Criss Cross (1949)

Réalisateur:

Robert Siodmak

Writers:

Daniel Fuchs (writer)
Don Tracy (novel)

Release Date:

6 juillet 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Film-Noir | Thriller

Accroche:

They played it with BULLETS!

Plot:

Steve Thompson, still obsessed with his fickle ex-wife, is drawn by her into the underworld...

Plot Keywords:

Film Noir | Crime Boss | Beautiful Woman | Armored Car Robbery | Double Cross

Awards:

1 nomination

Avis des utilisateurs:

Big Deal In L.A.

Ensemble

Burt Lancaster	...	Steve Thompson / Narrator
Yvonne De Carlo	...	Anna Dundee
Dan Duryea	...	Slim Dundee
Stephen McNally	...	Det. Lt. Peter 'Pete' Ramirez
Esy Morales	...	Orchestra Leader (as Esy Morales and His Rhumba Band)
Tom Pedi	...	Vincent
Percy Helton	...	Frank
Alan Napier	...	Finchley
Griff Barnett	...	Pop
Meg Randall	...	Helen
Richard Long	...	Slade Thompson
Joan Miller	...	The Lush
Edna Holland	...	Mrs. Thompson (as Edna M. Holland)
John Doucette	...	Walt
Marc Krah	...	Mort

Autre(s) titre(s) :

Criss Cross (France) (DVD title) [fr]
Pour toi j'ai tué (France) [fr]

Durée:

88 min

Pays:

USA

Langue:

Anglais

Couleur:

Noir et Blanc

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Son:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Classification:

France:U | Australia:PG | West Germany:16 (nf) | Norway:16 | Spain:13 | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #13393) | Sweden:15

Emplacements De Pelliculage:

Angel's Flight Railway, Bunker Hill, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Anecdotes:

Vito Scotti's first film appearance.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Steve and Pop leave the armored truck to carry the payroll bags into the company Steve has 3 bags and Pop has 2. Then after the explosion, Steve has 2 and Pop has 3.

Guillemet:

Det. Lt. Pete Ramirez: I should have been a better friend. I shoulda stopped you. I shoulda grabbed you by the neck, I shoulda kicked your teeth in. I'm sorry Steve.

Connexions De Film:

Featured in Los Angeles Plays Itself (2003)

Big Deal In L.A.

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.