Criss Cross

Rating:
Summary: Lancaster Hoodwinked
Review: "Criss Cross" could not be a more apt title for the 1948 film noir thriller in which Burt Lancaster is caught in the middle of a double cross orchestrated by Dan Duryea and Yvonne De Carlo. The film marked a reuniting of star Lancaster and director Robert Siodmark, who two years earlier teamed up in the noir classic "The Killers."

Lancaster, playing former armored truck driver Steve Thompson, returns to the tired section near downtown Los Angeles where he lives with his mother and younger brother Richard Long, who would ultimately star on television in "Seventy-Seven Sunset Strip" and "The Big Valley." Thompson left L.A. for one year, hoping to put his painful divorce to opportunistic good time girl Anna, played with fidelity by Yvonne De Carlo in one of her most impressive roles, behind him for good. The returning prodigal convinces no one when he insists that Anna holds no more memories for him, after which he ventures over to the old hangout, a local bar called The Roundup, to look in on the old gang. He tries to convince himself he is not looking for Anna, but realizes how futile his effort is as he spots Anna dancing with Tony Curtis, making his film debut.

The dance ends and so does Curtis' involvement in the picture. A smiling De Carlo spots Lancaster, going over to resume acquaintances. Before long Lancaster learns that Dan Duryea, a favorite film noir heavy, is romancing his ex-wife.

Before long De Carlo marries local mobster Duryea to better herself economically. Even then Lancaster will not lay off, failing to listen to his mother and old neighborhood buddy Steven McNally, now a prominent local police detective. In fact, after McNally, at the behest of Lancaster's mother, warns De Carlo to leave his old friend alone or he will find a reason to run her in, a furious, drunken Lancaster takes a wild swing at his him, then promptly falls to the floor.

The film's shrewd "Criss Cross" occurs when De Carlo and Lancaster reheat their old romance while gangster Duryea is in Detroit on business. De Carlo makes an arranged visit to Lancaster's house with Duryea and his mob cronies, led by John Doucette, arriving shortly thereafter. Needing a quick explanation as to why De Carlo is there, Lancaster, who has gone back to work driving an armored truck, explains to Duryea that they were discussing the possibility of pulling an armored truck holdup. Lancaster explains that such a holdup, while deemed impossible, is possible with the cooperation of someone on the inside, namely himself.

While Lancaster is convinced that he is launching into the criminal world for De Carlo and himself, after which they will be together again, the woman he loves is actively cooperating with Duryea. Eventually she will tell Lancaster, "In this life you have to look after yourself."

Events ultimately spiral out of control after the holdup occurs. Eventually a showdown will occur involving the opportunistic De Carlo and the two men she has used for personal gain, Duryea and Lancaster.

"I never cared about the money," Lancaster morosely muses to De Carlo at one point. "I just wanted you." He learns ultimately that the feeling was far from mutual.

McNally had the whole situation intelligently analyzed. In his last meeting with Lancaster, he exclaims in total frustration, "I should have been a better friend and kicked your teeth in!"

Rating:
Summary: FIRST RATE FILM NOIR....
Review: "Criss Cross" has all the classic elements of good film noir. Lust, crime, betrayel, murder, mobsters, the stalwart anti-hero and a sultry femme fatale all in the netherworld of b&w. With crisp direction by Robert Siodmak and a tight script, "Criss Cross" starts on a roll and doesn't stop until the finale. Steve (Burt Lancaster) can't keep away from his ex-wife Anna (Yvonne de Carlo) even after she marries mobster Slim Dundee (Dan Duryea). So he concocts a robbery at the armored car business where he works to throw Slim off the scent. He gets double crossed, winds up in the hospital and ironically labeled a hero by the press. But that's not the end. There's still Slim and Anna. The cast is compelling and reason enough to watch this classic but Siodmak crafted an exciting film as a whole. It seethes with tension, anxiety and a pall of doom seems to hang over everything. The sensual de Carlo is seen to good advantage and is noir perfect as the catalyst for the robbery. When Steve sees Anna dancing in a roadhouse that features a very good rhumba band (Esy Morales and his group), it's exciting because she's really sexy as she dances, tossing her dark hair. Her partner (barely glimpsed) is a young Tony Curtis. The rhumba music is exotic and pulsating and you can see that Steve is one gone dude as he watches her. So much to recommend about "Criss Cross". If you're a noir collector, this is a first rate addition. The DVD looks very good. Enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: A brutal tug-of-war over femme fatale Yvonne DeCarlo!
Review: Being an absolute film noir fanatic, I just had to purchase all the Universal noir dvds recently released. This is, in my opinion, the cream of the crop. Burt Lancaster plays an armored car driver who can't get over his beautiful ex-wife, played by Yvonne DeCarlo. Just as he's planning to get back together with her she marries mobster Dan Duryea, who quickly becomes her worst nightmare. However, she still can't stay away from Lancaster, & when Duryea becomes suspicious, Lancaster plans a heist along with Duryea in order to convince him that all he's after is money. Duryea has plans of his own, however, & the heist doesn't exactly go "as planned". The final confrontation between Duryea & Lancaster & DeCarlo is unforgettable. DeCarlo plays a greedy femme fatale to perfection, & Duryea & Lancaster, both already "veteran" actors of film noirs by 1948, are terrific as usual. If you're into noir heist movies then I also recommend "The Asphalt Jungle". "Criss Cross" is a classic of the genre that has it all: uncontrolled lust, greed, betrayel, murder, robbery, & lots of suspense. Do yourself a favor & add this to your collection!

Rating:
Summary: Doom and Dread Abound in This Seminal Film Noir
Review: Bleak, unsparing and uncompromising, CRISS CROSS is a great film noir from the director of THE KILLERS, Robert Siodmak. All the elements of great film noir are here: stunning black and white photography with wide light/dark contrasts, doomed lovers, a femme fatale, a vile villian, and an ordinary man caught up in extraordinary circumstances which can only lead to despair and death.


Burt Lancaster acts up a storm as the armored car driver who places himself in the middle of a heist just to win over the love of his ex-wife, a sultry Yvonne De Carlo. Film noir stalwart Dan Duryea brings his great acting skills to the fore as the bad guy who marries De Carlo and suspects her of constant treachery. The ending is truly heartbreaking and appropriate in the film noir universe in which the characters live. Fate is cruel to Burt Lancaster and Yvonne De Carlo in this stunner, but watching their tragedy unfold is a dark pleasure.

Rating:
Summary: Trust no one
Review: Burt Lancaster and director Robert Siodmak shot the noir touchstone ''The Killers'' in 1946. They reunite in this tale of a heist gone wrong in working-class L.A. Lancaster is the love-sick fool and Yvone DeCarlo pulls the strings. Dan Duryea is the gangster intent on getting last laugh. Great location shots of downtown, including the famous opening shot from on high. Far and away the best-looking of the new noir discs from Universal. Music by Miklos Rozsa.

Rating:
Summary: 88 Minutes of Unforgettable Noir
Review: Criss Cross is one of those films that never quite gained top billing, but unashamedly reigns as one of the kings of the B noir genre. Directed by Robert Siodmak (The Killers, Phantom Lady, Cry of the City) Criss Cross is highlighted by memorable performances by Burt Lancaster, Yvonne DeCarlo, and Dan Duryea. The protagonist Steve Thompson (Lancaster) is drawn into an armored car hiest as an inside man. Lancaster neither smart not dumb is haunted by the love he still possesses for his ex-wife Anna (DeCarlo). Thompson cannot shake the fever even though Anna is married to a hoodlum nightclub owner Slim Dundee (Duryea). The power triangle seems to be controlled by Dundee, but it is Anna who has carefully measured all the angles. As in his earlier films Siodmak allows the femme fatale brooding distant power that overshadows mere hoods. When gang members carefully plot the caper around a smoke filled table, it is Anna's shadowy distant stare that reveals the real stake in the game- her. Robert Osterloh's role as the sadistic henchman posing as a mild mannered salesman is chilling. Sidomak's use of a darkened hospital room as a place for torture is one of the most creepy scenes in noir history. Nightclubs, bustling train stations, and darkened apartments provide noir imagery of a past not forgotten. Watch for screen appearances by Tony Curtis (one of Anna's rumbha partners) and Alan Napier (Batman's butler Alfred) as the respected old timer who plays the layout man.

Rating:
Summary: Like a bit of apple you can't remove with your tongue
Review: Criss Cross was another of the Universal Siodmak thrillers that made the immediate postwar era a paradise of noir. When we look back on the films of the time, we're struck by how many of them exhibit that lowdown, downbeat mode--like tragedy, but not quite, because of the class structure that prevailed at the time. Here in Criss Cross, most of the characters are working class, with barely hidden aspirations to escape their class, but they can't--that, perhaps, is the real tragedy.

It's no wonder that a bunch of Socialist, if not Communist screenwriters and directors communally conspired to create this genre out of the nightmares of Nazi-run Europe. The only surprise is that the US public took it to their hearts and let them run with it for a good four year stretch (some historians say it was more like seven or eight, but that's pushing it). Here we have Universal's own Yvonne De Carlo, later to introduce the song "I'm Still Here," in Stephen Sondheim's FOLLIES on Broadway, again typecast as a dancer (she played Salome too, don't forget) who has got both Dan Duryea and Burt Lancaster both hot and bothered about her.

Watching her, we wonder if she cares for either of them or is she just glad to be alive and ideology free and blessed with that wonderful dark long hair, that ivory skin, and that wonderful body. In noir movies, the minute you give your heart to another, you're sunk. There's no light at the end of the tunnel of love. In this film, De Carlo is compared to that little bit of apple you get caught in your teeth and you just can't get it out with your tongue, a discomfiting, sort of erotic way of describing the carnal hold she puts on her men.

The legendary heist at the end of the movie has often been imitated but never very successfully. Lancaster, Duryea, and Robert Siodmak have never been better. The movie sizzles and the glimpses we get of Los Angeles locations are priceless. It was then indeed the city of a thousand dreams.

Rating:
Summary: "I shoulda kicked your teeth in..."
Review: Criss Cross...a state of being at conflicting or contrary purposes...that's what Mr. Webster may say in his book, but I'd probably use giving someone the double cross, the Judas kiss, selling out, double dealing, the flimflam, a snow job, hoodwinked, a four-flusher, swindle, two-timer, bamboozler, chicanery, giving someone the screwgee...any of these may apply for something most of us have probably experienced in allowing someone to get close enough to us, affording them trust, only to discover later on they weren't deserving of said trust, using against us in some fashion or other...and that's the meat of this film...

Criss Cross (1949), directed by Robert Siodmak who also directed The Killers...the 1946 version with Burt Lancaster, and not the 1964 version with Lee Marvin (both are available on one Criterion DVD...pick it up, it's worth it), stars legendary tough guy and self-taught actor Burt Lancaster (Brute Force), along with the extremely beautiful Yvonne De Carlo (Brute Force, The Ten Commandments). Also appearing is Dan Duryea (Ministry of Fear) in one of his more typical roles as a villainous hoodlum, although I did recently see him in the film Black Angel, showing that he could also play the protagonist equally as well (the character may have been intrinsically weak, but the characterization wasn't).

Steve Thompson's (Lancaster) got it bad...for what (actually, it's `for whom'), you may ask? For his rather flighty ex-wife Anna (De Carlo). The film, set in Los Angeles, begins with Thompson returning home after kicking around the states, working odd jobs, all in an attempt to remove his ex-wife from his mind (he was unsuccessful). Soon we are into an extensive flashback, detailing the events that led up to Steve leaving, specifically his relationship with his ex-wife running hot and cold, and her eventual marriage to local hoodlum Slim Dundee (Duryea), but she's still got it bad for Steve...their relationship is extremely complicated (and kinda sick, if you ask me), exaggerated by outside influences like Steve's mother and a friend of the family who's also a police lieutenant. Anyway, Steve happens to work for an armored car company, and in an effort to free his love from the clutches of Slim, he offers Slim and his gang an opportunity they can't resist involving a whole lot of dough-re-mi. Problem is who can be trusted? Especially when there's so much moola involved...and let's face it, virtue isn't exactly a quality found or coveted within the criminal community...

I really did enjoy this film a lot, despite a few, minor issues. Lancaster is wonderful as the lovesick mug inexorably drawn into the seedy world of low level criminals in an effort to save Anna, a woman who may, or may not need saving, as her intentions seemed a bit murky at times, along with her loyalties. The harder he tried to get away from her, it seemed the stronger the draw...also, the more inaccessible she became, the worse he wanted her...reminded me of a child with a toy that's never played with when he has the opportunity, but when the threat of removal of the toy becomes apparent, that's when the child wants it the most. It's not so much the toy, but losing the access to the toy. Anna's flip-flopishness seems to matter little to Steve, as he's intrinsically optimistic with regards to their relationship, at least when it's revealed that Anna never stopped loving him. I thought Yvonne De Carlo did alright, but there were times when I thought she didn't sell her character as well as she could have...but I suppose when you're appearing with someone like Burt Lancaster, you have your work cut out for you. Her character annoyed the heck out of me, but I suppose it's because I once had a relationship with someone with similar characteristics, running hot and cold, completely inconsistent, etc. She made up for a lot of this by being a fabulous babe, and making easily understandable why these men are drawn to her. I thought Duryea did very well as Slim, head of a small, but colorful, underworld gang. His character seemed to fall into the same trap as Lancaster's with regards to Anna, yet he had very different methods of dealing with Anna and her idiosyncrasies (think more in the physical sense). The main, individualizing difference between Steve and Slim is highlighted excellently near the end, with Anna still stuck squarely somewhere outside the middle, torn between her base intentions and her humanizing elements. Siodmak's directions worked really well, but the pacing did slow down a little, due to all the time spent on detailing the volatile relationship between Steve and Anna, which I think was time well spent, serving to really flesh out the two main characters and raising the film above the standard `noir' thriller. The story had a definite Shakespearian quality about it, star-crossed lovers fighting against their predetermined fates. The supporting cast did very well, especially Tom Pedi (a very Italian member of Slim's gang) and Alan Naiper, who played Finchley, the man Slim and his gang turned to when elaborate plans needed to be drawn up, and he had the ability to not only foresee complications, but also develop the appropriate contingencies. I also really appreciated the way the film ended, as it was one of the better finales I've seen in a long time (the only other that comes to my mind at this moment is Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious). It sure didn't `cop out', although the opportunity was certainly presented.

The transfer looks pretty good, and the audio is strong and clear. The film is presented in full screen format (original aspect ratio) and supplemented with a meager original theatrical trailer (Universal doesn't seem to appreciate the capabilities of the DVD format with their lack of extras...oh well, I'm just glad to have the opportunity to watch the movie). All in all, not only a great `noir' film, but also a great film in general.

Cookieman108


Rating:
Summary: Gripping film noir
Review: Here's Robert Siodmak at his best, and Burt Lancaster as well. Lancaster doesn't overdo it, a tendency he had in several of his films, but reins it in to deliver a strong performance as Steve Thompson (not too much ethnic diversity in those days), an ex-con who's still so ga-ga over his ex-wife that he reverts to his criminal ways to win her back.

Trouble is, she takes off on a whim and marries prime film noir sleazeball Dan Duryea playing Slim Dundee (great name!), a nightclub owner (since when have you seen a nightclub owner in one of these films who WASN'T a crook?) who jumps at Steve's suggestion to rob the armored car Steve co-drives with his mom's boyfriend, Pop (is that a 40s nickname or what?)

Well, yes, my friends, complications ensue (hey, they HAVE to--this is film noir, remember?) and during the heist, things go--well, maybe you should see it for yourself. Duryea is right on target, Yvonne DeCarlo is somewhat stiff, but sufficiently alluring to tempt ol' Stevie boy back to mama, and there's the familiar faces of Richard Long as Steve's brother and noir stalwarts John Doucette (one of the great unsung noir actors) and Gene Evans (very small part) AND, yep, Tony Curtis in a teeny weeny role as well.

Yvonne DeCarlo as Anna is not the greatest femme fatale (that pleasure is gonna hafta be reserved for the astounding Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity--at least, that's my vote), but she does a credible job. Her supremely selfish behavior bursts out of her near the end of the film, even though it was pretty clear before that. And you can bet Slim is not too happy about Steve and his new wife clowning around together. Nope, not at all.

This is a great, fluid film, definitely worth seeing and owning too. Should be in anyone's film noir library. Now how 'bout somebody releases it on DVD, eh? Just 'cause it's film noir don't mean it HAS to be only on VHS!!

Rating:
Summary: Idealism vs. Realism
Review: In faithful accordance with classic film noir convention (a modus operandi also reminiscent of the Greek tragedies of old), armored truck driver Steve Thompson, protagonist of 'Criss Cross', Robert Siodmark's and Burt Lancaster's follow-up to the outstanding 'The Killers', brings about his own ruin and demise through two primary tragic flaws, namely hopeless infatuation and unfounded optimism.

The object of his affection is his ex-wife Anna, memorably played by the stunning Yvonne De Carlo, whose hubris prompts her to wed sleazy gangster Slim Dundee (Dan Duryea), apparently to spite Steve's detective friend Pete Ramirez (Stephen McNally) for intimidating her the night before. Regrettably I cannot be too sure of this plot point, though, as at the time my attention was solely focused on Miklós Rózsa's wonderfully dark and driving underscore.

Naturally a torrid affair ensues between Mr. Thompson and the now-Ms. Dundee, and -- even more naturally -- they are almost immediately caught together by her new husband, which impels Thompson to divert Slim Dundee's attention by unexpectedly suggesting a heist of his armored truck. It remains somewhat unclear whether this is something he'd been planning all along or just an inspired attempt to weasel himself out being killed on the spot, but the gangsters thankfully decide to go along with it. Crosses and double-crosses follow, Anna somehow escapes with the money, lovesick Steve stupidly leads the mobsters to her hideout, and Slim shoots them both in cold blood.

Undeniably this summary, either through simplification or omission, paints Steve Thomson as a bit of a nitwit, but although he makes some unbelievably bad choices, they are always well-rooted in his character, which screenwriter Daniel Fuchs (working from a novel by Don Tracy, if I'm not mistaken of 'Death Calling Collect' fame) takes great pains to establish in the first third of the story. The real conflict here is one of ideology, Steve being an idealist and Anna being a realist. One Imdb user cites Steve's refusal "to become completely cynical and hard-bitten" as his most admirable feature, likely unaware of the famous H.G. Wells quote that states "A cynic is what an idealist calls a realist." Steve is more than just a hopeless romantic, he possesses and indefatigable optimism that allows him to rationalize any action not just for the sake of being with Anna, but due to the firm, absolute conviction that they belong together and that nothing will stand in their way. Alas, in film noir love does not necessarily conquer all and, as Anna put it, "you've got to watch out for yourself."

In the end, when taking one of the gangsters to Anna's hideout for a payoff, Steve has obviously abandoned all logical reasoning and is acting on pure, emotion-fueled impulse. He is so blinded by love, so single-mindedly focused on Anna, that he gives no second thought to Slim or the money, certain that his police friends will take care of the matter eventually. In many ways, the traditional gender roles of him and Anna are reversed here. She is the tough, down-to-earth pragmatist struggling for survival; he is the longing, pining fool, willing to sacrifice everything for her love. It is the against-type casting of Burt Lancaster, THE blue-collar macho idol of the time (and dressed alternately like either Bruno Hoffmann or Stanley Kowalski), that makes this reversal fascinating.