Product description

Criss Cross [1948] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

Price: £5.47
Average customer rating: 4.5

Binding : DVD
EAN : 9781417011605
ISBN : 1417011602
Label : Universal Studios
Manufacturer : Universal Studios
Publisher : Universal Studios
Release date : 2004-07-06
Title : Criss Cross [1948] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Actor : Array
Format : Array
Languages : Array
Number of items : 1
Original release date : 1948-01-01
Region code : 1
Running time : 88
Studio : Universal Studios
Theatrical releaseDate : 1949-01-12
MPN : D25499D

Customer reviews

review by: date: 2008-01-02 rating:

A fine, bleak noir, close to great, where a person's destiny is written on his face like an epitaph
"I didn't come back on account of her. It had nothing to do with her. I wasn't going to go looking for her. I didn't expect to run into her. I didn't particularly want to see her. I was sure of that if I was sure of anything. Then from the start it all went one way. It was in the cards or it was fate or a jinx or whatever you want to call it."

Steve Thompson (Burt Lancaster) is a drifter, taking jobs where he finds them. He'd been married to Anna (Yvonne De Carlo) for seven months two years ago. He thought he had her out of his system when he returned to Los Angeles. He was wrong. He starts dropping in at The Roundup, an old hangout, telling himself he isn't there to see her. One evening he spots her there dancing. She's with Slim Dundee (Dan Duryea), a known gangster. The old story starts up again. In a way he sees what's coming. "Half the time you don't know what you're doing," he tells her, "the trouble is you always know what you want." An old friend, Detective Lieutenant Pete Ramirez, tries to tell him she's bad news. Steve's mother tries to talk sense to him. "You know, Steve," she says to him while he's getting ready to meet Anna, "you're a very nice looking boy. Out of all the girls in Los Angeles why did you have to pick on her?...A girl puts on a piece of silk and the next thing that happens, a fellow like you is sure he knows exactly what he's doing." Steve and Anna start to have good times, if good times means going to the beach or a movie or The Roundup. Then one night at The Roundup, waiting for Anna to show up, he's told she's not coming...she got married to Dundee. Dundee may be a criminal, but he has what Anna wants...money.

Then Anna and Steve start seeing each other again. Anna shows the bruises she says she got from Dundee. And Dundee is no fool. One afternoon Anna goes to Steve's home while his mother is out...and Dundee and his gang catch them there. "Hello, baby," Dundee says to his wife while Steve stands nearby in his undershirt. "You know it don't look right," he tells her, "you can't exactly say it looks right, now can you?" Steve makes up a story about how he was meeting Anna just to set up a meeting with Dundee. "What meeting," Dundee asks. You can see the machinery work behind Steve's eyes. A holdup, he says. We can crack an armored car delivery because that's where I work. I'll be Mr. Inside. We'll split fifty-fifty. Steve's committed now. He'll have the money to run away with Anna and she'll be free of Dundee.

As with all fatalistic noirs, of course, it doesn't work out that way. By the time we get to the bleak, night-time ending in a cottage on the California coast, there have been double and triple crosses, betrayals and a loss of innocence that's sad to see.

Is this one of the great noirs, where content isn't as important as style and where a person's destiny is written on his face like an epitaph? Not quite, but it comes close. What I found missing was the lack of empathy between myself and Steve Thompson. Lancaster plays him like just an innocent, well-intentioned guy, a big, dumb lug way over his depth in his relationship with a woman who wants a lot more than just being content with Steve Thompson. Lancaster was a smart, dynamic actor. I had trouble accepting that he was so under Anna's spell that nothing she did raised any questions with him. De Carlo does a nice job as Anna, a character who is selfish and wants money, but who also is being pushed around. Steve gives her the benefit of every doubt, but no one else comes even close to that. The most interesting character, in my view, is Dan Duryea as Slim Dundee. He may be a double-crossing gangster, but we come to believe he really loves Anna. As bleak as the ending is, the last look at Duryea's face is a fine piece of acting.

The movie also has some set pieces which help build a lot of tension during the second half. Handled very well are the planning of the robbery in a smoke-filled room, the tear-gas attack and the shoot-out around the armored truck, the extended scene in the hospital when Steve believes Dundee is going to send someone to get him, the drama between Anna and the wounded Steve at the ocean-side cottage and that ending. If you tend toward bouts of depression, you might want to skip the last few minutes.

There's also Percy Helton, a short, balding actor with a round face and one of the most distinctive voices among Hollywood character actors, hoarse and breathy. He's one of any number of interesting actors we can't remember the name of but we recognize the face and style. He plays Frank, the bartender at The Roundup, and he does a great job.

The DVD transfer looks very good. There are no extras.

review by: Belkin1959 date: 2007-06-22 rating:

Classic noir.
Only Burt Lancaster could carry this role. Known as a muscle man in previous movies, here, he plays weakness like nobody else. To be in love, in a noir, is a one way ticket to a bleak fade-out. Terrific build up and a devastating ending, this is a noir that sets the bench mark. Dan Duryea is a revelation. His sneaky, snake like performance makes you realise that there is no actor of his ilk around today that could carry such a role. Just watch him appear from the doorway darkness into the last light of the two doomed lovers and you are watching a final curtain ballet of death. As the cop sirens ring out, watch Duryea's face. This movie is a classic. PS; look out for TONY CURTIS, later to get equal billing with LANCASTER in SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS, in an early non-speaking, dancing role with the soon to be MRS. MUNSTER. ENJOY!

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