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.
Review of The Search
