Excellent but underrated film

As Good As It Gets

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

"The Search" brought Montgomery Clift his first of four Academy Award nominations for playing an American G.I. who takes in a lost child in post-WWII Berlin and helps him become reunited with his mother.Fred Zinnemann films the story in actual post-war locations, and uses non-actors whenever possible. Other than Clift, the only other recognizable actors are Wendell Corey as his buddy and Aline MacMahon, riveting as a weary American officer in charge of the program to provide for the displaced children of the war. But though the visual style shares much in common with the wave of Italian neo-realist films of the late 1940s, the storytelling itself feels pure Hollywood. The marriage of the two results in an uneasy mix, neither fully one nor the other. It's a pretty good film, but one can't help but wonder how much better it could have been as directed by a De Sica or Rossellini. Still, I challenge you to keep a dry eye at that last scene.Zinnemann received the first of seven career Oscar nominations for directing "The Search," while writers Richard Schweizer and David Weschler were nominated for both their original story and the screenplay they developed from it, winning for the former.Grade: A-

The Search is an extremely absorbing, satisfying and most heart-rending drama of the highest sort. A film where many of the scenes were shot amidst the actual ruins of the post-war Germany cities, Nuremburg, Ingolstadt, and Wurzburg. The story concentrates on a young orphan boy who is a survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp. He is befriended by a young, earnest G.I. who takes a sincere interest in the wide-eyed child, soon teaching him to speak fluent English. He decides to search aimlessly for any surviving relatives of the boy, for soon he must return to America with the homeless child. Meanwhile, the boys mother is not only alive, but has been searching desperately for her only child. With the two separately searching for each other, the viewer soon realizes a very heart tugging reunion is about to take place. Even though this happy ending is predictable, nothing can prepare you for the overpowering impact of emotion. Rarely does a movie pull you completely into such an staggering emotional state, all due to a poignant story, delivered by the superb performances of Ivan Jandl, Montgomery Clift, and Jarmila Novotna. Top-notch performances are given by all supporting actors in this perfectly paced film. A must see story for many reasons, especially for understanding the pitiful realities of war and the impact on innocent surviving victims.

I saw this film in the early 1980's when as an Indian student in NY a senior friend who was a specialist on the movies made in the Hollywood Golden era introduced me to them. As a avid reader and history buff of the Second World war the film remains to date as one of my most favourite as I think that it is one of the few that really addressed the situation of the children refugees of the war. The story line is more or less accurate to a point as it is similar to whatever I have read on the period based on fact. The boy played by Ivan Jandl was as in the movie Czech and I am given to understand that he was later on persecuted by the Communist regime of Czechoslovakia for being US friendly. It is also a fact that though he was awarded a special Oscar he could not receive it. For a child of 10 his acting without mouthing any script is amazingly superb, maybe due to the fact that he had lived out such instances. Montgomery Clift - one of my personal favourites does not seem to act but live his role with ease. Aline MacMahon also does justice to her role and Jarmila as the mother is also excellent. However if it was not for the masterful direction of Fred Zinneman and the actual locations filmed in the bombed out post war Germany amidst the destruction and ruins maybe the film may not have been so good. Some of the scenes are etched in your memory eg. 1/ The wistful and longing look of the boy whilst at dinner sees another boy being fondled by his mother. 2/ When initially the children are being interrogated by the the Refugee Centre head a french boy recounts the horror of his being orphaned in Matheusen camp and another girl recalls collecting her mothers blouse after she perished in the gas chamber. These scenes can never be blotted out from memory. Don't miss a chance to view this classic.

This is a genuine overlooked gem, portraying the desolation of post-World War II Europe, and the hopelessness of hundreds of thousands of displaced child refugees with lost or dead parents, no place to go and nothing to eat. Some aspects of the plot and dialog are dated, but the story and the craftsmanship make the movie timeless. This was Montgomery Clift's second movie and he did an excellent job, both starring in it (for which he received an Academy Award nomination), and apparently in rewriting the original script substantially (the movie also was nominated for best screenplay, and won for best story, both in the names of the credited screenwriters). The entire cast, American and European, did an excellent job, and the use of bombed and destroyed German cities as backgrounds gave The Search a sense of reality and urgency that can be almost jarring and startling. Despite the bleak sounding summary of the plot, the movie is inspiring, witty and entertaining, and no downer.