Criss Cross (1949)
6/10
Not As Good As I Was Led To Believe
10 May 2006
As a film noir fan who read a lot of positive reviews of this film before seeing it, I wound up really disappointed with this after two views. For some reason, the first look wasn't bad but on a further viewing, it really dragged. The reason was simple: it took took long for the "heist" to happen.It turned out to be more of a talk-fest between Burt Lancaster and Yvonne DeCarlo before anything happened.

I have nothing against the main actors and their performances. Lancaster, as always, was interesting and DeCarlo is also intriguing, especially for someone like me who grew up knowing her only as "Lily Munster." She had a convincing 1940s film noir look: pretty, sultry and not only looked the part but acted the part well, too. I wish she had done a few more noirs that were available on disc or tape.

When you add Dan Duryea, Stephen McNally and others, this should have been better and the middle just went on too long. The beginning and ending are, by far, the best parts of this movie.
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