Good film Noir ! Burt Lancaster plays a sap in this one

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	• Criss Cross [VHS] Burt Lancaster, Yvonne De Carlo Universal Studios, 1996 average customer review:based on 37 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Good film Noir ! Burt Lancaster plays a sap in this one

Ever fall in love with a girl that no one likes ? Well here is one movie that has that situation is it. Burt is love sick in this, despite his family and a friend who is a cop to stay away from her. He should have. Anyway, I really like this movie. Burt Lancaster plays a sap for Lily Munster, well Yvonne De Carlo who cant stay away from her,& wants to give her everything.. He loves her and she is a femme fatele who is married to a crook named Slim (Dan Duryea) They plan to steal a ton of money from an armored truck which of course backfires with double crossing.(I wont spoil anything with the double cross or the shocking ending) This was a good noir,strong story and acting performances were all top notch here. Your basic Noir with Gangsters back in the golden age. A good classic worth checking out.

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Among the best of film noir

This is classic film noir in all respects: dark moody lighting, flawed "hero", femme fatale, jealous husband, gray-area moral quandaries, pessimistic tone, unhappy ending, jaded, pseudo-sophisticated dialog. How about this gem of dialog where the Burt Lancaster character says:

"A man eats an apple. He gets a piece of the core stuck between his teeth. He tries to work it out with some cellophane from a cigarette pack. What happens? The cellophane gets stuck in there too. Anna? What was the use. I knew that somehow I'd wind up seeing her that night."

I love the extended scene of the band playing an interesting rumba (a little over 2 minutes) when the Burt Lancaster character walks into the Round-Up Club, looking for Anna. They show Esy Morales and His Rumba Band playing a pretty swinging, pretty cool rumba ("Jungle Fantasy") that I like a lot. (Never heard it before the movie, but like it now.) I like it when movies do that sort of extravagance, e.g., when Hoagy Carmichael performs several numbers in "To Have And To Have Not", or Ida Lupino's songs in "Road House" -- some good, extended singing in those too. Really adds a touch of class.

This one is a gem. An outstanding film noir story that keeps you gripped, and the film restoration brings outstanding picture quality.

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Classic not to be missed.

Classic Noir. Touches on all of the essential elements of the genre. If you have trouble figuring out what "film noir" is, watch this, and note the thematic elements of the script, the lighting, and the shot angles. Consistently ranks in the top ten films of the genre. Despite occasional criticism by others, print quality and sound are very good.

LA Redcar [trolly] sequences and Bunker Hill settings in the opening are priceless. Union Station sequence will make LA dwellers of the appropriate age tear up with nostalgia. Script [dialog] is phenomenal - loaded with double entendres [S&M], sarcasm ["the way you know everything , the way you've got it all figured out"], and pathos. Hospital sequence can actually induce pain in the viewer. Direction is outstanding [Blacklisted director]. Well lit. Great soundtrack. Ending defines romantic tragedy. Lancaster perfect in the role, supporting cast is well chosen; young DeCarlo [the future Mrs. Herman Munster] is perfectly cast as the femme fatale/object of desire. The most tragic ending in film history[!?!]. Really, what more could you ask for in a film noir? Grab it before the younger generation confines it to oblivion.

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Man Does Wrong to Win Love

This is a great noir. Lancaster is a man governed by forces he cannot understand. He wants to get away from ex-wife DeCarlo but can't thinking about her and seeking her out, even after she marries creepy Dan Duyea and thus commits himself to crime just to win her back. "Man does wrong to win love" is the most basic film noir plot, and this is one of the early films to set it in stone. Aside from the great story, characters, and dialog, the film has great sets long exterior shots of parts of L.A. that no longer exist, like the Bunker Hill neighborhood.

A 5-star noir

Looking at most of the reviews herein, it appears that the people have spoken: overall, it must be said that "Criss Cross" deserves a place of honor in the noir genre. For those who've seen and loved all the usual entries (Big Sleep, Double Indemnity, et al)check out this lesser-advertised gem. Anyone can find something they don't like about any film----nitpicky stuff like "Who called the cops?" "Why does a basically smart guy like Steve (Burt Lancaster)act so dumb around a woman?"----but such questions mean Zip. Movies need be no more logical than real life, and real life ain't logical, in case you haven't noticed. The story is involving and believable. As Steve, Lancaster presents a picture of a nice guy gone wrong, and you care about what happens to him. Star quality is in his every move. Yvonne DeCarlo, for those of you who may only be familiar with her campy TV fame, was one major beauty---in addition to the sizzling good looks, she has an Everywoman quality that many "above it all", major stars of the day didn't possess. Her character here is less than above-board, but you still understand how Steve can feel the way he does about her. Good acting---including that of perennial heavy Dan Duryea---and the director has created a nifty package that can be enjoyed over and over. See it!

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

A certified film noir classic, Criss Cross embraces the genre's darkness with an uncompromising tale of doomed lovers and multilayered betrayal. Reuniting with director Robert Siodmak after their success with The Killers, Burt Lancaster plays a love-struck loser who seals his 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 torrid affair but marries a mobster (Dan Duryea); to deflect suspicion, Lancaster lures Duryea into an armored-truck robbery, creating a vortex of greed and passion from which he cannot escape. Featuring the brief screen debut of Tony Curtis, Criss Cross is a stylish masterpiece of clashing fates and fatal attractions; Franz Planer's cinematography creates a shadow world in which every desire is tainted by the threat of violence, and Miklos Rozsa's score underlines a love story that could never end happily. Film noir doesn't get any bleaker--or better--than this. --Jeff Shannon

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