Gripping story with well-crafted characters

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

****SPOILERS**** Hidden gem of a movie with Rod Steiger as unscrupulous heel and multi million dollar embezzler, of his own brokerage firm, Carl Schaffner who after stealing someone's identity, by getting him drunk and throwing him off a moving train, tries to escape justice. It's then that Schaffner finds that the person who's identity he stole is on the lamb murderer Mr. Cooper, Alan Gifford,who's wanted by the Mexican police. With the choice of staying in Mexico to prevent himself from being arrested in the US for grand larceny Schaffner, after proving that he isn't in fact Mr. Cooper, faces a catch-22 situation.: Spend the rest of his life in total poverty without access to the millions he has stashed away in Mexico; Or going back in the US to spend 5 to 10 years behind bars and then be free to live off his vast amount of his hidden, in numbered bank accounts, ill gotten gains.As it turned out it was the badly injured Cooper who was later killed in a police shoot-out in his motel room on the US side of the border and then had his stranded and owner-less pet dog Dolores become attach to Schaffner whom he at first wanted no part of. It was Dolores' dog like loyalty to Schaffner who despite all the mental abuse she took from him that in the end won him over to her side. A the time the movie was about to end Schaffner forgot about freedom or money but only wanted to be together with his new found friend or dog Dolores. So much so to when the authorities in both the US and Mexico used the pooch by tying her up on the bridge yards on the USA side of the border in order to get him to go get her and expose himself to arrest! ***SPOILERS**** Tear and gut crunching final with a by now not at all caring about himself Schaffner risking his both freedom as well as life to get the only friend he has in the world Dolores back with, for him, disastrous results. The final scene with Schaffner while trying to get Dolores back to the Mexcian side of the bridge was almost too painful to watch. He in fact risked and lost his life for a dog he at first wanted no part of. But later found out that Dolores was by far more important to him then his freedom as well as money and the only one in the world, with everyone who ended up jumping ship on him, who ever really cared about him.

"Across the Bridge" has an intriguing opening as embezzler, Rod Steiger, switches identities with an assassin who turns out is wanted even more by the police than Steiger is. This promising beginning eventually leads to at least a bunch of what seem like very contrived coincidences in a Mexican border town. This is not a bad film, and Rod Steiger gives a first rate performance, but the lack of believability brought about by the questionable script contrivances, drags everything down a notch or two. What could have been a spectacular film, along the lines of "Touch of Evil", is really no more than a slightly above average movie. - MERK

I saw this film only twice on television in the late 1960s, and I have not seen it listed too frequently. The plot is from a Graham Greene short story, and like so many of his works Greene questions what we regard as good and evil in the world.Steiger is a crooked financier on the lam. He boards a train and exchanges identities with another passenger who died on board. He reaches a Latin American country, and crosses the boarder. But the authorities at home are still after him. He did not realize the person whose identity he stole was sought by the U.S. authorities for murder.Steiger has plenty of money in a suitcase, but he soon discovers that the local authorities see him as something to bleed dry. Everyone jacks up prices for his normal living expenses from the police on down. And the money is slowly running out. The only creature who befriends him is a dog. It remains his only real friend in this town of vultures. He consistently refuses to return to the U.S., where police officer Bernard Lee tries to get him to return. But he realizes that they think he is the murderer, not an embezzler, and he can't return. Moreover, he resents the pressures that are being put on the local authorities to push him back. They are using these to squeeze more cash out of him.The character Steiger begins as is a selfish crook, but as the film progresses (as is typical of Greene's work) the defects of those around the anti-hero are such as to make us increasingly sympathetic to that figure. As he is stripped, step - by - step of everything, Steiger gains our reluctant pity, and his relationship with the simple dog makes him ... in the end... tragically heroic.Definitely a wonderful film - hopefully they will show it again soon.

I was impressed with the originality of the film and story, and the effectiveness of the portrayal. Rod Steiger does a tremendous job of performing in this film, from start to finish, showing us a dramatic performance in a very interesting story. Ken Annakin is very adept at controlling your emotions, with ease making you feel estranged from the main character when he feels, and at other times making you feel extremely intimate. The symbolism used is also impressive with the use of the dog representing what he traditionally does (loyalty, fidelity). With the extensive use of symbolism and vivid, personal capturing of the downfall of a business tycoon, we have our emotions beautifully twisted and find ourselves with one of the better endings that one can have to a film. Although at times throughout the film I sometimes felt lost and that it dragged on, overall it was still a good film that I would recommend to anyone. A very worthwhile film from Ken Annakin.