Criss Cross

Starring:Burt Lancaster, Yvonne De Carlo, Dan Duryea, Stephen McNally, Esy Morales, Tom Pedi, Percy Helton, Alan Napier, Griff Barnett, Meg Randall, Richard Long, Joan Miller, Edna Holland, John Doucette, Marc Krah, James O'Rear, John 'Skins' Miller, Gene Evans, Raymond Burr, Beatrice Roberts
Director: Robert Siodmak
Studio: Universal Studios
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

A certified film noir classic, Criss Cross embraces the genre's darkness with an uncompromising tale of doomed lovers and multilayered betrayal. Reuniting with director Robert Siodmak after their success with The Killers, Burt Lancaster plays a love-struck loser who seals his fate when he returns to Los Angeles to find his ex-wife (Yvonne DeCarlo) eager to rekindle their love against all better judgment. She encourages their torrid affair but marries a mobster (Dan Duryea); to deflect suspicion, Lancaster lures Duryea into an armored-truck robbery, creating a vortex of greed and passion from which he cannot escape. Featuring the brief screen debut of Tony Curtis, Criss Cross is a stylish masterpiece of clashing fates and fatal attractions; Franz Planer's cinematography creates a shadow world in which every desire is tainted by the threat of violence, and Miklos Rozsa's score underlines a love story that could never end happily. Film noir doesn't get any bleaker--or better--than this. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Which movie is it?.......2006-11-26

So which is this, the Goldie Hawn movie, shown, or the Burt Lancaster film, as described? I guess I'd give both 4 stars, but would like to know what I'm buying!

A doomed unequited love affair.......2006-10-05

The Robert Siodmak directed "Criss Cross", has all the classic underpinnings for film noir, black and white cinematography, a plot bordering on criminality and a manipulative bad girl.

The sultry Yvonne DeCarlo plays Anna, the self serving black hearted ex-wife of Burt Lancaster. Lancaster, in an early role, plays good natured schnook Steve Thompson who stills pines for his ex. He left L.A. in order to get her out of his system but is lured back hopelessly infatuated, much to the chagrin of good friend detective Lt. Pete Ramirez played by Stephen McNally. The trouble is is that DeCarlo is now married to L.A. mobster Slim Dundee played by Dan Duryea. Lancaster, an armored car driver, in desperation schemes to ally himself with Duryea in a hold up. With his share of the take, he hopes to run away with DeCarlo.

As in all film noir, we see that crime doesn't pay and the plot leads to the inevitable downfall of all the major players in this solid 1949 flick.

A fine, bleak noir, close to great, where a person's destiny is written on his face like an epitaph.......2006-07-04

"I didn't come back on account of her. It had nothing to do with her. I wasn't going to go looking for her. I didn't expect to run into her. I didn't particularly want to see her. I was sure of that if I was sure of anything. Then from the start it all went one way. It was in the cards or it was fate or a jinx or whatever you want to call it."

Steve Thompson (Burt Lancaster) is a drifter, taking jobs where he finds them. He'd been married to Anna (Yvonne De Carlo) for seven months two years ago. He thought he had her out of his system when he returned to Los Angeles. He was wrong. He starts dropping in at The Roundup, an old hangout, telling himself he isn't there to see her. One evening he spots her there dancing. She's with Slim Dundee (Dan Duryea), a known gangster. The old story starts up again. In a way he sees what's coming. "Half the time you don't know what you're doing," he tells her, "the trouble is you always know what you want." An old friend, Detective Lieutenant Pete Ramirez, tries to tell him she's bad news. Steve's mother tries to talk sense to him. "You know, Steve," she says to him while he's getting ready to meet Anna, "you're a very nice looking boy. Out of all the girls in Los Angeles why did you have to pick on her?...A girl puts on a piece of silk and the next thing that happens, a fellow like you is sure he knows exactly what he's doing." Steve and Anna start to have good times, if good times means going to the beach or a movie or The Roundup. Then one night at The Roundup, waiting for Anna to show up, he's told she's not coming...she got married to Dundee. Dundee may be a criminal, but he has what Anna wants...money.

Then Anna and Steve start seeing each other again. Anna shows the bruises she says she got from Dundee. And Dundee is no fool. One afternoon Anna goes to Steve's home while his mother is out...and Dundee and his gang catch them there. "Hello, baby," Dundee says to his wife while Steve stands nearby in his undershirt. "You know it don't look right," he tells her, "you can't exactly say it looks right, now can you?" Steve makes up a story about how he was meeting Anna just to set up a meeting with Dundee. "What meeting," Dundee asks. You can see the machinery work behind Steve's eyes. A holdup, he says. We can crack an armored car delivery because that's where I work. I'll be Mr. Inside. We'll split fifty-fifty. Steve's committed now. He'll have the money to run away with Anna and she'll be free of Dundee.

As with all fatalistic noirs, of course, it doesn't work out that way. By the time we get to the bleak, night-time ending in a cottage on the California coast, there have been double and triple crosses, betrayals and a loss of innocence that's sad to see.

Is this one of the great noirs, where content isn't as important as style and where a person's destiny is written on his face like an epitaph? Not quite, but it comes close. What I found missing was the lack of empathy between myself and Steve Thompson. Lancaster plays him like just an innocent, well-intentioned guy, a big, dumb lug way over his depth in his relationship with a woman who wants a lot more than just being content with Steve Thompson. Lancaster was a smart, dynamic actor. I had trouble accepting that he was so under Anna's spell that nothing she did raised any questions with him. De Carlo does a nice job as Anna, a character who is selfish and wants money, but who also is being pushed around. Steve gives her the benefit of every doubt, but no one else comes even close to that. The most interesting character, in my view, is Dan Duryea as Slim Dundee. He may be a double-crossing gangster, but we come to believe he really loves Anna. As bleak as the ending is, the last look at Duryea's face is a fine piece of acting.

The movie also has some set pieces which help build a lot of tension during the second half. Handled very well are the planning of the robbery in a smoke-filled room, the tear-gas attack and the shoot-out around the armored truck, the extended scene in the hospital when Steve believes Dundee is going to send someone to get him, the drama between Anna and the wounded Steve at the ocean-side cottage and that ending. If you tend toward bouts of depression, you might want to skip the last few minutes.

There's also Percy Helton, a short, balding actor with a round face and one of the most distinctive voices among Hollywood character actors, hoarse and breathy. He's one of any number of interesting actors we can't remember the name of but we recognize the face and style. He plays Frank, the bartender at The Roundup, and he does a great job.

The DVD transfer looks very good. There are no extras.

LANCASTER AND DECARLO IN GREAT S IODMAK NOIR!.......2006-05-15

German born director Robert Siodmak has directed at least three (3)film noir classics,"Phanton Lady",The Killers"(1946 version) and this gem,the best of the three "Criss Cross".Yvonne DeCarlo,in her most convincing and sexy role,is Anna the ex-wife of Burt Lancaster,who still longs for her.The femme fatale,a staple in noir films is played to the hilt by ms DeCarlo,who after another brief fling with Lancaster,winds up marrying "crook" Dan Duryea(superb).Lancaster is now an armored car driver/guard and he still can't forget the glamorous Yvonne.Well,needless to say this situation leads to fatal results.Under the forceful direction of Siomak Criss Cross is one of the GREAT NOIRS,after "Nightmare Alley",with Tyrone Power,Criss Cross is my all time favorite.THE DVD has NO commetary,for some reason Universal treats its noirsas if they were second rate.FOX knows how to release their DVDs in a first rate manner.

You can't seem to trust anybody these days (recommended).......2006-03-23

Wow! How many ways can a group of people double-cross each other? It's impossible to tell who is really on the same side. A beautiful single woman (DeCaro) fails to show up for a date with her ex-husband (Lancaster) because -- get this -- she has just remarried. Ouch! The inducement? Lancaster's reticence paired with family and police interference.

DeCaro's second marriage to a dangerous mobster (Duryea) is an emotional disaster which makes her long for the affections of her first husband. Lancaster concocts an off-the-cuff scheme to keep Duryea from killing him after being found alone with his DeCaro. Lancaster betays the trust of his employer by becoming the inside man for a robbery. The tables turn again during the robbery when things don't go as planned and more promises are broken. Hospital security is breached by a man sent to bring Lancaster to the mobster husband. The driver is bought off to avert unspeakable torture. This produces several more plot twists in the love affair that led to the 'perfect' crime.

Average customer rating:

Leguizamo keeps the empty Empire from crumbling
i liked this movie
Delilah Cotto a.k.a. Scene Stealer
Did you see it coming? I certainly did...
this movie is in a class all by itself

Empire
Starring: John Leguizamo , Peter Sarsgaard , Denise Richards , Vincent Laresca , and Isabella Rossellini
Director: Franc. Reyes
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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A Man Apart
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ASIN: B00005JLYH
Release Date: 2003-03-18

Amazon.com

John Leguizamo is, in his own words, "young, Latin, and good looking" as the ambitious minimogul of the South Bronx drug trade in Franc Reyes' Latino twist on the urban crime saga. Reigning in his hyperactive energy, Leguizamo is like a coiled spring as the street-smart player who tries to leave the violence of his trade behind in an upwardly mobile odyssey, and Peter Sarsgaard brings a discomforting confidence to the smooth-talking investment banker trusted with his millions. Few of the other characters even register in the familiar underworld tale (though Denise Richards has fun as a bubbly, skin-deep seductress) and Reyes's flashy style is as distracting as it is energizing. It's the smoldering presence of Leguizamo that keeps the film centered through the betrayals, the bullet-riddled battles, and the slow realization that this cunning shark has just become bait in the deep seas of high finance. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews:

Leguizamo keeps the empty Empire from crumbling.......2005-07-02

John Leguizamo (George A. Romero's Land Of The Dead, The Honeymooners) plays a hotshot street thug from the South of Bronx who winds up making a business deal with wallstreet hotshot, played by Peter Sarsgaard (the upcoming The Skeleton Key, Shattered Glass). Soon, Leguizamo's life turns upside down as he finds out that his business partner is trying to scam him. This is a very intriguing story but it leaves nothing to fill in the gaps except for a good performance by John Leguizamo which keeps this from going down in the dumps. Also starring Denise Richards (The World Is Not Enought, Valentine) as another ditzy woman with sexual ways, Rappers Fat Joe and Treach (Jason's Lyric), Nestor Serrano (The Negotiator) and a weird role for Isabella Rosselini (Death Becomes Her, Immortal Beloved) as a druglord...very weird and the hair.

i liked this movie.......2005-03-30

i liked this movie. its sort of like scarface. but its definately worth renting. i'm glad i saw it.

Delilah Cotto a.k.a. Scene Stealer.......2004-12-02

Wow, Delilah Cotto sure can act. Her character Carmen is the best character in this movie. She's the reason we root for the main character Victor, who is played perfectly by John Leguizamo. Leguizamo and Cotto had great on scene chemistry and that was a key element to the movie. Jack, who is played by Peter Saarsgard, pitches an investment opportunity to Victor and he goes with it. But Victor's life comes crashing down as his crew turns on him and his relationship with Carmen is skating on thin ice. Carmen's friend and Jack's girlfriend Trish, who is played by Denise Richards, turns out to not be such a good friend. You'll see how evil those two are as the movie goes on. The two characters that did great in supporting roles were Jimmy (Vincent Laresca) and Chedda (Treach). They're very under-rated as actors and this movie should have gotten Academy Award Consideration. Punk ass Oscars! Movies like The Hours and Chicago are stupid boring movies that are a reflection of people with bad taste in movies and further validates the point that the haters are jealous of Empire, the greatest movie of all-time. You ain't a real movie watcher if you don't see Empire. It's the greatest ever. No questions asked!

Did you see it coming? I certainly did..........2004-07-02

....terrifically underrated latin actor Johnny Legs shows his acting chops in this Drug Dealer drama. Rappers Fat Joe and Treach add to the street flavor. Classic beauties Isabella Rossellini and Sonia Braga add to the exotica. The plot however really thins out when you realize Legs' character has given this hot shot investor over 3 million in cash in a suitcase...now, what would you do with alla that dough? That's right. The boy and his girl (the ueber babe/semi-actress Denise Sheen...uh...Richards) skips off to South Beach. Not too far from the Versace Mansion. From there it gets messier. What else is wrong with the film? 'Empire', the title. It leads one to believe the protagonist is gonna be so high up the ladder that he's a mover and shaker.....not a street thug. In fact, the only regal person worth of the title was the Rossellini character. Other than that, it's an alright show.

this movie is in a class all by itself.......2004-04-22

To be honest, I didn't really think much of this movie until I saw a little bit of the movie 'Hook'd Up' that stars Malik Yoba because the girl 'Veronica' he dates caught my attention and then I went on-line later on in the day to find out that her name was Delilah Cotto and found out she was in this movie with a very key role and I decided that I was going to buy this movie. I watched it 3 days after I bought it and man, it is a very well-done motion picture. This is John Leguizamo's best movie by far. His character 'Victor Rosa' is a combination of 'Tony Montana' from 'Scarface' and 'George Jung' from 'Blow' because he's ruthless yet compassionate. Peter Sarsgaard did a great job as the rotten wall street banker, Denise Richards was actually a relevant character for once, Vincent Laresca, who played 2pac's rival 'Radames' in 'Juice', was a great fit for the role 'Jimmy' because he pretty much brings back the attitude in this movie that he had in 'Juice', Fat Joe, despite his short role, played his part real well as a rival of Victor's, and how can I forget about Treach, who is one of the best rappers ever. If the drab Oscars over-hauled their image, then this movie would get lots of Academy Awards and Treach would win the best supporting actor award for his role 'Chedda'. He's volatile and street smart and Treach was the right pick for the character because's he intense and his acting is much better than half the Hollywood pretty boys who get political star treatment such as Tom Cruise and Leonardo DiCapprio. And I save the best character for last, which is 'Carmen' who is played by Delilah Cotto obviously. She is nothing like 'Elvira' from 'Scarface' or 'Mirtha' from Blow because their drug addicts who impair their brains where as Carmen wants to make a great living for herself and is pregnant with Victor's baby and she's smart enough to realize that drinking alcohol, smoking, or doing drugs will affect the pregnancy. She is also very beautiful, sweet, and compassionate. Delilah Cotto was the perfect fit for this part. This movie fires on all cylinders and the conflicts that abound for Victor are what make the movie. I don't care what the haters and critics say about this movie. They can't brain wash us fans of this great piece of work into watching corporate trash like 'A View From The Top' and 'The Hours'. Obviously the people who hate on this movie don't have a good eye for talent because this movie has a great collection of it. Any fans of Leguizamo, Cotto, Treach, Richards, or Fat Joe will love this movie. Trust me you'll love it. It's an undisputed champ like Ali.

Criss Cross Cardio & Capoeira With Sherri Jacquelyn

Average customer rating:

Good kickboxing workout
A very good workout with some caveats ...

Criss Cross Cardio & Capoeira With Sherri Jacquelyn
Starring: Sherri Jacquelyn
Manufacturer: Bayview Films
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Cardio Capoeria #1 Flashdance-d
Get Ripped! with Jari Love: Get Ripped to the Core
Cardio-Camp Workout
Tracie Long: Endurance for Movement
The Capoeira Workout

ASIN: B000KB48FW
Release Date: 2007-01-09

Description

Criss Cross Cardio is a new Interval Kickbox Workout plus Standing Poses. A perfect mix of Kickboxing, Bootcamp, and Aerobic Cardio drills that will challenge advanced exercisers. Cool-Down, Standing Balance/Core work uses Capoeira Sculpting exercises to strengthen the glutes and abs as well as the upper body, complementing the kickbox workout. Capoeira is a martial art form from Brazil which uses your body weight in slow and controlled movements. The DVD has multiple options for different length of workouts for optimal fitness results.

Sherri Jacquelyn is Dance & Fitness Director of the Center Clubs in Newtown, PA and Lambertville , NJ. She is certified through AAAI, Personal Trainer Certified thorough AAAI and KickBox Certified through Thomas the Promise.

Running Time: 67 minutes

Customer Reviews:

Good kickboxing workout.......2007-03-10

This workout is just as good as a cardio kickboxing or kickboxing class you would take at the Y or another gym. If you have a little bit of experience with kickboxing, you will have an easier time catching on. Purchase some easier kickboxing DVD's if you haven't done kickboxing before, but other than that I think this is a great workout. It also incorporates brazilian dance/ martial arts moves. Many workout DVD's just don't get you to sweat even a drop, but this one will keep your heart rate up. I recommend this to intermediate and advanced exercisers. This is not a waste of money and the production quality is not bad at all (don't know what the review below was talking about here...everything looks fine and is set in a nice studio) I rented this movie and now I'm going to purchase it.

A very good workout with some caveats ..........2007-03-05

The good things:
- Sherri gets your heart pumping within the first couple minutes of the workout, and it doesn't stop until sometime after the cooldown
- It's a difficult workout, which is nice ... so many other kickboxing workouts are dumbed down, they are not worth the time
- It's a long workout split into 7 min. warmup, 40 minutes heart pumping cardio, and 20 minutes butt blasting Balance and Core work
- I have not been exposed to at least half of the balance/core work before, another positive
- She reminds me a bit of a much, much less seasoned Cathe Friedrich

The bad things:
- You don't stretch enough, nor long enough: easy to take care of on your own
- There are many mistakes, and Sherri does not keep her sides straight: if you've been working out for a while, it is no big deal
- She starts out being real big on counting, but she does get over most of it by the first 1/3 of the video (if you find Billy Blanks annoying, Sherri might be too)
- The hair was distracting ... Sherri's was all over the place and so was her co-exercisers: this is the biggest problem I have, it has never bothered me in any other video

It does not have the greatest production values, but it will be staying in my keeper shelf because it is a great cardio kickboxing workout; she does not give you much time to catch your breath.

This is NOT a beginner's workout. You need to come into this video knowing how to kick and punch properly. You can hurt yourself if you think you will just pick it up from the instructor.

Glove weights put the finishing touch on the upper body workout. I recommend going through the workout a couple of times before you attempt them though, a couple of the punching drills are screwed up and if you are trying to follow along visually (or verbally) you could be doing some wild swings in an attempt to catch up.

Average customer rating:

Rob Stewart, Carolyn Dunn - Criss Cross
Starring: Carolyn Dunn , and Rob Stewart
Director: Sam Firstenberg
Manufacturer: Tango Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000EQ5V36
Release Date: 2006-05-04

Average customer rating:

Criss Cross

Manufacturer: Live / Artisan
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0000CDLBI
Release Date: 2003-11-18

Average customer rating:

Leguizamo keeps the empty Empire from crumbling
i liked this movie
Delilah Cotto a.k.a. Scene Stealer
Did you see it coming? I certainly did...
this movie is in a class all by itself

El Imperio (Empire - Dubbed in Spanish)
Starring: John Leguizamo , Peter Sarsgaard , Denise Richards , Vincent Laresca , and Isabella Rossellini
Director: Franc. Reyes
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Crime | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video