The Search (1948)

In post-war Berlin, an American private helps a lost Czech boy find his mother.

Director:

Fred Zinnemann

Writers:

Richard Schweizer (screen play), David Wechsler (collaborator: on screen play)

Stars:

Montgomery Clift, Ivan Jandl, Aline MacMahon

Won 1 Oscar. Another 6 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Montgomery Clift	...	Ralph Stevenson
Aline MacMahon	...	Mrs. Deborah R. Murray
Wendell Corey	...	Jerry Fisher
Jarmila Novotna	...	Mrs. Hanna Malik
Mary Patton	...	Mrs. Fisher
Ewart G. Morrison	...	Mr. Crookes
William Rogers	...	Tom Fisher
Ivan Jandl	...	Karel Malik
Leopold Borkowski	...	Joel Makowsky
Claude Gambier	...	Raoul Dubois

Storyline

A silent nine-year-old Czech boy, a survivor of Auschwitz, flees a refugee center in postwar Germany and is found by an American G.I. At the same time, the boy's mother, the sole surviving member of his family, searches refugee centers for her son. Time, distance, and the massive numbers of refugee children are factors hampering the reunion of mother and son.

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Plot Keywords:

germany | children | concentration camp | auschwitz | u.s. soldier | 

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Taglines:

Everybody agrees MGM's The Search is a wonderful motion picture !

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

Switzerland USA

Language:

English German French Polish Hungarian Czech

Release Date:

26 March 1948 (USA)

Also Known As:

Det dagas

Filming Locations:

Zurich, Switzerland

Box Office

Budget:

$250,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Praesens-Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The picture on the wall seen when all the Jewish children leave the UNRRA facility is Theodor Herzl.

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Goofs

All of Tommy's lines were obviously dubbed.

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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.

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Connections

Referenced in Shhhh (2014)

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Soundtracks

Hineh Ma Tov
(uncredited)
Lyrics from Psalm 133
Sung by the Jewish children to the tune of "Battle Hymn of the Republic" music by William Steffe (ca 1856)

User Reviews

A Neglected Classic

I have been haunted by THE SEARCH since I first saw it when it first came out in 1948. I have since been on my own search to be able to see it again. Finally I saw it again at the July 2005 San Francisco Jewish Film Festival where they said they had to obtain a copy of the film from England. It would be interesting to know the circumstances around this film and why it is so rarely available to USAmerican audiences. I suspect that a key element in that obscurity is that its chief writer, Richard Schweizer, was one of the Hollywood Jewish screenwriters blacklisted by the House Unamerican Activities Committee so that the film suffered the same fate. I am very heartened by reading the comments of others on this site. I am not alone in holding this film in a kind of reverence. I hope it will become more generally available to USAmericans. Its neglect is such an injustice for Montgomery Clift who gave such a great naturalistic performance--doing it as well or better than James Dean who followed later. And none of director Fred Zinneman's works should be allowed to disappear.