Noirvember Fatale Attractions: Yvonne De Carlo in Criss Cross (1949) 💋

 

Sometimes love takes a winding path; it’s like a trap you walk into with your eyes wide open. In Criss Cross (1949), Yvonne De Carlo embodies Anna Dundee, the woman who makes poor choices seem absolutely tempting. She’s soft-spoken, captivating, and just dangerous enough to make a man forget all his good judgment.  

 

 

 

Directed by Robert Siodmak and featuring Burt Lancaster, this film tells a tale of love gone awry right from the start. When Steve (Lancaster) returns to Los Angeles, he finds Anna, his unforgettable ex, now tied to a gangster named Slim Dundee. The moment he lays eyes on her again, the memories flood back, pulling him into a scheme that can only end poorly.

 

 

“I never meant to hurt you, Steve. I never meant for any of this to happen.” 

 

That line captures everything about Anna. She's not ice-cold; she's caught in a struggle between trying to survive and her undeniable passions, between yearning for more and recognizing the danger. De Carlo breathes life into her character’s quiet complexity; she’s undeniably beautiful, but there’s a deep-seated pain beneath the surface. She doesn’t manipulate out of malice; she does so because it’s the only way she knows how to get by. 

 

 

Burt Lancaster fits the mold of the perfect noir hero, strong, headstrong, and ultimately doomed by his own emotions. Their chemistry is electric, and Siodmak, the maestro of shadow and destiny, fills every shot with a palpable sense of danger. His clever use of mirrors, reflections, and doubling aligns perfectly with the film’s identity; everything in Criss Cross revolves around being trapped between two worlds.

 

 

This role was one of Yvonne De Carlo’s most praised dramatic performances before she went on to become widely recognized for The Ten Commandments and later, The Munsters. The film even inspired a 1995 remake titled The Underneath by Steven Soderbergh.

 

 

Anna Dundee may not be the most evil of the noir femme fatales, but she’s certainly one of the most relatable. She doesn’t wreak havoc for pleasure; she does so because she can’t help but crave more.

She doesn’t pull the trigger....she just gives fate a reason to.

 

 

Fade to black… until the next Fatale Attraction.