Criss Cross

Burt Lancaster and Yvonne DeCarlo are great in the Robert Siodmak film that helps define film noir. Lancaster is riveting in the role of the guy who comes back home to try and pick up his life while DeCarlo reminds me of Catherine Zeta-Jones as the object of his affection. Dan Duryea, one of the great film noir players, is the bad guy and there's a wonderful cast of players who fill out this drama including Steve McNally as Burt's cop brother and Percy Helton as the bartender. Tom Pedi is great as Vincent, one of the gang, and let's not forget Alan Napier later to play Alfred on TV's "Batman. There's also a great musical interlude from flute player Esy Morales and his orchestra during a scene when Yvonne is dancing up a storm. I missed them but maybe you'll notice Raymond Burr and Tony Curtis in bit parts.

As usual in a movie directed by Robert Siodmark there are striking compositions and some really tense moments in this sombre tale of cross, double-cross and revenge in a botched armored car robbery.Some convincing location scenes give us an authentic look at 1940's Los Angeles.

Burt Lancaster more or less reprises his role in THE KILLERS as an honest guy led astray by a beautiful woman. Yvonne DeCarlo doesn't quite hack it as the femme fatale but Siodmark makes the most of her looks and there is a well edited sequence of her dancing in a night club. (An un-billed Tony Curtis is her partner).Minor characters, the hoods, bartenders etc are well cast and there are good performances by those two stalwarts of 1940's movies Stephen Mcnally and Dan Duryea.

The story line is rather ragged and there are a few plot loop holes but the action when it comes is well handled.

Doesn't rank with THE KILLERS but it's an interesting look at a heist movie before they became cliches. You can see harbingers of future similar movies like THE ASPHALT JUNGLE, THE KILLING, RIFIFI etc.

It was only fitting that Robert Siodmak directed Criss Cross, as he had also directed the film's star, Burt Lancaster, in his first film three years earlier, and this one is Burt's farewell to noir and city suits, as he was about to begin his swashbuckling phase, and after that would don military uniforms and cowboy gear.

Criss Cross is basically a "big heist" movie, full of people double crossing one another with alarming frequency, and to such a degree that the story is often hard to follow. Yvonne De Carlo is the love interest, and Dan Duryea is an exceptionally nasty bad guy even for noir. The setting is L.A., and there is much excellent location photography that makes the movie a treat for people who want to see what the city looked like before half of it was bulldozed to make way for the highways.

There's nothing startling or especially new about this movie. It has a fine and somewhat eclectic supporting cast which includes Alan Napier and Richard Long, Steve McNally and Percy Helton. As in The Killers, there's a strong air of fatalism in the movie, more oppressive here, with a darker tone, and a more Germanic, almost Langian feeling of hopelessness.

Like many viewers I was initially disappointed by Criss Cross. Some have claimed it to be a poor imitation of Lancaster's debut in "The Killers" but after repeated screenings I find that my appreciation increases with each viewing. The rather direct flashback plotting, the excellent supporting work of Dan Duryea and the whole stable of Universal bit players contribute to a delightful film noir experience. It does lack the irony and richness of story of "The Killers" and can't compare to "Out Of The Past" but the dynamic between Lancaster and DeCarlo ranks as some of the best interplay in the genre, even if a bit one dimensional.

If you are new to the genre, Criss Cross is not a first choice. But as you work your way through the cycle this film represents one of the high points of the studio systems addressing this film-making trend with non of the drawbacks often associated with "B" films.

.....typical entry for the genre. Dumb hero guy gets tangled up w/ the wrong gal for the wrong reasons, mobsters are hanging around, and there is a heist that winds up blowing everything apart in their lives.

I liked how Lancaster played against type and was a 'sap' pretty much. Clearly DeCarlo was the one calling the shots in that pairing. Duryea plays his usual nasty Willem Dafoe/Peter Strauss type villain, and for my money was the most effective actor in the movie. The finale w/ him showing up at their door, well.....it's quite something, very striking.

I also was surprised at the violence of the heist itself-gas going off, killings, etc left and right. Considering the laughable lack of security, personnel and etc that these keystone Brinks guys are showing, it's amazing how close the baddies came to not getting a cent for their efforts.

Pretty decent cast too-there's Percy Helton as the barkeep, there's Alan Napier, there's Tony Curtis in a cameo, there's you other typical baddies of the day. Nice turn by Steve MacNalley too.

Fine movie, bit lax on the plotting I think--but the tone, camera work, and of course DeCarlo-make this a worthy view.

*** outta ****