CRISS CROSS contains a steam-heated dance number, two minutes of rumba innuendo that would make it a must-see even if the rest of the movie was a dog. Fortunately, the rest of the 1949 noir meller is swell stuff, from the title sequence—one of the first (?) movie aerial prowls over Los Angeles, scored as a warning signal by Miklos Rozsa—to the bracing finale at minute 87. In a year crowded with crime & corruption tales, several of them classics, this ranks as one of the best. *

Back in Los Angeles after a two-year drift, ‘Steve Thompson’ (Burt Lancaster) sees his family, which is good, but he also makes the mistake of hooking up with ‘Anna’ (Yvonne De Carlo) his ex-wife. They loved deeply, but fought fiercely, and now it appears as though Anna—not exactly a ‘girl next door’ sunflower—is keeping bad company in the form of  ‘Slim Dundee’ (Dan Duryea), nightclub owner & small-time hood. When Slim catches the formers being frisky, the careless lovers have to find a way out. Steve hatches a plan; robbing an armored truck of the outfit he works for. With Steve the inside man, Slim arranges a team to carry off the heist. Planned to the minute, it looks like a cinch. What could go wrong?

Taking a leaf from his dame-trapped sap in The Killers, Lancaster improves on that idea—a strong weakling—and makes his morally decent but emotionally foolhardy Steve a compelling yet pitiable loser. Duryea plays his controlling shark in a low-key, effortlessly suggesting menace without resorting to Bad Guy 101 pyrotechnics. At 27, De Carlo was sensuality on the stove; she and Burt make a believable case of animal magnetism. That writhing, swirling rumba foreplay (complete with great closeups of her, Burt and the band members)  is a hypnotic mix of music, movement and message. The robbery sequence is excitingly done, and throughout the direction from Robert Siodmak (The Killers, The Spiral Staircase, The Crimson Pirate) is fluid and inventive, Franz Planer’s cinematography is excellent and the script from Daniel Fuchs (Panic In The Streets, Love Me Or Leave Me) loads snappy ammo for all concerned.

Box office of $4,000,000 placed 90th for the year. The soso adventure Rope Of Sand, Lancaster’s other outing that year, did a good deal more business, but Criss Cross is a better bet (Burt hated Rope of Sand).

Young blood Tony, no doubt figuring to put the moves on Yvonne, no slouch at “let’s play”

“I told myself ‘Fine, it’s a lucky break. It’s the best thing that ever happened to me.’ I told myself that someday I’d look back and realize it. But I was wrong. It was in the cards and there was no way of stopping it. A month went by, a second, a fourth. It was finished, done with, water over the dam. Only it wasn’t. You know how it is. You don’t know what to do with yourself. You want to travel, get away, anywhere. Every place you go, you see her face. Half the girls you pass are her. Did it ever happen to you?”

Tony Curtis, 24, debuts in an uncredited blink & miss bit as the guy doing the rumba with De Carlo. With Stephen McNally (on the law’s side this time), Percy Helton (biggest role he ever had?), Alan Napier (suave heist planner with a booze chink), Griff Barnett, Meg Randall, Tom Pedi (jovial thug), Robert Osterloh, Richard Long (as Burt’s kid brother), Edna Holland, Esy Morales (leading the band), John Doucette, Gene Evans, Vito Scotti (31, debut).

* Notable noir of 1949—The Third Man, White Heat, All The King’s Men, Flamingo Road, Knock On Any Door, Chicago Deadline, House Of Strangers, Tokyo Joe, Slattery’s Hurricane, City Across The River, Thieves’ Highway, The Big Steal, Caught, D.O.A., Border Incident, Impact.

Percy Helton, 1894-1971, who my Mom always called “that awful little man”