Matcollis This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

TeenzTen An action-packed slog

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

SimonJack Several other reviewers discuss the plot of "The Seventh Cross," and a little bit about Anna Seghers, author of the book on which the film is based. My comments will be on some aspects not as much discussed. Most obvious is the historical significance of the book and this movie. The story takes place in 1936 and was written by Seghers in 1940, after she had fled Germany for Mexico. As others noted, this is one of a very few films made by Hollywood that mentions concentration camps. "The Mortal Storm" in 1940 was the first that I can recall. It starred Jimmy Stewart, Margaret Sullavan and Robert Young. Seghers is the pen-name of Netty Reiling, a woman of Jewish descent born in 1900. Her home was Mainz, which is the place where much of "The Seventh Cross" takes place. Her Communist background is irrelevant to the story, except for two things. First – the prisoners who are the subject of this story had been members of the Communist party in Germany. Communists, Catholic priests, and political opponents were the first groups to be put into concentration camps by the Nazis. Second – Seghers, herself, had been arrested by the Gestapo, after she wrote her 1932 novel, "Die Gefährten" (The Companions). I don't know any more details about her arrest or imprisonment. She obviously was released by the authorities. But then she waited to flee Germany until after the fall of France to the Germans in late June, 1940. From 1933 through 1939, some 475,000 Jews had fled Germany. Aside from the interest this bit of information may be to other viewers, I mention it because it points to the daring and risk that Anna Seghers took in remaining so long in Germany. Of course, had she not done so, we may never have gotten the wonderful story she wrote that is the basis of this movie. What Seghers gave us in her book, and what the film shows very well, was the condition of the German people at that time – around 1936. This is a story about some of the common people. Those who may have been led to believe or hope in the lies and empty promises of the Nazis. It is about a few of those who kept in line on the surface, but were willing to fight the Nazis privately. We can see the blind fervor and loyalty of much of the population. And we can see the fear and caution of many. And, we can see the toil on human emotions and the human spirit in Spencer Tracy's character after he escapes and struggles to find anyone to help him. A combination of that helplessness and fear is evident also in Jessica Tandy's character, as she sits crying and wondering if her husband would return after being taken away by the Gestapo. So, this film gives us a good picture of the human condition of the time – the fear by most, the despair by many, the hopelessness by some. And, then we see the ray of hope that Tracy's George Heisler begins to show as one person and then another is willing to help him. We can come to the same conclusion – so long as there are a few people who care and are willing to risk their security and life for others, there is hope for mankind. Finally, "The Seventh Cross" stands as a truly great film on acting – the acting profession itself. The performances by every single character are excellent. They show in their actions, expressions and words, the full range of emotions – believably. Just concentrate on Tracy's Heisler alone. The role has few spoken lines – it may be the fewest of any star in any movie. But we see the slow transformation of that man from fear and despair to hope and optimism – almost entirely in his facial expressions and physical demeanor. Great acting, indeed! And "The Seventh Cross" excels in all its technical aspects as well – script, directing, lighting, cinematography, sets and costumes. An excellent, thought-provoking and entertaining film for all ages and all time. It's a good look at history that we should not forget.

Steffi_P It has often been commented that the Hollywood motion picture got a lot grimmer and bleaker during the years of World War Two, as events round the globe (and the fact they were being filmed as they happened) brought out new cynicism and a willingness to portray the darker side of life. This is after all supposedly how film noir got started. But to a large extent this trend had its beginnings not in the gritty gangster movie but in pictures that dealt with wartime subject matter directly.Although it is set some years before the war began, The Seventh Cross is incredibly frank and accurate about the cruel and domineering nature of Nazism. But this is not just some gung-ho, bash-the-Germans propaganda piece, and nor is it as misanthropic as film noir. Far from it; The Seventh Cross dares to suggest, unusually for a picture made while the war was in progress, that there are many decent, thoughtful Germans amongst the bad. It also makes the very good point that what makes a dictatorship work is not just the evil intentions of a small minority, but also the naivety and indifference of a great many more people. Predictably the movie removes the direct references to the hero's socialist politics and replaces them with a dose of Christian rhetoric, but the story's warm, humanist message remains intact.A few problems (indeed the picture's only significant problems) lie in the structure of the screenplay. Much of the story is told by a voice-over, which is not necessarily a bad thing but in this case tends to disarm the on screen narrative. For example, Spencer Tracy is effectively mute for the first twenty minutes because the voice-over (a different character) is doing all his talking for him, revealing every thought process but giving us nothing of the man's character. And for a lead role he comes across as disappointingly bland. But perhaps even this fact has a silver lining, as it allows all the minor characters – some of them crucial to the overall work despite only having a minute or two of screen time – to shine through.Which makes this a good point to talk about the actors. The Seventh Cross features a bevy of excellent supporting players. Some of these, such as Agnes Morehead and Felix Bressart play simple walk-on, walk-off roles in spite of their stature at the time. But this is in many how it works; actors of that calibre are able to make an impression in a short space of time, which is exactly what the story requires. Best of the bunch is certainly Hume Cronyn, who gives us his usual simple nice-guy persona, and then shows us what happens when reality comes crashing in. It's a performance with realism, dignity and great emotion. As you might guess from the previous paragraph Spencer Tracy is not well-served by this screenplay, and is not called on to do much more than look sullen and mutter the odd word or two. But at least an actor like Tracy can pull that off with some degree of depth and presence, whereas a lesser player would have just been wooden.As for director Fred Zinnemann, much is often made of his background making documentary shorts, but I feel his experience in tense thrillers (which many of his early feature were) played an equal if not greater part in shaping his approach, especially to later gems such as High Noon and Day of the Jackal. As time went on Zinnemann would learn to reconcile the fast pacing of the thriller with his love of beauty and his intensely intimate style, the kernels of which can be seen here. The Seventh Cross contains a fair few point-of-view shots, putting us in the hero's shoes, but there are a number of other tricks too. Take for example the scene where Tracy blags is way into town carrying a couple of farming tools. There is a lengthy, tracking close-up of his face as he trudges along, while the noises of the stormtroopers and the barking of dogs goes on all around. This puts us right there with his fear of being caught and his need to be unobtrusive, and has a far stronger psychological impact than if it actually focused on his pursuers.The Seventh Cross is, from its opening shot of the row of crosses with a tiny sun trying to peep through the mist, an incredibly bleak-looking picture. There is something very painful in seeing the picture's message of hope amid all the darkness and squalor – it emphasises the fragility of that hope, and the true desperation of life in Europe at that time. And, in some way this is a very European-looking picture. By this I don't mean that it imitates European production styles, but that it is very hard to think that the cast and crew would not have set foot outside the US in making it. This is partly thanks to some devoted production design, and partly due to the large number of German-speaking refugees in bit roles. But it is also in some way down to its portrayal of Nazi Germany as a real place populated by real people – a society that had become sick, twisted and nightmarish to live in, but one in which could still be found that spark of human decency that can never been extinguished entirely.

sddavis63 Spencer Tracy headlines a fine cast as George Heisler, an escapee from a Nazi concentration camp in 1936 who has to depend on help from old friends to make his escape successful, all the while not really knowing who he can trust and being actively sought out by the Gestapo. The sense of fear and paranoia that's developed by the movie is quite ominous. Like Heisler, as the viewer you can never really be sure who can be trusted. Nazi Germany is portrayed (accurately!) as a dangerous place, unsympathetic to anyone who might be even remotely opposed to the regime. There's a sense of hopelessness here right from the start. Heisler is one of seven escapees - six of whom are quickly recaptured. Heisler himself feels totally alone, unsure who to turn to for assistance. He finally connects with an old friend (Paul, played by Hume Cronyn - whose wife Liesel was played by Jessica Tandy.) Not knowing that Heisler is a fugitive, Paul and Liesel take him in, and as they slowly discover what's going on, they become his hope and his lifeline.There are some major weaknesses to this, unfortunately, which prevent it from being a first-class film. Tracy's role is unfortunately limited. The first half of the story especially is actually narrated more than acted - the narration being offered by one of Heisler's fellow escapees who died, and the movie implies is watching over Heisler as he tries to stay out of the Gestapo's clutches. The movie would have been well advised to have taken better advantage of Tracy's considerable acting talents. The addition of a romance (completely out of left field) between Heisler and a local waitress in the movie's last half hour seemed bizarre and totally out of place. Probably because of the sudden focus on the quasi-romance, Heisler's ultimate escape comes across as surprisingly (and disappointingly) easy and undramatic.Aside from the believable portrayal of the bleakness of life in Nazi Germany, the movie is probably most surprising for offering at the same time a rather hopeful portrayal - the point is repeatedly made that not all Germans are soulless Nazis, and there are many individual Germans who take great chances to help Heisler. That was a bit surprising to me, since the movie was made during the height of World War II (in 1944) and as a result one might have expected a more negative portrayal of Germans than was actually offered. This was a good movie - it could have been a great movie if not for the weaknesses I mentioned above.

Michael_Elliott Seventh Cross, The (1944) *** 1/2 (out of 4) Hard hitting Ww2 drama has Spencer Tracy playing one of seven men who escape from a concentration camp. When the other six men are captured or killed, Tracy knows that the entire country will be looking for him so his desperate search for help grows more difficult. Whenever great WW2 films are discussed this one here hardly ever gets mentioned, which is a real shame because this film turned out to be a real gem that works on so many levels and once again features a great performance by Tracy. Zinnemann does a great job directing this film and what I loved most is the fact that Tracy's character is under constant threat of being captured and sent back to the camp. Tracy can't trust anyone and must take big risks in trying to reach out for anyone to help him and this here is perfectly captured by the director. There's a tense atmosphere running throughout the film and it's what I'd compare to a feather blowing in the wind. Tracy's performance has him, what seems like, floating through the air because we can feel the pain and terror in him of being caught. To make matters worse, he reaches his hometown where he must try and decide which of his former friends would help him and which would turn him in. Tracy's performance is very deep and intense but it seems as if he is walking on egg shells throughout the film and floating in the air. The way he moves about is something truly amazing to watch. Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy play a husband and wife who Tracy goes to for help. Cronyn nearly steals the film with his flawless performance. The only thing that hinders the film is some of the narration, which is a tad bit over the top at times.