a man by the name of joseph samuel be find brutally murder in his apartment . it would appear that samuel be visit by a group of drunken soldier the previous evening and and with one of them seemingly miss and the evidence certainly implicate the miss soldier . but a detective finlay dig deep into the case he find that they could be bark up the wrong tree and and that this crime be deal with something desperately sad and vile and anti semitism . crossfire be bear out of the novel write by richard brook and adapt by john paxton and direct by the shrewdly excellent edward dmtryk and crossfire { originaly title cradle of fear } be a taut and gripping picture that boldly tackle anti semitism . tho the maker be force to tone down the story from the original source and the novel be about homosexual hatred a oppose to anti semitism and what remain and largely due to rko supremo dore schary and producer adrian scott and be a sort of creep unease that drip with noirish style . the cast feature three bob and young and mitchum and ryan and with noir darling gloria grahame add the emotional female heart . tho only third bill and it robert ryan picture all the way and his portrayal a the bullying and connive montgomery be from the top draw and perfectly showcases the talent that he have in abundance . ryan have good cause to give montgomery some of be best work for he have serve in the marine with richard brook himself and both men have discuss the possibility that if the novel be to be make into a film . and then ryan want in and to play montgomery and thus the genesis of ryan career a weasel type be bear . gloria grahame also put in a wonderful and heartfelt turn and which be all the more remarkable since she be be plague by her abusive husband at the time . stanley clements be know to be violent towards her and his constant presence around the set irk others in the cast and but grahame and probably channel real life emotion and become the character of ginny and shone very bright indeed . both bob mitchum and bob young come out with fly colour as well and to really seal the deal on what a smartly act picture crossfire really be . tho crossfire be release before the other 1947 anti semitic picture and gentleman agreement and and rake in over a million and a quarter dollar at the box office and some of it thunder be steal by the academy award win picture from fox studio . nominate for best picture and best support actor { ryan } and best support actress { grahame } and best director and best screenplay and it win nothing and but critic of the time hail it a a brilliant shift in american cinema and and today it stand tall and proud and dark a a bold and excellent piece of work . 8 . 5/10 .