Across the Bridge

Across the Bridge (1957)

In the Tradition of the Finest British Chiller Thrillers

In Mexico, a financier on the run poses as a man he just murdered, only to find out that the man was also a murderer.

Date of release
1957-08-20
TMDB
6.7 / 10 (25)
Runtime
1h 43m
Genres
Drama, Thriller, Crime
Director
Ken Annakin

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Based on: Across the Bridge

Across the Bridge is a 1957 British thriller film directed by Ken Annakin and starring Rod Steiger, David Knight, Marla Landi, Noel Willman and Bernard Lee. It was written by Guy Elmes and Dennis Freeman, based on the 1938 short story of the same title by Graham Greene. A fugitive impersonates another man to evade the authorities.

Production

Film rights to Graham Greene's short story "Across the Bridge" were owned by Sydney Box who unsuccessfully attempted to make the film in the early 1950s in Spain.

Box recommended Ken Annakin direct. Annakin arranged for the second half of the script to depart from Greene's story but producer John Stafford, close to Greene, insisted it be changed to be more faithful. Annakin later wrote, "In shooting the movie, I followed the story line as laid down by John, and I will never know whether we might have had more commercial success with Guy’s more sexy version, but one thing is sure, I could never complain at…

The story was expanded by the screenwriter to provide a backstory for the lead character Carl Schaffner played by Rod Steiger. Steiger accepted the role not long after achieving fame for his role in On the Waterfront. Charles Laughton had originally been proposed for the lead. Rank agreed to finance the whole film including Steiger's fee.

In his autobiography, the director Ken Annakin recalled that once Steiger had studied his lines, he never referred to the script for the entire shoot. Annakin travelled by train from New York to Laredo, Texas to scout locations. However, most exteriors were shot in Lora del Río, Spain, about an hour outside Seville. It was photographed by cinematographer Reginald Wyer.

Filming started 21 January 1957. Annakin wrote, "Shooting Across The Bridge was the happiest time I had ever experienced. The village of Lora del Río took us into its bosom — it was ours to shoot, adapt, and do whatever we wanted. I felt a new exhilaration, setting out each day like a painter knowing the shape of what I was going to shoot, but not the details.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

Recommended