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• 5.0 out of 5 stars BLU-RAY REVIEW

  Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2019

  PHOTO 3: @ 22:27 into ‘Criss Cross’, Bernard Schwartz made his film debut (uncredited) dancing the rumba with Yvonne DeCarlo. The following year he changed his name to Tony Curtis.
  PHOTO 1: ‘Criss Cross’ villain Dan Duryea (no actor was better at playing psychopaths).

  ‘Criss Cross’ (1949) was Burt Lancaster’s second film noir directed by Robert Siodmak - they did ‘The Killers’ in 1946 (see list at the end of this review).
  It was also the second time Yvonne DeCarlo co-starred with Burt Lancaster.
  Two years earlier she was in ‘Brute Force’.
  But ‘Brute Force’ is a prison picture - no women allowed - so Yvonne DeCarlo only appeared in flashback, and it wasn’t even Burt Lancaster’s flashback.
  She was in Howard Duff’s flashback.
  The first half of ‘Criss Cross’ drags a bit as it establishes the relationship between Lancaster, DeCarlo and Dan Duryea, who plays DeCarlo’s psychotic gangster husband.
  The pace picks up in the second half - an armored car robbery and the bloody aftermath.
  The ending was truly shocking for 1949 (still packs a punch).
  Music by legendary film noir composer Miklós Rózsa.

  ‘Criss Cross’ was issued on DVD in 2004: No extras aside from the theatrical trailer and subtitles.
  The new Shout Blu-ray is a 4K scan of the original nitrate negative.
  Much sharper picture.
  Black and white film stock of the 1940s and ‘50s had something called grain, which is noticeable on Blu-ray.
  Grain is not a mistake.
  Audiences in the ‘40s expected to see grain (back when movie theaters had big screens).
  Grain gives depth to black-and-white film, but people who grew up with the flat, smooth images of analog TV, videotape and even DVD have no idea what it is.
  Grain is to black-and white film stock what brushstrokes are to paintings.
  Grain is Good.
  Bonus Features on the Shout Blu-ray:
  ---- Commentary by film historian Jim Hemphill
  ---- Theatrical trailer
  ---- Still gallery, posters and lobby cards
  ---- English SDH subtitles.

  BURT LANCASTER FILM NOIR CHECKLIST:
  Burt Lancaster starred in eight films noir between 1946 and 1949, but avoided the genre completely in the ‘50s and ‘60s, branching out into adventure films and westerns.
  (IMDB considers ‘Sweet Smell of Success’ (1957) to be film noir - but I’m not so sure.)
  All eight are on DVD, Five are on Blu-ray:

  The film titles in blue are direct Amazon links.
  For the rest, enter the film title in the Amazon search bar.

  1946: The Killers [Blu-ray] (Criterion Collection)] with Ava Gardner, Edmond O’Brien, music by Miklós Rózsa - directed by Robert Siodmak (Burt Lancaster’s film debut)

  1947: Brute Force [Blu-ray] (Criterion Collection) with Hume Cronyn, Charles Bickford, music by Miklós Rózsa - directed by Jules Dassin

  1947: Desert Fury [Blu-ray] with Lizabeth Scott, John Hodiak, music by Miklós Rózsa - directed by Lewis Allen (rare example of film noir in color)

  1948: I Walk Alone [Blu-ray] with Lizabeth Scott, Kirk Douglas, music by Victor Young - directed by Byron Haskins

  1948: Sorry, Wrong Number [Blu-ray] with Barbara Stanwyck, William Conrad, music by Franz Waxman - directed by Anatole Litvak

  1948: Kiss the Blood Off My Hands [Blu-ray] with Joan Fontaine, Robert Newton, music by Miklós Rózsa - directed by Norman Foster

  1949: Criss Cross [Blu-ray] with Yvonne DeCarlo, Dan Duryea, music by Miklós Rózsa - directed by Robert Siodmak REVIEWED ON THIS PAGE

  1949: Rope of Sand [Blu-ray] with Corinne Calvet, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, music by Franz Waxman - directed by William Dieterle

  Legendary film noir composer Miklós Rózsa scored five of these films:
  The Killers, Brute Force, Desert Fury, Kiss the Blood Off My Hands and Criss Cross.

  

  5.0 out of 5 stars

  BLU-RAY REVIEW

  Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2019

  PHOTO 3: @ 22:27 into ‘Criss Cross’, Bernard Schwartz made his film debut (uncredited) dancing the rumba with Yvonne DeCarlo. The following year he changed his name to Tony Curtis.
  PHOTO 1: ‘Criss Cross’ villain Dan Duryea (no actor was better at playing psychopaths).

  ‘Criss Cross’ (1949) was Burt Lancaster’s second film noir directed by Robert Siodmak - they did ‘The Killers’ in 1946 (see list at the end of this review).
  It was also the second time Yvonne DeCarlo co-starred with Burt Lancaster.
  Two years earlier she was in ‘Brute Force’.
  But ‘Brute Force’ is a prison picture - no women allowed - so Yvonne DeCarlo only appeared in flashback, and it wasn’t even Burt Lancaster’s flashback.
  She was in Howard Duff’s flashback.
  The first half of ‘Criss Cross’ drags a bit as it establishes the relationship between Lancaster, DeCarlo and Dan Duryea, who plays DeCarlo’s psychotic gangster husband.
  The pace picks up in the second half - an armored car robbery and the bloody aftermath.
  The ending was truly shocking for 1949 (still packs a punch).
  Music by legendary film noir composer Miklós Rózsa.

  ‘Criss Cross’ was issued on DVD in 2004: No extras aside from the theatrical trailer and subtitles.
  The new Shout Blu-ray is a 4K scan of the original nitrate negative.
  Much sharper picture.
  Black and white film stock of the 1940s and ‘50s had something called grain, which is noticeable on Blu-ray.
  Grain is not a mistake.
  Audiences in the ‘40s expected to see grain (back when movie theaters had big screens).
  Grain gives depth to black-and-white film, but people who grew up with the flat, smooth images of analog TV, videotape and even DVD have no idea what it is.
  Grain is to black-and white film stock what brushstrokes are to paintings.
  Grain is Good.
  Bonus Features on the Shout Blu-ray:
  ---- Commentary by film historian Jim Hemphill
  ---- Theatrical trailer
  ---- Still gallery, posters and lobby cards
  ---- English SDH subtitles.

  BURT LANCASTER FILM NOIR CHECKLIST:
  Burt Lancaster starred in eight films noir between 1946 and 1949, but avoided the genre completely in the ‘50s and ‘60s, branching out into adventure films and westerns.
  (IMDB considers ‘Sweet Smell of Success’ (1957) to be film noir - but I’m not so sure.)
  All eight are on DVD, Five are on Blu-ray:

  The film titles in blue are direct Amazon links.
  For the rest, enter the film title in the Amazon search bar.

  1946: The Killers [Blu-ray] (Criterion Collection)] with Ava Gardner, Edmond O’Brien, music by Miklós Rózsa - directed by Robert Siodmak (Burt Lancaster’s film debut)

  1947: Brute Force [Blu-ray] (Criterion Collection) with Hume Cronyn, Charles Bickford, music by Miklós Rózsa - directed by Jules Dassin

  1947: Desert Fury [Blu-ray] with Lizabeth Scott, John Hodiak, music by Miklós Rózsa - directed by Lewis Allen (rare example of film noir in color)

  1948: I Walk Alone [Blu-ray] with Lizabeth Scott, Kirk Douglas, music by Victor Young - directed by Byron Haskins

  1948: Sorry, Wrong Number [Blu-ray] with Barbara Stanwyck, William Conrad, music by Franz Waxman - directed by Anatole Litvak

  1948: Kiss the Blood Off My Hands [Blu-ray] with Joan Fontaine, Robert Newton, music by Miklós Rózsa - directed by Norman Foster

  1949: Criss Cross [Blu-ray] with Yvonne DeCarlo, Dan Duryea, music by Miklós Rózsa - directed by Robert Siodmak REVIEWED ON THIS PAGE

  1949: Rope of Sand [Blu-ray] with Corinne Calvet, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, music by Franz Waxman - directed by William Dieterle

  Legendary film noir composer Miklós Rózsa scored five of these films:
  The Killers, Brute Force, Desert Fury, Kiss the Blood Off My Hands and Criss Cross.

  Images in this review

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• 4.0 out of 5 stars Great Noir

  Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2025

  One of the great film noirs from the past. Starring Burt Lancaster and Dan Dureya two of the best at film noirs this one doesn’t disappoint.
  

• 5.0 out of 5 stars Siodmak’s back to back home runs

  Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2020

  Robert Siodmak and Burt Lancaster teamed up for a pair of indispensable classics in the film noir canon: “The Killers” in 1946 and “Criss-Cross” in 1949.

  In both, Lancaster becomes helplessly infatuated with a woman who spells his doom; Ava Gardner in the 1946 “Killers” and Yvonne De Carlo — yes, a ravishing young Lily Muenster — in “Criss-Cross.”

  And in both, the plot unfolds in a series of flashbacks that waste not a frame, not a word. Precise and efficient as a Swiss watch movement, both films press ahead like a speeding locomotive, with an urgency and inevitability that will keep you riveted.

  And the cinematography in both is pure German expressionism gone to Hollywood, chiaroscuro to the max.

  This 2019 ‘shout’ release in blu-ray is stunning, albeit lacking in any interesting extras. Sure, extras would be nice. A less amateurish commentary track would be an improvement. But who needs ‘em, really, when you’ve got a nearly flawless, rich and contrasty black and white nitrate to disc transfer to keep you company?

  Go ahead and make a double feature of the pair: the Criterion Collection issue of The Killers (which also includes the Don Siegel 60s remake with Lee Marvin) and this new 4k blu-ray edition of Criss-Cross. You’ll be spending a few hours knee deep in the very best of 40s film noir, from ‘we’ve come to kill the Swede,’ to the final siren’s wail as Criss-Cross draws to its grim conclusion.

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