Criss Cross [Blu-ray] (1948)

Criss Cross

Criss Cross" (1948) is among the best movies in the genre of film noir. Eddie Muller, the "Czar of Noir" rates it as no. 2 in his list of the 25 best noir films and offers unusually perceptive comments on the film in his "Noir Alley" series. I have been watching film noir for several years and was glad to see this film at last.

The film was a follow-up to the 1946 version of Ernest Hemingway's "The Killers". Robert Siodmak directed. The film starred Burt Lancaster as Steve Thompson, Yvonne De Carlo as Anna, and Dan Duryea as the sinister villain, Slim Dundee. The three principals as well as the large supporting cast perform brilliantly in this movie.

"Criss Cross" is a story of passion and crime and of double and triple crossing. Steve and Anna have had a failed marriage and a divorce but Steve can't shake her. He returns home to Los Angeles where the two take up again and are repeating the behavior and the bickering which led to the end of their marriage. The ambitious and fickle Anna marries the mobster Slim but still carries on with Steve. Steve works for an armored car company and brings Slim into a large scale heist in order to deflect attention from the affair and to run off with Anna with the proceeds from the heist. Steve is warned by his family about Anna and by his old faithful friend, the detective Pete Ramirez, but to no avail.

The film develops slowly but has a cumulative effect. It creates an emotional wallop in a running time of less than 90 minutes. In addition to the acting and the emotional story, the film features noir photography of 1940s Los Angeles, including downtown streets, Union Station, streetcars, old run down apartments and seedy bars. Climactic noir scenes take place in a nightclub parking lot and in a deserted shack along the beach. A tense musical score by Miklos Rozsa captures the story in sound.

There is always something to learn and to love in any art form, including film noir. "Criss Cross" is a masterful work that is a must see for those interested in the genre.It manages to be both visceral and subtle in its presentation of love, passion, and deceit. I was glad to find this movie at last and to be reminded of the D.C. film noir festival that I attend yearly and that features Eddie Muller introducing some of the showings. Unfortunately, the festival has been cancelled this year as a result of the pandemic, but film noir remains available to be enjoyed.

Robin Friedman