Down With.... ***CENSORED***



The two films we have shown thus far in this series have both depicted periods of history in which one sector of society has violently and systematically cancelled another.

Our next film is a little different. 

The film I have chosen to show this week is so shocking, so controversial and so incendiary, its release was instrumental in destroying the careers of its director and producer, along with several of the actors who appeared in it.



In our modern society, "cancelling" someone often means blocking them on social media, or (in extreme cases) firing them. 

Edward Dmytryk and Adrian Scott (the director and producer, respectively) both served prison sentences following the release of this film.


I should warn everyone that this film is pretty extreme. Don't be fooled by the five (count 'em!) Oscar nominations it received in 1948 (including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay, plus two acting nominations) and don't let all those glowing reviews lull you into a false sense of security. This film is subversive.

I'm kidding, by the way. Please don't haul me in front of a committee.


Crossfire is mostly remembered today as a superlative example of Noir filmmaking (as well as a cast that includes no less than three actors named "Robert") but to the American Government in 1947, Crossfire was all the proof they needed that Hollywood had fallen under the control of Enemy Agents who had to be hunted down and eliminated.


The film itself focusses on a murder investigation and the hunt for a young soldier who may or may not have committed the murder. 


Because most of the main characters are soldiers in uniform, Crossfire has been repeatedly broadcast on the "Movies-4-Men" television channel, apparently based on the presumption that it's somehow a "war movie".

Trust me: this movie is not about what they think it's about.

In many ways, Crossfire is typical of the "B" movies RKO Studios was churning out in the late 40s. It had a tiny budget, pre-existing sets and a cast of contract players. In fact, the only really surprising aspect of the film (at first) was how well it was received in 1947. Never before had a "second feature" received multiple Oscar nominations (try to imagine the reaction if something like Sharknado were to dominate the Oscars today).


To be clear, Crossfire is a genuine masterpiece. It is beautifully written and very atmospherically filmed (they don't call it "Noir" for nothing) and it does manage to subvert many aspects of the Hays Office censorship codes of the day.


None of that had anything to do with what happened next, however. Barely a year after it was released, its director and producer were in prison (along with eight others) and the US Government was launching itself into an extremely destructive and hysterical period of frenzied paranoia. Careers were ended and lives were destroyed in what would eventually become a particularly shameful period of American history.


But I'm getting ahead of myself. We will be exploring the joy that was Senator Joseph McCarthy in the coming weeks - but first, we're going to watch Crossfire.


We'll be screening Crossfire at 7.30pm on Thursday, the 26th of January at the Victoria Park Baptist Church.


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