Noir City: Across the Bridge
February 18, 2024
In this Graham Greene tale adaptation, Rod Steiger gives a compelling performance as an arrogant industry captain caught embezzling. Fleeing to Mexico, he impulsively switches identities with another rider and throws the body off the train. Unfortunately, his choice of victim lands him in a worse predicament.
Individual Tickets: $16 | $11 SIFF Members - Select showtime to purchase
Passes: $150 | $125 SIFF Members
SIFF year-round passes and vouchers are not valid for this screening.
Why isn’t this film known, let alone celebrated? It’s a multi-national co-production of a Graham Greene tale that actually improves upon the original by the use of some always-compelling noir plot devices. Rod Steiger gives a gripping, restrained performance as Carl Schaffner, an arrogant industry captain caught embezzling from his company. Fleeing to Mexico by train, he impulsively switches identities with another passenger and throws the body off the train. Unfortunately, Carl’s choice of victim lands him in a worse predicament. As the noose tightens, the fugitive financier realizes there is only one creature he can trust—Dolores, the dead man’s dog, who refuses to leave his side. It’s a typical Graham Greene tale of a guilty ne’er-do-well adrift in a foreign land (here Spain doubles for Mexico). The film won rave reviews and great box-office receipts in England but remains virtually unknown in the U.S. Leave it to Noir City to fix that! —Film synopsis courtesy of Noir City
- Director: Ken Annakin
- Principal Cast: Rod Steiger, David Knight, Marla Landi, Noel Willman, Bill Nagy
- Country: United Kingdom
- Year: 1957
- Running Time: 103 min.
- Producer: John Stafford
- Screenplay: Guy Elmes, Dennis Freeman
- Cinematographers: Reginald Wyer
- Editors: Alfred Roome
- Music: James Bernard
- Website: Official Film Website
- Filmography: The Pirate Movie (1982), The Longest Day (1962, Three Men in a Boat (1956)
- Language: English
- US Distributor: Park Circus