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Criss Cross (film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the 1949 film. For the 1992 film, see CrissCross.
| Criss Cross | |
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| Directed by | Robert Siodmak |
| Produced by | Michael Kraike |
| Written by | Daniel Fuchs Don Tracy (novel) |
| Starring | Burt Lancaster, Yvonne De Carlo, Dan Duryea Kippee Valez |
| Music by | Miklós Rózsa |
| Cinematography | Franz Planer |
| Distributed by | Universal International Pictures |
| Release date(s) | January 12, 1949 (U.S. release) |
| Running time | 87 min. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Criss Cross is a 1949 film noir movie, directed by Robert Siodmak from a novel by Don Tracy. This black and white film was shot partly on location in the Bunker Hill section of Los Angeles. The film was written by Daniel Fuchs. Franz Planer's cinematography creates a black-and-white film noir world. Miklós Rózsa scored the film's soundtrack. The production nearly derailed when producer Mark Hellinger died suddenly before filming began. Lancaster claimed he was unhappy with the way Siodmak and Fuchs had reworked Hellinger's idea of a racetrack heist into a fatal romantic triangle. Remade as The Underneath by Stephen Soderberg in 1995.
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Reuniting with director Siodmak after their success with Ernest Hemingway's The Killers, Burt Lancaster plays a man who seals his dark fate when he returns to Los Angeles to find his ex-wife (Yvonne DeCarlo) eager to rekindle their love against all better judgment. She encourages their affair but then quickly marries a mobster (Slim Dundee played by Dan Duryea). To deflect suspicion of the affair, Lancaster leads Duryea into a daylight armored-truck robbery, only to be "criss crossed" when the crime is pulled off.
The film features 1940s film footage of Angels Flight and Union Station in Los Angeles.
- Burt Lancaster .... Steve Thompson
- Yvonne De Carlo .... Anna Dundee
- Dan Duryea .... Slim Dundee
- Stephen McNally .... Det. Lt. Pete Ramirez
Criss Cross features the screen debut of Tony Curtis (then known as James Curtis). Curtis plays De Carlo's dance partner in a key scene at the Round-Up Bar. Once the dance ends, he disappears from both scene and film. Curtis was chosen by the director after many young hopefuls had auditioned for the part. Also appearing in the movie are supporting actors Percy Helton (playing a bartender) and Stephen McNally (as the cop friend of Steve's).
"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." Det. Lt. Pete Ramirez
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