Across the Bridge (1957)

Of all the films made from the novels and stories of Graham Greene, "Across the Bridge" is probably the least known and least appreciated which is a pity as it's actually very good, (it's much, much better than John Ford's "The Fugitive", his feeble attempt to film "The Power and the Glory"). Of course, with a better director than Ken Annakin and a better supporting cast it might have been perfect. As it is, it's entirely reliant on its plot, which is gripping, and a sterling performance from Rod Steiger, to hold our interest.He's Carl Schaffner, a crooked businessman who, in an attempt to escape justice, assumes the identity of the man he thinks he's killed and who just happens to be a murderer. It's a plot not dissimilar to that of Antonioni's later "The Passenger" and if this film is never in that class, neither does it deserve to be overlooked. Worth seeking out.

"Across the Bridge" has an intriguing opening as embezzler, Rod Steiger, switches identities with an assassin who turns out is wanted even more by the police than Steiger is. This promising beginning eventually leads to at least a bunch of what seem like very contrived coincidences in a Mexican border town. This is not a bad film, and Rod Steiger gives a first rate performance, but the lack of believability brought about by the questionable script contrivances, drags everything down a notch or two. What could have been a spectacular film, along the lines of "Touch of Evil", is really no more than a slightly above average movie. - MERK

I saw this film only twice on television in the late 1960s, and I have not seen it listed too frequently. The plot is from a Graham Greene short story, and like so many of his works Greene questions what we regard as good and evil in the world.Steiger is a crooked financier on the lam. He boards a train and exchanges identities with another passenger who died on board. He reaches a Latin American country, and crosses the boarder. But the authorities at home are still after him. He did not realize the person whose identity he stole was sought by the U.S. authorities for murder.Steiger has plenty of money in a suitcase, but he soon discovers that the local authorities see him as something to bleed dry. Everyone jacks up prices for his normal living expenses from the police on down. And the money is slowly running out. The only creature who befriends him is a dog. It remains his only real friend in this town of vultures. He consistently refuses to return to the U.S., where police officer Bernard Lee tries to get him to return. But he realizes that they think he is the murderer, not an embezzler, and he can't return. Moreover, he resents the pressures that are being put on the local authorities to push him back. They are using these to squeeze more cash out of him.The character Steiger begins as is a selfish crook, but as the film progresses (as is typical of Greene's work) the defects of those around the anti-hero are such as to make us increasingly sympathetic to that figure. As he is stripped, step - by - step of everything, Steiger gains our reluctant pity, and his relationship with the simple dog makes him ... in the end... tragically heroic.Definitely a wonderful film - hopefully they will show it again soon.

Like other reviewers here, I saw Across the Bridge decades ago, but have never forgotten it.Rod Steiger plays a powerful, self-centered financier whose business empire, at the beginning of the film, is starting to crumble under charges of illegalities. He flees for Mexico on a train with a suitcase full of money.His disregard for others is confirmed when he casually murders a fellow train passenger in order to assume his identity and pass across the border.Once in Mexico, the authorities, under pressure from U.S. officials, put pressure on him to return "across the bridge" to the United States, so that he can be arrested. Most of the film is concerned with the slow stripping away of this once-powerful man's options, to where he is left sleeping on the streets, befriended only by a dog. The ending of the film is emotionally powerful, and probably the main reason why so many of us have never forgotten this movie.Since I wrote this review, I've seen the film again, on DVD (in 2005). It does not hold up that well. There's a subplot I had completely forgotten about. I realize now what I remembered about the film was highly selective. In truth, the movie has some interesting parts, but it's not the classic I remembered it being. By all means see it, but it's rather dated.