Search, The (1948)
Director: Fred Zinnemann
Starring: Montgomery Clift, Ivan Jandl
Honors:
Golden Globe fore Best Screenplay
Juvenile Golden Globe
The results of World War II were still being felt throughout
the world in 1948. The feature The Search
shared the scars of Europe’s great tragedies of families torn apart by the
conflict. Famous for being shot on location amid the bombed ruins of Germany
following the war, this drama would touch many hearts through motion picture by
sharing a tale about compassion and unity following the greatest conflict the
world had ever experienced. Starring two unknowns, one a 20-something who would
quickly become one of Hollywood’s bright new actors, and the other a small
child who despite his great acclaim for his role in the feature would never experience
proper adulation, this film would change both of their lives.
The Search is a Swiss-American
drama about a Czech boy lost in Germany following the war in search of his
mother and the American GI who would help him. Following the war United Nation
efforts attempt to reunite homeless children with their families in Allied
occupied Germany. One boy, Karel (Ivan Jandl), survived with his mother (Jamila
Novotná) the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz, but were separated, leaving
him a scavenger in a land where he could not speak the language. Skittish about
nearly everything Karel trusts nothing, even fleeing the United Nations relief
camp that would have attempted to help due to his mistrust of all military
looking individuals. With ingenuity and compassion the young, kind US private
named Steve (Montgomery Clift) captures the young boy, taking him in, gaining
his trust, feeding and clothing him, nicknaming him “Jim,” and teaching him
English, becoming a point of pride for the soldier.
As Steve’s days serving in Germany are quickly winding down he
considers adopting Jim, but Jim must first go through the United Nation system to
find his family before Steve can attempt to bring him to the States. Events
begin to remind Jim of the horrors of Auschwitz and his missing mother, who
unbeknownst to him is looking for him during this time as well. Out of childish
naiveté Jim briefly runs away to hopelessly find his mother only to find security
in Steve. Steve delivers Jim to the UN camp to put him though the system, but after
a near miss with his mother who happens to have volunteered at that camp in
search of her son the two are emotionally reunited, little Karel with his
loving mother.
The picture begins as a bit of a wondering film, with a plot
that appears non existent and a lack of drive. The child actor Ivan Jandl
struggles to be compelling until the appearance of the lead actor Montgomery
Clift making is first appearance 36 minutes into the feature. Form there the
picture blossoms with a heart and soul that would be fulfilling even without
the high emotional ending where Karel is reunited with his mother. The
performances of Clift and Jandl feel so natural and with the locations being
actually the ruins of war scarred Germany, the film has a compelling
authenticity that uniquely delivers a small film into a something greater.
This post war picture could be observed as a passion project
of Austrian born director Fred Zinnemann, who following the conclusion of the
war learned that his parents had died within the walls of a Nazi concentration camp.
With the main character of small Czech boy, a survivor of such a cruel camp, lost
during the early rebuilding stages of the country, Zinnemann convinced MGM to
have his production shoot this lower budgeted picture in Europe, with exteriors
in front of the results of the very war that inspired it while finishing the
interiors at a studio in Zurich, Switzerland. The result is a picture that utilizes
the real life surroundings to make the film feel much larger than it could have
been on a Hollywood backlot, and delivers an emotion kick with the innocence of
the European children within the feature that no US child actor could
duplicate.
The cast of the picture was a series of no name actors to
any American audience. Most importantly was the casting of the boy Karel, or
“Jim” as the American GI nicknamed him while in his care. Ivan Jandl was a nine
year old Czech with minimal acting experience in his homeland, but Zinnemann
found his innocent look and meek delivery to be perfect for a frightened and
lost boy in the middle of Europe’s ruins. The problem is that Jandl spoke
absolutely no English. His performance included him learning his lines
phonetically, enough to convince us that he is actually conversing with Steve
after learning his minimal English alog with his absolute naïve manner in which
he carries himself.
Montgomery Clift was brand new to Hollywood, here acting in
his second feature film. Since his first movie, The Red River starring John Wayne, filmed in 1946 was dramatically slowed
in post-production The Search became
his big screen debut. The 27 year old was of a new crop of fresh faced actors
appearing in Hollywood during the period, relocating from Broadway to start a
new and exciting career in the movies. When Clift landed the role of Steve he
was not too fond of how the dialogue was written and convinced Zinnemann that
he could rewrite his lines to feel more natural to his style. This would anger
the screenwriters a great deal, but the result was a naturalistic delivery that
earned him great critical praise. His delivery was so natural and his persona
informal that many question Zinnemann where he got such a soldier to act in his
picture. Clift’s performance earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best
Actor in his debut picture, while his unhappy screenwriters, Richard Schweizer
and David Wechsler, received a nomination for Best Screenplay following the
uncredited changes by Clift. Despite the loss for screenplay, the writers would
receive the award for Best Story at that year’s ceremony.
Other contributors to the cast were small time supporting
actor and future Academy President Wendell Corey as Steve’s soldier friend, the
sympathetic acting stylings of Aline MacMahon as the director of the camp to
educated and reunite children with their parents, and Jarmila Novotná, a Czech
opera singer playing the reserved mother searching for Karel. Local citizens
and children filled in as extras throughout the feature, leading to a rather
inexpensive feature aside from transporting director and crew to Europe for
shooting. This cast of unknowns and locals provided a remarkably authentic feel
for the picture that would pay off handsomely with viewers.
When the feature premiered in 1948 critics immediately
praised the picture for it emotional impact, the awareness it provided towards
the devastation in Europe and the need for peaceful relationships
internationally. Zinnemann was honored with nominations for his directing at
the Oscars and the Director’s Guild of America. Special awards were given to
the feature for it international message from BAFTA and the Golden Globes. At
the Academy Awards Ivan Jandl was to be honored for his performance in the
feature with one of the Oscar’s Special Juvenile Awards. However, due to the
new rift forming in the world between capitalist nations and Communism, Jandl
was not given permission to leave his home of Czechoslovakia due to its newly embraced
communist government. Zinnemann would accept his award in his place. Jandle
would give up acting shortly after and his Oscar, as well as the Golden Globe
equivalent would eventually find their way east honoring his contribution to
the world of motion pictures.
This somewhat small picture, produced for a quarter million
dollars would be in its own right a great success. For its moment in history it
helped feed the message of international peace. Sadly history shows that the
message on a whole was not received as the Cold War would overtake much of the
remainder of the 20th Century. For Montgomery Clift this was the
feature that put him immediately on the map, launching a career that would
sadly be cut short too soon. For many The
Search is not a film known to the cinematic memory, but was worth a look at
in perspective of history of the world and the cinema.
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