Six Bridges to Cross

Six Bridges to Cross or 6 Bridges to Cross is a 1955 American film noir crime film directed by Joseph Pevney and starring Tony Curtis, George Nader and Julie Adams.^[2] Six Bridges to Cross is based upon the famous 1950 Great Brink's Robbery of Boston, Massachusetts in which the thieves made off with roughly $2.5 million.^[3][4]

Six Bridges to Cross
Film poster by Reynold Brown
Directed by	Joseph Pevney
Screenplay by	Sydney Boehm
Based on	They Stole $25,000,000 – And Got Away with It by Joseph F. Dinneen
Produced by	Aaron Rosenberg
Starring	Tony Curtis George Nader Julie Adams
Cinematography	William H. Daniels
Edited by	Russell F. Schoengarth
Color process	Black and white
Production company	Universal Pictures
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date	January 21, 1955 (1955-01-21)
Running time	96 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$1.8 million (US)[1]

Plot

Jerry Florea (Tony Curtis) is planning a heist. The story begins with the events which led a young Florea (Sal Mineo) to become a crook. One day he is shot during a robbery and as a result an amenable policeman and his wife take him under their wing.^[5] As a young man he deludes them, and pretends to no longer have criminal intent and even gets a job at the Brinks. They are unaware he is preparing to rob the establishment. It is only after he and his gang pull off the heist that Florea reconsiders his actions and attempts to make amends for the crime.

Cast

• Tony Curtis as Jerry Florea
• George Nader as Edward Gallagher
• Julie Adams as Ellen Gallagher
• Jay C. Flippen as Vincent Concannon
• Sal Mineo as Jerry as a boy
• Jan Merlin as Andy Norris
• Richard Castle as Skids Radzevich
• William Murphy as Red Flanagan
• Kendall Clark as Mr. Sanborn
• Don Keefer as Mr. Sherman
• Harry Bartell as Father Bonelli
• Tito Vuolo as Angie

Production

The screenplay for the film was written by Sydney Boehm, based on Joseph F. Dinneen's They Stole $25,000,000 – And Got Away with It. The film was shot on location in Boston.^[6]

Jeff Chandler was to play the lead but refused and was put on suspension by Universal.^[7]

A young Clint Eastwood auditioned for the film in May 1954 in his first real audition but was rejected by Pevney.^[8] The part of the young Florea was given to a 15-year-old Sal Mineo. Mineo had also successfully auditioned for a part in The Private War of Major Benson as a cadet colonel opposite Charlton Heston.^[9] Sammy Davis Jr. was hired to sing the title track written by friend Jeff Chandler and Henry Mancini, recording it on December 2, 1954.^[10][11][12] The overall score was composed by Frank Skinner and Herman Stein but they went uncredited in the film for their contributions.

See also

• List of American films of 1955

References

1. 'The Top Box-Office Hits of 1955', Variety Weekly, January 25, 1956
2. Murray, Raymond (15 July 1996). Images in the dark: an encyclopedia of gay and lesbian film and video. Plume. p. 225. ISBN 978-0-452-27627-7. Retrieved 14 January 2011.
3. Sandra Brennan (2012). "Six Bridges to Cross (1955)". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2011.
4. Baxter, John (1970). The gangster film. A. Zwemmer. p. 86. ISBN 978-0-498-07714-2. Retrieved 14 January 2011.
5. Langman, Larry; Finn, Daniel (1995). A guide to American crime films of the forties and fifties. Greenwood Press. p. 254. ISBN 9780313292651. Retrieved 14 January 2011.
6. Maltin, Leonard (4 October 1988). Leonard Maltin's TV movies and video guide. New American Library. p. 225. ISBN 978-0-451-15619-8. Retrieved 14 January 2011.
7. "Jeff Chandler Suspended at U-I". Los Angeles Times. May 21, 1954. p. A6.
8. McGilligan, Patrick (1999). Clint: The Life and Legend. London: Harper Collins. p. 63. ISBN 0-00-638354-8. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
9. Ellis, Chris; Ellis, Julie (27 July 2005). The Mammoth Book of Celebrity Murder: Murder Played Out in the Spotlight of Maximum Publicity. Berghahn Books. p. 415. ISBN 978-1-57181-140-0. Retrieved 14 January 2011.
10. Billboard. 27 November 1954. p. 15. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 14 January 2011.
11. Haygood, Wil (7 October 2003). In black and white: the life of Sammy Davis, Jr. A.A. Knopf. p. 156. ISBN 9780375403545. Retrieved 14 January 2011.
12. Fishgall, Gary (30 September 2003). Gonna do great things: the life of Sammy Davis, Jr. Scribner. ISBN 978-0-7432-2741-4. Retrieved 14 January 2011.

External links

• Six Bridges to Cross at IMDb
• Six Bridges to Cross at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
• Six Bridge to Cross at the TCM Movie Database