Editing Fred Zinnemann (section)

===1940s===
[[File:Montgomery Clift in The Search trailer.jpg|thumb|Montgomery Clift in his debut film, ''The Search'' (1948)]]
After some directing success with some short films, he graduated to features in 1942, turning out two B mysteries, ''[[Kid Glove Killer]] and'' ''[[Eyes in the Night]]'' before getting his big break with ''[[The Seventh Cross (film)|The Seventh Cross]]'' (1944), starring [[Spencer Tracy]], which became his first hit. The film was based on [[Anna Seghers]]' novel and, while filmed entirely on the [[MGM]] [[backlot]], made realistic use of refugee German actors in even the smallest roles. The central character—an escaped prisoner played by Tracy—is seen as comparatively passive and fatalistic. He is, however, the subject of heroic assistance from anti-Nazi Germans. In a sense, the most dynamic character of the film is not the Tracy character but a humble German worker played by [[Hume Cronyn]], who changes from Nazi sympathizer to active opponent of the regime as he aids Tracy.

After World War II, Zinnemann learned that both of his parents had been murdered in the [[Holocaust]].<ref name=Nolletti/>{{rp|86}} He was frustrated by his studio contract, which dictated that he did not have a choice in directing films like ''[[Little Mister Jim]]'' (1946) and ''[[My Brother Talks to Horses]]'' (1947) despite his lack of interest in their subject matter.<ref name="books.google.com">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SiK_3d6a7DQC|title=Fred Zinnemann: Interviews|first=Fred|last=Zinnemann|date=August 3, 2018|publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi|access-date=August 3, 2018|via=Google Books|isbn=9781578066988}}</ref> However, his next film, ''[[The Search]]'' (1948), won an Oscar for screenwriting and secured his position in the Hollywood establishment. Shot in war-ravaged Germany, the film stars [[Montgomery Clift]] in his screen debut as a [[G.I. (military)|GI]] who cares for a lost Czech boy traumatized by the war. It was followed by ''[[Act of Violence]]'' (1948), a gritty [[film noir]] starring [[Van Heflin]] as a haunted POW, [[Robert Ryan]] as his hot-tempered former friend, [[Janet Leigh]] as Heflin's wife, and [[Mary Astor]] as a sympathetic prostitute. Zinnemann considered ''Act of Violence'' the first project in which he "felt comfortable knowing exactly what I wanted and exactly how to get it."<ref name="books.google.com"/>