The Search (1948): A Review (Review #1840)

THE SEARCH (1948)

This review is part of the Summer Under the Stars Blogathon. Today's star is Montgomery Clift. 

Even now, eighty years after the liberation of Auschwitz and other death camps, the Holocaust is a difficult subject to make films out of. The Search is unique in that endeavor in that it is one of the first to do so. Both moving and needed, The Search touches on this tragic subject without being drowned in misery.

A young boy is lost amidst the ruins of post-war occupied Germany. Arriving with other displaced children, the young boy, halting and scared, can only respond "I don't know" in German, a tattoo from Auschwitz as his only real identification. The children, under the care of the United Nations Relief & Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) and the displacement camp director Mrs. Murray (Aline MacMahon), will soon be transported to other camps. The children panic when they see the Red Cross on some of the vehicles, convinced they will be taken to be gassed. The panic grows into total terror when, owing to exhaust, the children smell gas inside the truck. Terrified, they break out and scatter. The unknown young boy and his French friend attempt to cross a river. The French boy drowns, and the unknown young boy is presumed dead.  

We have, through voiceover, learned that the young boy is Karel Malik (Ivan Jandl), a Czech boy who with his parents and sister, were forced out of then-Czechoslovakia and sent to separate concentration camps. Karel's father and sister were killed, and he and his mother (Jarmila Novotna) have been separated. Mrs. Malik has been searching for Karel, convinced that he is alive. Karel for his part has been eking out a living until Ralph "Steve" Stevenson (Montgomery Clift) comes upon him in the ruins of an unnamed German city. He takes him in, eventually winning his trust. 

Teaching English to the boy he has named "Jim", Karel begins to thrive. It is not until Steve's friend's family arrives that "Jim" begins to ask about his mother. Mrs. Malik, initially distraught due to a case of mistaken identity thinking that Karel has been found, soon begins working with the UNRRA and the displaced children. The Jewish children will be sent to Palestine, and while Mrs. Malik is fond of them, she is determined to keep searching for Karel. Will Steve be able to bring Jim to America? Will Karel and his mother reunite?

It is surprising that the subject of both displaced children and the Holocaust is a major component to The Search. This is only three years after the Second World War ended and the same year that the state of Israel came into being. As a side note, it is fascinating to see and hear in 1948 that the film refers to "Palestine" as the destination for Jewish children. Without getting lost in semantics, I believe that at the time The Search was made, the entire region of what is now Israel, the Arab disputed territories and the state of Jordan was known collectively as "Palestine" without there being a marked difference between Arab and Jewish residents. It was all "Palestine" and in a technical manner, the displaced Jewish children would go to "Palestinians", which in 1948 would mean Jewish residents living in the region. Yet I digress.

That The Search tackled this subject at all is daring for the time when the temptation to "move past" the war might have been strong. When people think of the Holocaust, thoughts naturally turn to the millions murdered in "the final solution". That is important. However, what of those who survived? What of those who were children, witnesses to horrors beyond adult comprehension, let alone for children? The chaos of post-war Europe is not lost in the film. The Search was filmed on location in the occupied zone of Germany as the opening credits inform us. Viewers could see therefore just how destructive the war was, the eerie sights of the still-ruined cities a jarring reminder of the high price of victory.

When we meet Mrs. Malik, we should know that it is too soon for any potential mother and child reunion. However, we can contemplate the tragedy of so many children who were lost in the horror of the war and its aftermath. The Search hits us with a minor subplot about another child who is also "Karel Malik". The Search does not hide away from some of the deep tragedy of the story. We see the tattoo that Karel was marked with, and we hear about how one child discovered her mother was dead when she found her mother's blouse among the gas victims clothing that she was forced to sort through. These kinds of details fill the viewer with deep emotions, bringing up close how the most innocent of victims endured such horrors.

Montgomery Clift earned a Best Actor Oscar nomination for The Search despite not coming into the film until around halfway through (one of the film's four nominations, winning for Best Story). Despite that, he earned that recognition for his Steve. Clift has wonderful rapport with Jandl, the Czech child actor who was awarded a special Juvenile Oscar for his performance. Clift was excellent as an average man moved to care for this little boy. Steve is mostly caring towards Jim, teaching him English (and forever flummoxed over Jim's struggle in calling an umbrella "the bell"). Clift is neither saccharine nor sentimental in his interpretation of Steve. Clift is someone who wants to help this lost boy but who does not start out wanting to bring him to America. 

He has a wonderful and moving moment when Steve attempts to explain to Jim that Jim's mother is dead. The temptation to play the scene for tears or in a matter-of-fact way would be strong. However, Clift balances being sensitive to the situation with the reality of it. We like Steve, even if at one point is clueless about how taking an understandably terrified Karel off the street and locking him in a room would be to the deeply traumatized youngster. Clift even has a little moment of comedy when teaching Jim the importance of English. "Even in England they understand English. Well, sort of," Steve remarks. 

Jandl, as mentioned, received a special Academy Award for his performance. He has a beautiful and expressive face and eyes, a true image of sweetness and innocence amidst the horrors of war. His angelic face express so much, but he also delivers in terms of acting. Jandl is delightful when learning English, deadpanning that the word for a picture of a pretty girl is "the tomato". The fear when being unable to speak anything other than "I don't know" to his final moment makes you care for Karel/Jim.

Novotna as Mrs. Malik does quite well in the role. Primarily an opera singer, Novotna brought a gentle quality to her role as the mother who will not give up hope of finding the sole remaining member of her family. She gets a chance to perform a Czech song when we first see the Malik family before the Nazis (never seen on screen) take the family away. MacMahon's voiceover says that the Malik family was targeted for being "intellectuals", so The Search does not make the family specifically Jewish. I think it works better than way insofar as it is a reminder that while the Holocaust is primarily a crime against the Jewish people, there were victims from all religious, ethnic and various other communities. 

The voiceover in The Search was a minor flaw, especially because it was mostly forgotten by the halfway point. I think having dialogue, say between Mrs. Murray and someone else at the UNRRA would have worked better. I also found MacMahon's performance a bit mannered, but those on the whole were minor issues.

The Search is a well-crafted and directed film by Fred Zinnemann on a topic that merits more recognition. One cannot be helped but be moved by the final scene, but also be reminded of how so many similar stories never had a happy ending.  

DECISION: A-