie be dominate by the sequence of event and by the message and both of which grow in force a we go and it be really easy to watch just for the lighting and camera work and and act and include the classic fight scene that open the first few second of the film and all do with shadow . the archetype of soldier present be very deliberate and and this might be something people at the time be very familiar with and could relate to as much a the anti semitism thread . the shell shock soldier rendered helpless ( but still intrinsically capable ) and the modest youngster without confidence ( but capable and too ) and and the weary but outwardly able veteran be all there . and of course and the angry and violent soldier who be a product of the war and too . this last be also a responsibility of society even the army go all out to make good on the injustice here and not just because they be criminal and but because they stem from the wear and tear of a long awful war . the audience then and more than now and could really get and but it there to appreciate still .