In occupied Germany after World War II, a runaway boy (Ivan Jandl) is cared for by an American army engineer (Montgomery Clift), who doesn’t know that the boy’s mother (Jarmila Novotná) is still looking for him.

Fred Zinnemann returned to the Holocaust as a theme, after making The Seventh Cross (1944), this time for a drama shot in the actual ruins of several bombed-out German cities. That realism is a strength in the film; other advantages are Clift as an archetypically decent G.I. in postwar Europe, and young Jandl as the traumatized kid.

Sentimental at times, but the last act is superbly directed, bringing home the emotions.

1948-U.S. 105 min. B/W. Directed by Fred Zinnemann. Screenplay: Richard Schweizer, Paul Jarrico, David Wechsler. Cast: Montgomery Clift (Ralph ”Steve” Stevenson), Ivan Jandl (Karel Malik), Aline MacMahon (Mrs. Murray), Jarmila Novotná (Hanna Malik), Wendell Corey, Mary Patton.

Trivia: Remade in France as The Search (2014).

Oscar: Best Story. The film also won a special juvenile Oscar for Jandl’s performance. Golden Globe: Best Screenplay.

Last word: “After The Seventh Cross, I turned down a number of inferior scripts, and so I became the first director to be suspended by the studio for a short while. I got the reputation of being ‘difficult to handle.’ A Swiss company which had seen The Seventh Cross liked the film, they invited me to come over to Switzerland to make The Search. MGM didn’t mind at all letting me go, and they also agreed to put up the major part of the financing. The film, shot on location in Europe, turned out to be a huge success, winning a few Oscars, and when I got back at MGM, doors were flying open. Everybody came running at me with broad smiles on their faces.” (Zinnemann, Film Talk)