Synopsis for
Criss Cross (1949) More at IMDbPro »

Steve Thompson (Burt Lancaster) comes back to his Los Angeles home to see his Mother, Father and brother after a few years of drifting around the country following his divorce from Anna (Yvonne De Carlo). He goes into the Round Up, the dancing hall restaurant where he and Anna spent many hours where he bumps into local police detective Lt. Pete Ramirez (Stephen McNally) who asks if he has seen Anna. Steve tells Pete that he hasn't come to find Anna but only to see how things have changed in his absence. He gets his old job back driving for Horton's armored car service but seems to be going through the motions, until he bumps into Anna accidentally and they start seeing each other again. They reminisce about their earlier days, even discussing the reason that they got divorced. In Steve's absence Anna has gotten involved with Slim Dundee (Dan Duryea), a serpentine gangster whose hold on Anna (she admits) is his money. Initially Steve and Anna decide to stay away from each other but are drawn together in a very easy way. They begin a clandestine affair, and Steve is convinced that Anna will return to him. Even after she marries Slim, Anna continues her affair with Steve allowing him to rest on the idea that someday they will be together. Slim catches them together, and to cover, Steve makes up a story that includes robbing the armored car service he drives for. Slim shoots down Steve's idea because he believes that armored car services cannot be robbed successfully. Convincing Slim that as the inside man at the armored car service and as the driver of the delivery car Steve can divert the guards and ensure that Slim and his gang can escape with the money. Steve and Slim form an uneasy and untrusting collaboration, even using their own aggression over Anna as a front to shield their plans from the local flat foot, Lt. Pete Ramirez. Steve and Anna plan from the beginning to double cross Slim and escape with the money to a happier life together, but it seems that in this case lovers make strange bedfellows.