The Seventh Cross
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (1944) Dir. Fred Zinnemann
111 min. / B&W / 1.37:1 / DTS-HD MA 2.0 MONO/ SDH
Warner Archive Blu-ray $24.98
Available from our partner (pre-order with 10% discount) Movie Zyng
MGM’s The Seventh Cross took us by surprise, it’s a hard-hitting wartime thriller that’s not a patriotic flag-waver but a reminder that even in the darkest times under the cruelest circumstances, basic human kindness and decency can be found.
Reportedly one of the first Hollywood films, if not THE first, to show the brutality of German concentration camps. Early one pre-dawn, seven men escape, and we don’t know much about them – a scientist, a Jew, a teacher, a writer, etc. The first to be recaptured, tortured, and hung on a cross in the camp yard to die is Ray Collins, who narrates the film from beyond the grave. One by one, six crosses are put to use, until the Gestapo search narrows to the last survivor, Spencer Tracy, who has crept into his home city, Mainz, starving, injured, and filthy, to try and find help from old friends. As important as helping him to freedom, a handful of courageous German comrades renew his faith in humanity.
The Seventh Cross was based on a novel by Anna Seghers, who had indeed fled Nazi Germany and written several books about life in her home country under Hitler (like the characters in the film, she was from Mainz). The film was timely and popular and reviews were generally good; Bosley Crowther: “In men—even in Germans—there is an instinct for good that cannot be destroyed. If you will accept this premise, despite the evidence of recent deeds, then you should be both moved and shaken by the better part of this film”. Mr. Crowther’s premise is still one that is argued over today.
The Seventh Cross is one of Fred Zinnemann’s early feature films after graduating from directing dramatic short subjects for MGM (three of which, including a Crime Does Not Pay, are included here as bonus shorts), and Karl Freund’s cinematography is brilliant. Spencer Tracy is, as usual, terrific, and has little dialogue until the film picks up steam in about reel 2 or 3. The supporting cast is uniformly excellent, including Agnes Moorehead, Herb Rudley, and George Macready, and you won’t miss Hugh Beaumont, unbilled, as a truck driver. If you are wondering why I haven't mentioned the film's leading lady, Signe Hasso, it's because her part was written in to give Tracy some unnecessary "romance" to help sell the picture, and is the one wrong note in the endeavor.
All that said, special kudos are earned by two other supporting players, Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy, who are so good as a young couple who risk everything to help Tracy that they become the heroes of the picture, and the enormous talent they’d display throughout their careers is certainly on display here. Cronyn would get an Oscar nomination for this picture, in fact. They’re terrific.
The Seventh Cross is a film that won’t easily be forgotten.
