The Search (1948)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

Fred Zinnemann

Writers:

Richard Schweizer (screenplay)
David Wechsler (collaborator on screenplay)

Release Date:

26 March 1948 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | War

Plot:

In the Post-War Berlin, an American private helps a lost Czech boy to find his mother.

Plot Keywords:

Germany | Concentration Camp | Children | Ruins | Orphan

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 5 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Montgomery Clift	...	Ralph 'Steve' Stevenson
Aline MacMahon	...	Mrs. Murray
Jarmila Novotna	...	Mrs. Hannah Malik
Wendell Corey	...	Jerry Fisher
Ivan Jandl	...	Karel 'Jimmy' Malik
Mary Patton	...	Mrs. Fisher
Ewart G. Morrison	...	Mr. Crookes
William Rogers	...	Tom Fisher
Leopold Borkowski	...	Joel Markowsky
Claude Gambier	...	Raoul Dubois

Runtime:

Germany:105 min

Country:

Switzerland | USA

Language:

English | German | French | Polish | Hungarian | Czech

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:S | USA:Passed | Sweden:Btl

Filming Locations:

Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany

Company:

Praesens-Film

Quotes:

[Steve is teaching a young boy, whose name he does not know but has coined Jim, to speak English]
Ralph 'Steve' Stevenson: [to Jim] You have no idea how useful it's going to be for you to know English. You can go where ever you like. Everybody knows what 'OK' means. You can use English all over the world. Not, not just America: Canada, Africa, Australia, India. Even in England, they understand English... well, sort of.

Movie Connections:

References Bambi (1942)

Soundtrack:

'S Wonderful

Warning: this fantastic movie will start you bawling!

Aside from some dated music and ponderous narration, this is a nearly perfect film. It's surprising, then, that people rarely talk about this being among Montgoery Clift's best work. I, for one, prefer this over From Here to Eternity, Raintree County or even The Heiress. This is because I rarely have encountered a movie that has so pulled me in emotionally to the story. I'm a guy and I don't just start bawling at everything, but I defy ANY person to watch this film with a dry eye! It just doesn't seem possible.

The story is less about G.I. Clift than about a sad but adorable little boy he encounters wandering around in post-war Germany. At first, the boy is wild and doesn't trust anyone, as he and his family had been through the holocaust. Somehow in the concentration camp, he and his mother had become separated and at the end of the war, he had run away from the allied resettlement program because he had a natural fear of ALL soldiers. Despite these tragedies, the boy did not give up hope of one day finding his mother, though Clift plans on taking him back to the States because he knows it is hopeless to go on searching.

You've GOT to see this film! You've GOT to show it to your kids! Although the Diary of Ann Frank and Shindler's List have received a lot of attention, this little film is every bit as poignant and important for understanding the real impact of World War II.