Editing Crossfire (film) (section)

==Reception==

===Critical response===
When first released, ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' magazine gave the film a positive review, writing, "''Crossfire'' is a frank spotlight on antisemitism. Producer Dore Schary, in association with Adrian Scott, has pulled no punches. There is no skirting such relative ''fol-de-rol'' as intermarriage or clubs that exclude Jews. Here is a hard-hitting film [based on Richard Brooks' novel, ''The Brick Foxhole''] whose whodunit aspects are fundamentally incidental to the overall thesis of bigotry and race prejudice... Director Edward Dmytryk has drawn gripping portraitures. The flashback technique is effective as it shades and colors the sundry attitudes of the heavy, as seen or recalled by the rest of the cast."<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20220813041131/http://variety.com/1946/film/reviews/crossfire-1200415120/ ''Variety'']. Film review; December 31, 1946. Archived on August 13, 2022.</ref>

''[[The New York Times]]'' film critic, [[Bosley Crowther]], lauded the acting in the drama, and wrote, "Mr. Dmytryk has handled most excellently a superlative cast which plays the drama. Robert Ryan is frighteningly real as the hard, sinewy, loud-mouthed, intolerant and vicious murderer, and Robert Mitchum, Steve Brodie, and George Cooper are variously revealing as his pals. Robert Young gives a fine taut performance as the patiently questioning police lieutenant, whose mind and sensibilities are revolted—and eloquently expressed—by what he finds. Sam Levene is affectingly gentle in his brief bit as the Jewish victim, and Gloria Grahame is believably brazen and pathetic as a girl of the streets."<ref>[https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9A02EED81E3EE13BBC4B51DFB166838C659EDE Crowther, Bosley]. ''The New York Times'', film review, July 23, 1947. Last accessed: February 26, 2008.</ref> In ''[[The Nation (magazine)| The Nation]]'' in 1947, [[James Agee]] stated, "{{nbsp}}... a gruesomely exciting story{{nbsp}}... excellently written and directed...it is, even as melodramatic entertainment, the best Hollywood movie in a long time{{nbsp}}... ''Crossfire'' is an unusually good and honest movie and may—I hope, will—prove a very useful one." Writing about Dore Schary, RKO-Radio's then vice-president in charge of production, Agee continues: "I do not question the goodness of his deepest motives, and I certainly wish him well; but it may as well be remembered that, at best, Hollywood's heroism is calculated to land buttered side up."<ref>Agee, James - ''Agee on Film Vol 1'' © 1958 by The James Agee Trust.</ref>
British film critic [[Leslie Halliwell]] gave it four of four stars: "Tense, talky thriller shot entirely at night with pretty full expressionist use of camera technique: notable for style, acting, experimentation, and for being the first Hollywood film to hit out at racial bigotry."<ref>Halliwell's Film Guide, 7th Edition 1987 ISBN 0-06-016322-4</ref> 

In an essay published in 1977, the Scottish writer Colin McArthur challenged the social reading of ''Crossfire'' by several Anglo-American critics, arguing that thematically and stylistically it was a film noir, and that it reflected that genre in being less concerned with the problems of a particular society, such as antisemitism, than with angst and loneliness as essential elements of the human condition.<ref>McArthur, Colin, "''Crossfire'' and the Anglo-American Critical Tradition", in ''Film Form'' 1, no. 2 (1977), pp.23 - 32, {{issn|0950-1851}}</ref>

Critic Dennis Schwartz questioned the noir aspects of the film in 2000, and discussed the cinematography in his review. He wrote, "This is more of a message film than a noir thriller, but has been classified by most cinephiles in the noir category... J. Roy Hunt, the 70-year-old cinematographer, who goes back to the earliest days of Hollywood, shot the film using the style of [[low-key lighting]], providing dark shots of Monty, contrasted with ghost-like shots of Mary Mitchell (Jacqueline White) as she angelically goes to help her troubled husband Arthur."<ref>[https://dennisschwartzreviews.com/crossfire/ Crossfire]. ''Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews'', film review, August 5, 2019. Last accessed: November 7, 2022.</ref>

The review aggregator [[Rotten Tomatoes]] reported that 88% of critics gave the film a positive review, based on 24 reviews.<ref>[https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/crossfire_1989/ ''Crossfire''] at [[Rotten Tomatoes]]. Last accessed: January 9, 2023.</ref>

===Box office===
The film made a profit of $1,270,000.<ref name="rko">Richard Jewell & Vernon Harbin, ''The RKO Story''. New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House, 1982. p. 222</ref><ref name="uni">Richard B. Jewell, ''Slow Fade to Black: The Decline of RKO Radio Pictures'', Uni of California, 2016</ref>

===Awards===
'''Wins'''
* [[1947 Cannes Film Festival|Cannes Film Festival]]: Award, Best Social Film (''Prix du meilleur film social''), 1947<ref name="festival-cannes.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/1947/awardCompetition.html |title=Festival de Cannes: Crossfire |access-date=January 4, 2009 |work=festival-cannes.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220042228/http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/1947/awardCompetition.html |archive-date=February 20, 2012 }}</ref>
* [[Edgar Award|Edgar Allan Poe Awards]]: Best Motion Picture, 1948<ref>{{Cite web|title=Edgar Allan Poe Awards 1948|url=https://mubi.com/awards-and-festivals/eaps?year=1948|access-date=2022-01-29|website=MUBI|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Search the Edgars Database|url=https://edgarawards.com/search-the-database/|access-date=2022-01-29|website=Edgar Awards Info & Database|at=(searching by Title:Crossfire)}}</ref>

'''Nominations, [[20th Academy Awards]]'''<ref name="Oscars1948">{{Cite web|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1948 |title=The 20th Academy Awards (1948) Nominees and Winners |access-date=2011-08-18 |publisher=Oscars.org ([[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]]) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706093801/http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/20th-winners.html |archive-date=July 6, 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]] - Adrian Scott, producer
* [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]] - Edward Dmytryk
* [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Supporting Actor]] - Robert Ryan
* [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress|Best Supporting Actress]] - Gloria Grahame
* [[Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay|Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay]] - John Paxton

'''Other nominations'''
* [[British Academy of Film and Television Arts]]: BAFTA Film Award, Best Film from Any Source, 1949<ref>{{Cite web|title=BAFTA Awards 1949|url=http://awards.bafta.org/award/1949/film|access-date=2022-01-29|website=British Academy of Film and Television Arts}}</ref>