Wonderful Quote on TCM Website from Edward Dmytryk About Crossfire

Thanks to Dmytryk's tight shooting schedule Crossfire managed to beat a similar-themed film about anti-Semitism - Gentleman's Agreement - to the theatres and stole some of the latter film's thunder, but not in the Oscar race. At the 1947 Academy Awards ceremony, Gentleman's Agreement won three of its seven nominations including Best Picture; Crossfire didn't win any awards despite five nominations.

Still, the film was a critical success and a box office hit for RKO. And its theme is still relevant today.

Regarding this, Dmytryk wrote in his autobiography, that "After our rough-cut showing to the sound and music department, one of the young assistant sound cutters, an Argentine, complimented me on the picture.

"It's such a fine suspense story," he said. "Why did you have to bring in that stuff about anti-Semitism?"

"That was our chief reason for making the film," I answered.

"But there is no anti-Semitism in the United States," he protested. "If there were, why is all the money in America controlled by Jewish bankers?"

I stared at him in astonishment. "That's why we made the film" was all I could think of to say."
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No wonder this film so needed to be made. And sadly such ill-informed bigoted people can still be found everywhere, as regards anti-Semitic attitudes.