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| Title: CRISS CROSS Year: 1949 Rating: *** |
Burt Lancaster became a breakout star in director Robert Siodmak's complicated heist-noir THE KILLERS, and after his followup in Jules Dassin's prison drama BRUTE FORCE, he returned with Siodmak in what's a crime thriller more scrambled than hard-boiled... and in CRISS CROSS, like that first film, Lancaster ultimately steals stolen money from a big score...
Before that is terrific shadowy-interior atmosphere including a central tavern and various apartment rooms planning a much more basic heist involving armored cars from an armored car company owned by icy villain Dan Duryea...
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Burt Lancaster in CRISS CROSS
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And he's really only the heavy for marrying Lancaster's sexy ex-wife Yvonne De Carlo, who, as a manipulative semi-fatale, has Burt's Steve Thompson convinced she's being domestically abused... providing the usual cliche side-plot of murder or double-cross against a dangerous criminal simply because the dame requests it...
Meanwhile, the heist in act three is well-filmed and crams suspense and tension deliberately missing through the first two acts: that are instead sparsely filled with tight, clever, pulpy dialogue...
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| Yvonne De Carlo, Dan Duryea, Tom Pedi and Burt Lancaster in CRISS CROSS |
And yet, beginning with Lancaster's return to his old job while seeking his former love, experiencing CRISS CROSS almost feels like walking into a movie halfway through...
Or a sequel to an original that had already fleshed-out the characters (including sporadically lecturing cop Stephen McNally) with some 11th hour action and wispy romance to complete what's more a noir programmer than a full-course meal... yet is still pretty satisfying.
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| Burt Lancaster in CRISS CROSS |
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| Burt Lancaster in CRISS CROSS |
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Burt Lancaster in CRISS CROSS with Yvonne De Carlo
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| Burt Lancaster in CRISS CROSS |
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| Dan Duryyea in CRISS CROSS |
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| Burt Lancaster in CRISS CROSS |
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| Dan Duryyea in CRISS CROSS |
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| Burt Lancaster in CRISS CROSS |
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Burt Lancaster in CRISS CROSS with Yvonne De Carlo
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Tom Pedi and Dan Duryyea in CRISS CROSS with Yvonne De Carlo
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| Tom Pedi and Dan Duryyea in CRISS CROSS |
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| Stephen McNally in CRISS CROSS |
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| Robert Osterloh in CRISS CROSS |
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| Robert Osterloh in CRISS CROSS |
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| Burt Lancaster in CRISS CROSS |
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| Burt Lancaster in CRISS CROSS |
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| Burt Lancaster in CRISS CROSS |
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Burt Lancaster in CRISS CROSS with Stephen McNally
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| Burt Lancaster in CRISS CROSS |
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| Yvonne De Carlo in CRISS CROSS |
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| Titles for CRISS CROSS |
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