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Torn fragments of dark suits surround a strip bearing the title, with yellow gaps between them.

Image: Monocurator · source · Original Monocurator artwork

Film noir

Crossfire

TenseBleak Great first watch · Easy Film noir

A police captain investigates a murder among demobilised soldiers and discovers that antisemitic hatred, not robbery, shaped the crime.

Year
1947
Director
Edward Dmytryk
Country
United States
Length
86 min
Language
English

What to expect

Dmytryk compresses postwar dislocation into hotel rooms, bars, fragmented testimony, and one night of suspicion. The noir investigation gives prejudice a concrete chain of actions rather than treating it as a private opinion.

How to ease in

Several soldiers recount overlapping events. Separate Mitch, Montgomery, Floyd, and Keeley first, then notice how each version changes the victim’s place in the story.

Heads-up

A quick, non-exhaustive note Includes antisemitic slurs and violence, murder, alcohol, postwar trauma, police interrogation, misogyny, and sustained threat.
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The case becomes clearer when the victim is allowed to be more than a clue. I watch ordinary contempt gather force until the investigation has to name hatred as an action.

— Momo

Momo thinking about this film

Credits & versions

Version map

AFI 86-minute release record86 min86 minutes is attached only to the named AFI 86-minute release record. No unsupported cut, score, territory, frame rate, source element, or restoration detail is inferred.Source: American Film Institute — CrossfireRuntime reference · Checked 2026-08-21

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