Criss Cross (1949)

"Criss Cross" is a typical noir, made in 1949 by Robert Siodmak. Burt Lancaster, a fairly new star at that time, really shines as Steve Thompson, a young man who comes home for the war and wants to see his ex-wife Anna (Yvonne DeCarlo) but keeps telling himself he's through with her and doesn't want to see her. However, he's drawn to the old hangouts and inevitably does see him. By now she's taken up with a hood, Slim Dundee (Dan Duryea), but she seems to want Steve as much as he wants her. They get back together quietly, but what they both want is to go away permanently.One night, Slim catches them at Anna's apartment, and to cover, Steve says he has an idea for a job, a robbery of the Brinks truck he drives. Brinks are supposedly impossible to rob, and all criminals know this, but Steve says it will work with an insider (himself) helping.Quite a movie, with the beautiful, exotic DeCarlo just smoldering - she and Lancaster, so athletic and good-looking, made a beautiful couple. Duryea is downright scary. The film is violent at times and quite exciting.This film actually proved to be a break for James Curtis, who is uncredited in the movie but can be seen dancing with Yvonne DeCarlo. Apparently people handing in the preview cards wanted to know more about him. He changed his name to Anthony Curtis for his next film. It would be a few years before Tony Curtis became immensely popular. Later, he costarred with Burt Lancaster. Raymond Burr can also be seen as a gangster.Good movie.

Criss Cross is directed by Robert Siodmak and adapted by Daniel Fuchs from Don Tracy's novel. It stars Burt Lancaster, Yvonne de Carlo, Dan Duryea and Stephen McNally. Music is scored by Miklós Rózsa and cinematography is by Franz Planer.Steve Thompson (Lancaster) and old flame Anna (de Carlo) begin to rekindle their love, much to the dismay of those closest to Steve. She's now unhappily married to mobster Slim Dundee (Duryea), they plan to run away together but Slim is apparently getting wise to their affair. When the two are caught together by Slim, Steve quickly concocts a story that they were plotting an armoured-truck robbery that he wants Dundee to be involved in. Slim notes it's near impossible, but with Steve working for the armoured-truck company it opens the way for inside man possibilities. It deviates suspicion on the lovers, but this is only the start of their problems, for nothing is as it seems.Criss Cross has come to be a favourite of many a film noir purist, a picture often held forward as one of the shining lights of the 1940's noir universe. But it so easily could have been so different given that the film's original producer, Mark Hellinger, suddenly died of a heart attack. The film under Hellinger's guidance was to be based around a racetrack heist, but with Hellinger's passing the project dropped into limbo and was sold off to Universal along with Lancaster and Siodmak as part of the deal. Although Lancaster was unhappy with the rewritten plot, his relationship with Siodmak had already been cemented three years earlier when they made The Killers, another of film noir's greatest triumphs. For Criss Cross, Siodmak, Fuchs and producer Michael Kraike took Tracy's novel and combined it with elements of The Killers (an Ernest Hemmingway short story). Ava Gardner wasn't on hand to reprise her Killers femme fatale performance, while Shelley Winters was considered but not offered the role that eventually went to de Carlo, who had worked with Lancaster previously on tough as nails prison movie, Brute Force (1947). Rounding out the link between the three protagonists comes with Duryea, he and de Carlo had made Black Bart & River Lady in 1948.Alls well that ends well, figuratively speaking, because Criss Cross is a superb movie, one that begs to be re-watched whenever possible. All the classic traits of film noir are evident, both technically and narratively. The film begins with a portentous swirl of music from Rózsa, which in turn leads us into a dramatic aerial view of night time Los Angeles. From there we descend towards a parking lot and become witness to an illicit romance between Steve & Anna. At the film's finale we again will be the only witness' to their coupling, only this time it has a kicker, out shot being that Criss Cross is bookended by sheer brilliance. Obsession, betrayal and inescapable fate pervade the narrative from the moment we the audience are clued in to the history of Steve, Anna and Slim. As the tale unfolds in flashback there is a constant sense of feverish doom lingering in the air, aided considerably by Planer's evocative lighting set-ups and Siodmak's wonderful gliding camera and clinical framing compositions of the characters. Even the perky action high point of the robbery comes laced with smoggy gloom, the chaotic sequence only serving as a precursor to the present, where a hospital and a mirror shift us tonally back to the world of unease. And then the finale, one of the most bleakest, and therefore essential, ending in film noir history.Cast are excellent, Lancaster, all square jawed and square shouldered, plays obsessed loser better than most, thanks in no small part to Siodmak's direction of him. Duryea does what he does best, playing a villain with oily verve and smirky menace, while de Carlo looks great and offers up a nice blend of sweet and rough, a different kind of femme fatale, the actress earning her acting stripes during "that" finale. In the main support slot, McNally impacts well with what he's given to do, and there's good value in the criminal ranks where Alan Napier lurks as the mastermind behind the robbery. Look out. Too, for Tony Curtis, who is seen in a cameo dancing seductively with de Carlo at the Round-Up Bar. Also worth mentioning are the Los Angeles locales used for the shoot, mostly at night we get Bunker Hill, Angels Flight and Union Station. It's sad to report that Bunker Hill, a favourite spot for noir directors, was raised to the ground in the 60'sAn obvious bedfellow to The Killers for sure, but even on its own terms it's essential film noir viewing for those of that persuasion. 9/10

"Criss Cross" is a well made movie about a gullible guy who's obsessed with the past and his ex-wife. Having tried to heal his obsession by leaving Los Angeles for a period of time, he decides to return home and deludes himself that he's simply returning to be with his family, when in fact everyone around him knows the real reason for his return. His decision to come back to L.A. and his past is a dreadful mistake which ultimately seals his fate.Steve Thompson (Burt Lancaster) starts to frequent "The Round Up", a bar where he and his ex-wife Anna (Yvonne DeCarlo) used to hang out and when they meet up again, they rekindle their relationship. This exasperates his mother and his old friend Detective Lieutenant Pete Ramirez (Stephen McNally). They both know that Anna is not to be trusted and Pete is also aware that a local gangster called Slim Dundee (Dan Duryea) is infatuated with her.Anna is very materialistic and marries Slim because he's wealthy. Steve is very hurt but when he meets her some time later, she tells him that she's unhappy in her marriage and that her new husband beats her. She also says that she married Slim because Pete had threatened to arrest her if she didn't stop seeing Steve. Predictably, the couple then resume their affair.A little time later, Anna calls at Steve's home to tell him that Slim knows about their affair and almost immediately after, Slim and some of his gang have also entered his house. In a hurried attempt to justify why he and Anna had been alone together, Steve explains that he's planning an armoured car robbery and that he needs Slim's help to carry it out. Steve works as a driver for the armoured car company and suggests that he could be the gang's "inside man".When arrangements are made for the robbery to go ahead, Steve and Anna plan to double cross Slim but Slim also plans a double cross of his own.Director Robert Siodmak had collaborated previously with Burt Lancaster in the making of "The Killers" and their work together on "Criss Cross" produced another high quality crime drama in which Siodmak's influence is in strong evidence. The opening sequence which begins with an aerial shot of the city at night and eventually closes in on the guilty looking couple is very impressive as is the staging of the robbery and there's also a spectacularly high overhead shot of the armoured vehicle approaching the scene of the crime which is truly unforgettable."Criss Cross" is essentially about a heist, a dangerous love triangle, obsession, betrayal and a number of double crosses. With very good performances from its talented cast, it also has a consistently ominous atmosphere and is profoundly fatalistic.

I had never seen a film from the film noir era prior to this film. I really enjoyed the story line of this film. It was interesting to see the male and female roles reversed. Normally we see the women in distress, and the man coming to her rescue. This film was the complete opposite. Steve, played by Burt Lancaster, was a man blinded by the love he had for his ex wife Anna, played by Yvonne DeCarlo. I enjoyed seeing a woman in charge.By Steve getting back involved with his ex wife, he was dragged into a secret underground world that she was now a part of. She was now involved with a man named Slim, who is nothing but trouble. Slim is involved with L.A.s mafia scene, something in which Steve did not expect to get dragged into.If you enjoy melodramas with some action, then this is a good film for you. I would enjoy to watch it again.