Across the Bridge

Rating:
Summary: "Where there's business, I have connections."
Review: International financier Carl Schaffner (Rod Steiger) is in New York when he receives the news that Scotland Yard is investigating him for the disappearance of huge sums of money. He decides to flee to Mexico (where he has a million dollars conveniently stashed), and then travel from there to yet another destination. To ensure anonymous travel, he takes the train across America to Mexico. On the last leg of the journey, he meets a middle-aged man, Paul Scarff (Bill Nagy) who says he's traveling to Mexico to be reunited with his wife and baby. Schaffner concocts a scheme to kill the stranger and assume his identity. After carrying out his plan, Schaffner realizes that he has assumed the identity of a wanted man. From this point, Schaffner's plans rapidly unravel, and soon he finds himself stuck in Mexico.

Rod Steiger as Schaffner is perfect in the role. When the film begins, Schaffner is arrogant--obviously a powerful man who is used to ordering his minions around. He's polished and ready with a smooth plan for escape, and the plan represents in Schaffner's mind "an opportunity" and little hardship. Once outside of his powerful world, Schaffner finds himself in a situation that levels him to the position of an ordinary person. He is literally stripped of his power and position, and he finds himself in a situation where no one really cares who he is or what he wants. He just doesn't matter any more. He attempts to hold onto his autocratic ways in a pathetic denial of the facts. Steiger carries off this transition from wealthy, privileged businessman to a struggle for survival with aplomb, and he delivers an incredible, riveting performance.

"Across the Bridge" is a black and white film based on a Graham Greene story. As with many of Greene's complex stories, the characters must deal with a range of moral dilemmas. In the film, Schaffner is basically an amoral person whose god is money. Schaffner obviously isn't a very nice person. He's an embezzler, treats his employees brusquely and he's ready to murder to steal someone else's identity. But Schaffner's character is also revealed in his relationship with Dolores, the dog owned by Paul Scarff. At first, Schaffner has no interest whatsoever in the dog, and he's ready to abandon her quite cold-heartedly. Schaffner's misfortunes, however, result in his recognizing the inherent faithfulness of Dolores, and it is in the relationship between Schaffner and Dolores that he finally finds his humanity.

The DVD also includes a 30-minute interview with director, Ken Annakin. Annakin recalls meeting Steiger in later years, and Steiger expressed that he considered "Across the Bridge" to be his second best work after "The Pawnbroker." "Across the Bridge" is a phenomenal entry in the genre of British Noir, and I recommend this gem of a film wholeheartedly--displacedhuman


Rating:
Summary: A Film Noir Classic
Review: Ken Annakin is one of the most widely traveled international directors in cinema annals, journeying to every continent to accept the kinds of creative challenges daring filmmakers, in the ranks of which he definitely resides, thrive upon. Among his celebrated triumphs are "The Longest Day," in which he directed the most difficult battle scenes of Darryl F. Zanuck's classic, "Swiss Family Robinson," one of the industry's all-time grossers,and "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines," a brilliant spoof containing some of the most inventive scenes in aviation filmmaking, for which he and co-scenarist Jack Davies received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay.

"Across the Bridge," a great British film shot in Spain, on its 1957 release was heralded as a suspense classic along the lines of Carol Reed's "The Third Man" eight years earlier. Reed led the early chorus of praise for a film unique in its presentation that traces the degradation of a haughty, corrupt, and thoroughly arrogant international financier who sees his world of opulence destroyed piece by piece when, after being alerted that Scotland Yard is pursuing him on fraud charges, travels from New York to Texas and, ultimately, Mexico to elude authorities. Adapted from a Graham Greene story, the same celebrated British author who wrote the screenplay for "The Third Man," Annakin aided scenarists John Stafford and Guy Elmes in their effort to convert a short story into a full-fledged drama concentrating on the psychology of greed interspersed with the theme of alienation.

When Rod Steiger, who catapulted to international stardom portraying the hunted international financier, arrives in Mexico, he learns that Bernard Lee of Scotland Yard is nipping at his heels. International law temporarily prevents Lee from crossing the American border in Texas to apprehend the fugitive businessman, so Steiger plots to put more distance between himself and Lee. Standing in the way is local police chief Noel Willman, who frustrates Steiger repeatedly by spurning his offers to bribe his way out of town. Willman, who achieves sadistic delight by watching the once powerful, now helpless Steiger squirm, plays his trump card ruthlessly, compelling his victim to remain where he is, unable to secure passage out of town and frustrated by Lee from crossing into Texas.

The film scales a psychological crescendo when the once potent and arrogant international financier is reduced to sleeping in dusty culverts under the stars, with one friend left to him in the world. For once his money is of no benefit. Steiger's lone friend is a dog named Dolores, acquired as he was leaving the train in Texas after knocking its owner unconscious and stealing his identity. The identity switch ultimately backfires when Steiger learns that his victim, played by Bill Nagy, is wanted for the murder of the provincial governor of the border region to which Steiger has retreated in putting distance between himself and Scotland Yard.

While initially praised as a brilliantly conceived and executed suspense film, with subsequent development of the field of film noir "Across the Bridge" has secured a position of leading recognition as one of the greatest British productions in that genre, a worthy successor to Carol Reed's "The Third Man" eight years earlier. It it one of those rare films that totally captures emotions while seizing the imagination, with Rod Steiger achieving milestone dramatic results.