Criss Cross (film)

Criss Cross
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Robert Siodmak
Produced by	Michael Kraike
Screenplay by	Daniel Fuchs
Based on	Criss Cross 1934 novel by Don Tracy
Starring	Burt Lancaster Yvonne De Carlo Dan Duryea
Music by	Miklós Rózsa
Cinematography	Franz Planer
Edited by	Ted J. Kent
Production company	Universal Pictures
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date	January 19, 1949 (1949-01-19) (Los Angeles, California) March 11, 1949 (1949-03-11) (New York City)
Running time	88 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Criss Cross is a 1949 American crime film noir directed by Robert Siodmak starring Burt Lancaster, Yvonne De Carlo and Dan Duryea. from Don Tracy's novel of the same name. This black-and-white film was shot partly on location in the Bunker Hill section of Los Angeles. The film was written by Daniel Fuchs. Franz Planer's cinematography creates a black-and-white film noir world. Miklós Rózsa scored the film's soundtrack. It was remade as The Underneath in 1995.

Reuniting with director Siodmak after their success with Ernest Hemingway's The Killers, Burt Lancaster plays Steve Thompson, a man who seals his dark fate when he returns to Los Angeles to find his ex-wife Anna Dundee (Yvonne DeCarlo) eager to rekindle their love against all better judgment.

She encourages their affair but then quickly marries mobster Slim Dundee (Dan Duryea). To deflect suspicion of the affair, Steve Thompson leads Dundee into a daylight armored-truck robbery, only to be "criss crossed" when the crime is pulled off.

Criss Cross features the screen debut of Tony Curtis (then known as Anthony Curtis). Curtis plays De Carlo's dance partner in a key scene at the Round-Up Bar. Once the dance ends, he disappears from both scene and film. Curtis was chosen by the director after many young hopefuls had auditioned for the part. The song Curtis and De Carlo dance to is called "Jungle Fantasy" and is performed by Esy Morales and his Rhumba Band, who also makes a cameo appearance in this scene. Curtis would later go on to co-star with Lancaster in Trapeze (1956) and Sweet Smell of Success (1957).