Crossroads (1942) User Reviews

a mystery wrapped in an enigma

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 10 August 2006]

William Powell is a rising diplomat whose past may - or may not - have come back to haunt him in "Crossroads," also starring Hedy Lamarr, Basil Rathbone, and Claire Trevor. Powell plays David Talbot, a successful man with the French government, who is happily married to Lucienne (Lamarr) when he is accused of being a criminal named Jean Pelletier. He is blackmailed by the slimy Sarrou (Rathbone) and the flashy Michelle (Trevor). In fact, Talbot has amnesia and doesn't remember anything before the last 13 years. Is he Pelletier or isn't he?

This is an interesting story with a huge hole in it, but nevertheless, the cast is talented and the story intriguing enough to keep the viewer interested. Powell is excellent in a serious role, which by this time had become somewhat unusual for him, and Lamarr is lovely as his wife and looks beautiful. No surprise there. Rathbone and Trevor make a neat pair of crooks.

"Crossroads" makes for fun watching. Just don't think about it too much.

unexpectedly good intrigue flick

[rupie · 6/10 · 11 June 2003]

I was drawn to this by the presence in the cast of William Powell, an actor whose graceful charm always lent class to any movie he appeared in. His work in this surprisingly good story of mystery and blackmail, lives up to expectations. The plot manages to surprise one throughout and keeps one's interest going right to the end. Good script, good direction, and a nice setting in 1920's France. Basil Rathbone turns in a nice bit as a villainous character from the past. Worth seeing.

Once a thief--or was he?...

[Doylenf · 6/10 · 1 January 2007]

WILLIAM POWELL and the gorgeous HEDY LAMARR co-star in a tale of an amnesiac who can't recall what happened to him when a train wreck wipes out part of his memory. Two very cunning crooks (BASIL RATHBONE and CLAIRE TREVOR) take advantage of him by posing as people who want to help him and then plotting to extort money from the wealthy French diplomat and his wife in order to hush up the crime they say he actually did commit.

While the story itself seems far-fetched at points, it does make for an intriguing tale and it's played to the hilt by a very competent cast--although Powell as a French diplomat is a bit hard to swallow.

The sinister overtones are well played by Rathbone and Trevor, both of whom always excelled at playing shady characters in films of the '40s, with Rathbone shifting from his Sherlock Holmes roles to those of the villain. They do much to give the film a flavor of film noir, as does the B&W cinematography.

It's a clever tale, well directed by Jack Conway, and gives Powell and Lamarr a much better chance to emote than they would have two years later in a misguided comedy called THE HEAVENLY BODY.

Good mystery

[k_jasmine_99 · 16 November 2000]

This is a good, keep-you-guessing mystery. William Powell plays a man who doesn't remember anything of his life beyond 13 years ago. Circumstances begin to make him doubt himself and wonder what he had done before an accident caused him to have amnesia. He is very much in love with his wife (the beautiful Hedy Lamarr), and it is riveting to watch his self-assurance crumble as clues begin to reveal a possible shady past. Also starring Claire Trevor and Basil Rathbone. Good movie, especially if you are a William Powell ("The Thin Man") and/or Hedy Lamarr fan.

William Powell in a Psychological Mystery

[atlasmb · 7/10 · 10 August 2014]

William Powell plays David Talbot, a French diplomat. When he receives a cryptic letter seeming to ask him for repayment of an old debt, he involves the police, who capture the apparent blackmailer. When the mysterious apprehended man goes on trial for extortion, the story of David Talbot develops. He was in an accident 13 years prior, leaving him with no memory of the previous years. Because he cannot absolutely deny things attributed to him before the accident, we are not sure of the truth. It would have been interesting to see how Hitchcock might handle this story.

We wonder if Talbot, the man with he dubious past, really suffers from amnesia. The evidence, as it is revealed, pulls us back and forth. Is Talbot's behavior due to his confusion? Is he angry at the charges leveled against him? Or is he feigning forgetfulness? Perhaps every new development is bringing his memory back to him?

It is William Powell's acting that creates the ambiguity that keeps this story interesting. Hedy Lamarr, Basil Rathbone and Claire Trevor perform admirably in their supporting roles.

It's a simple premise. But the action develops the story in such a way that the viewer's interest is always engaged. Clues--at least what we think are clues--are parceled out cleverly. Powell's reactions are well-studied, always maintaining the veil that clouds his intentions. It is totally believable because we know that Talbot is probably confused too. This is a mystery worth watching.

Delicious...

[inspectorfernack · 7/10 · 28 July 2010]

Not a lot to add to what others have suggested, but this is a very lovely bit of movie making.

Powell really gets to display the acting chops that he had in spades. His ability to show pain, uncertainty and angst is not something that he got to do a lot, and it's enjoyable here. And the writing really helps. Powell seems, in so many ways, to be a contemporary actor, despite the thin mustache! He was just such a natural!

Hedy is mostly eye candy, but that's not her fault. Felix Bressart puts in a spot-on performance. He really nails his role beautifully. Trevor and Rathbone are solid, as always.

And this movie is really shot well, too. Great B & W photography that helps maintain a noir- esquire mood.

Great Mystery

[whpratt1 · 7/10 · 11 April 2008]

Enjoyed viewing this film on late night television starring William Powell, (David Talbot) a very successful man working for the French Government and happily married to a very beautiful woman named Lucienne Talbot, (Hedy Lamarr). Every thing is going great for this couple until David has an accident and develops amnesia and cannot remember a period of his life for 13 years. Henri Sarrou, (Basil Rathbone) meets up with David Talbot and blackmail's him for a crime he committed under the name of Jean Pelletier several years ago. Henri also has a woman named Michelle Allaine, (Claire Trevor) who also confirms that David is guilt of this crime and seeks thousands of dollars to keep everything quite. This is a great mystery story starring great classic veteran actors.

William Powell in a well done mystery film

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 27 May 2023]

David Talbot (William Powell) is in the diplomatic corps of France about to be named ambassador to Brazil. He has recently married a beautiful woman (Hedy Lamarr as Lucienne), and did I mention he has no memory of his life prior to 13 years ago (present day is 1935) when he was badly injured in a train wreck? He has attempted to find out his history, but he hit nothing but dead ends and eventually gave up trying.

Then one day he gets a note demanding one million francs to be left at a specified drop point or else he will reveal Talbot's identity to the police as a "welcher"? Was this ever actually a crime in France? Our prisons would be full in America if that were a crime here. Talbot alerts the police, cooperates, and the blackmailer is caught. At the trial the accused says that Talbot is in fact career thief Jean Pelletier. Also at the trial a woman (Claire Trevor as Michelle) swoons when she sees him, recognizing him from years ago. But another witness steps forward (Basil Rathbone as Sarrou) who says that said Jean Peltier died years ago, that he was present at his death, and that he confessed his many crimes before he died. The blackmailer is convicted and gets a year.

But it turns out that Sarrou was lying and he tells Talbot that he actually is Pelletier and that he is also a murderer in a robbery that netted two million francs. Sarrou now wants half the loot from that robbery as he was also one of the robbers. Talbot at first dismisses this claim, but as both Michelle and Sarrou slowly bring forth evidence indicating that he could be this horrible person, he begins to wonder, and worse he is hiding this entire situation from his wife.

The problem watching this today is that there are far too many scammers in this internet age to not figure out what is going on almost immediately. And there are a few plot holes which I will leave to you to see for yourself. This is a well done film though, with good acting by all involved. It's too bad Hedy Lamarr isn't given more to do than just look beautful and be supportive.

An interesting aside - Of course most classic film fans know that Basil Rathbone played Sherlock Holmes in a series of films in the 1930s and 1940s. You may not know that William Powell's first film role was in the 1922 silent version of Sherlock Holmes with John Barrymore in the title role. An interesting "crossroads" indeed.

Felix Bressart shines again

[HotToastyRag · 7/10 · 23 January 2020]

In Crossroads, William Powell has a beautiful new wife, Hedy Lamarr, and a successful teaching career at a university, but no memory of his life before the war. He woke up in an army hospital with amnesia, and Doctor Felix Bressart was left to put together the pieces. His perfect little world gets shattered when he gets blackmailed, threatened that his former identity will be exposed as a bank robber and murderer. The case goes to court, and Bill is left to prove he isn't who the bad guys think he is. But with no memory, it's a hard thing to prove.

This one has lots of twists and turns, so be prepared to sit on the edge of your seat. The courtroom trial is just the beginning of the movie, and so much more happens afterwards that will keep you guessing. Claire Trevor claims Bill was her husband before the war, and Basil Rathbone claims he has undisputed factual proof that can decide the case one way or another. Felix fights hard for his friend and patient, showing yet another new side of his versatility. He's a psychologist who rattles off phrases that would be difficult for a native English speaker, let alone a newcomer to America. As much as I was entertained by the plot twists, I have to admit my favorite part of the movie was the way Felix looked at Hedy. He'd already acted with her in 1940's Comrade X and played her father, but he practically blushes whenever she smiles at him in Crossroads. This is more than just fatherly affection, because in Kathleen, he didn't look at Shirley Temple with the same expression. It's pretty obvious he's smitten with Hedy's beauty as he takes every opportunity to hold her hand, pat her arm, and return her smiles. And why not? I say. They could have private conversations in German in between takes if they wanted to!

Unfortunately, it's not Felix's movie, even though he does have a substantial, meaty role. If you like William Powell and think it would be interesting to see him in a different role than Nick Charles, you'll definitely like this one. Next up, check him out in Take One False Step!

This film surprised me--it was exceptional

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 3 November 2006]

I went into this film with relatively modest expectations. Sure I am a fan of William Powell, but I had never heard of the film and had no idea what it was about. Wow, was I surprised to find that it was one of his best films--a mystery-suspense film that packed exceptional writing and acting into a fun to watch package.

Powell plays a French diplomat (strange casting, I know). He gets an extortion letter that threatens to expose him as having a criminal past. Unfortunately, although he is now a decent and well-respected man, this past COULD be true. You see, Powell had been in a train wreck many years before and still has no idea who he was before the accident due to his having received a substantial head injury.

At first, the accusation appears to just be a jerk trying to bleed him of his wealth--this is especially apparent when a man (Basil Rathbone) testifies categorically in court that Powell is NOT the criminal. However, when Rathbone later shows up and wants money not to divulge that Powell REALLY IS the crook, the movie becomes more interesting.

While I could tell more of the plot (thus ruining the movie), I want to talk about the writing. So many times this film COULD have taken the easy or clichéd way out, but instead of insulting the intelligence of the audience, what unfolds seems believable and fascinating. This is truly an example of a film where the writing is the star. Sure, Powell, Rathbone, Hedy Lamarr and Claire Trevor are wonderful in the film--top actors performing with great gusto and flair. And, of course, the direction is superb, but it all boils down to a film that could have just been an ordinary or above average movie, but rises to a higher level of entertainment. An exceptional and relatively undiscovered film.

I thought I was watching a Thin Man movie

[CCsito · 7/10 · 10 August 2009]

The film involves a French government worker (William Powell) who all of a sudden is accused of having another identity several years ago involving a murder and stolen money. Hedy Lamarr plays the wife of the French government employee. This movie had me second guessing whether William Powell did have amnesia or if he was being "conned" into a past history for which he had no recollection (he has suffered a coma several years ago). Eventually, William Powell does figure it all out and I thought I was looking at the Nick Charles character piecing together all of the evidence at the end of the movie. The only thing missing was Myrna Loy and Asta. A somewhat different role for William Powell in this film. Instead of the "take charge" persona that you often see for him in other movies, he is the one who is totally unsure of himself in this film. A somewhat refreshing change of pace for him. Hedy doesn't have that much of an impact in this movie, but is still her usual glamorous self. Claire Trevor and Basil Rathbone portray the major villains. Felix Bressart (from the Shop Around the Corner) plays a psychologist friend of William Powell.

Variations in the usual type casting of the characters

[misctidsandbits · 8/10 · 15 January 2012]

Claire Trevor is my pick for interest in this, though William Powell is always engaging. He does well in a different sort of part for him, a man who has cause to doubt himself. But character shows true, not something you can hide with such close alliances as in his life and over time. He just does not have the criminal bent about him. But you begin to wonder as it goes along. The marriage is one of those society types, where it's always "darling" and other formalities, yet they demonstrate a solid bond. Good Hedy Lamarr vehicle for a deeper sort of character and inner attractiveness. It's not just the background and beauty here that make up her weight. But Claire Trevor has that intriguing woman thing down in this, doing both the refined veneer along with the bald adventuress well. Rathbone has a different role type also, having more of the nervous edginess, needing side coaching from the Trevor character. The old lady playing the fake mother is good also. As one said here, there is the formula element about the film, but there is depth of interest as well.

Bad news / good news

[vincentlynch-moonoi · 7/10 · 15 June 2016]

The bad news (which isn't really that bad) is that if you're expecting the William Powell that we all love in movies like "The Thin Man", well, you're going to be disappointed. There's no witty comedy here...thank goodness. But what you do have is that rarest of rare things -- a movie about amnesia that actually works (the only other one that comes to mind is "Random Harvest". What's good about this is that it keeps you guessing. First, is he or isn't he. Second, if he isn't, how is he going to get out of his situation.

William Powell, who portrays a French diplomat, is excellent here. In parts of the film he seems a bit befuddled...but he's supposed to be since half his life is gone in his memory, and he questions whether he is the good man of his later life, or a bad man in his former life.

Hedy Lamarr, not one of my favorites, is quite good here as his wife. I must say that recently I've watched a few of her films and I may have to change my mind about her acting ability.

It isn't that Claire Trevor's acting as a blackmailer is spectacular, but it occurred to me what a broad resume she had in films. She does swell here.

Basil Rathbone is reasonably good as the chief blackmailer.

Character actress Margaret Wycherly has a fine turn as one of the blackmailers, particular in that she SORT OF plays 2 roles here...and is convincing in both.

Felix Bressart (here as a doctor) is always a welcome treat as character actors go, but this role is a bit different for him, and he plays it very well.

There are 2 problems here. The first is not that great a problem -- a slightly slow beginning for the first quarter of the film. The bigger problem is how quickly the film wraps up and hands us a happy ending. It's not an implausible ending...just seems to come around all too conveniently.

Nevertheless, this film really held my interest. A very strong "7". Recommended.

Less Mysterious than Boring

[rhoda-9 · 5/10 · 11 February 2019]

A wealthy diplomat who, after a head injury thirteen years earlier, remembers nothing that happened before then, is told that he was a criminal who murdered a man in the course of a robbery. The criminals who tell him this want blackmail money he cannot afford, but a greater problem is coping with this knowledge.

The amnesiac who turns out to have a past greatly different from his present is an old standby--for instance, in Somewhere in the Night, with John Hodiak. This version must be the worst of the lot. The entire picture is just William Powell looking grim , worrying, and having conversations that are not interesting and do not advance the plot. Hedy Lamarr, as his wife, is affectionate and supportive and looks gorgeous in several evening gowns, and Basil Rathbone and Claire Trevor are wasted in nothing parts.

With little on screen to engage the viewer, one's mind is busy wondering: Didn't William Powell have any friends or family to identify him? How did he enter in the diplomatic service, and how did he become rich? (You don't become rich because you're a diplomat: you become a diplomat because you're rich.) What happened to the 2 million francs he had on him? Why aren't the criminal's fingerprints, photograph, or any record of his activities on file? What is Basil Rathbone's "proof," and is it genuine or isn't it?

Right to the silly and disappointing ending, the greatest mystery about this movie is how so little could come of so much talent.

MGM Programmer

[dougdoepke · 12 April 2008]

Slickly done MGM programmer. It may not be a top-of-the-line production, but it still has the studio's signature polish and glamor. The premise is an intriguing one-- is successful diplomat Powell also a murderer with a bad case of memory. With luscious wife La Marr and an ascending career, he's got a long way to fall if he is. Powell is his usual urbane self, while La Marr and Trevor get to play dress-up, big time, while Rathbone gets a break from Sherlock by playing a rather nasty villain. There's nothing special here, just an entertaining diversion with a rather unsurprising ending. For those interested in European types, this is a good opportunity to catch them under a single roof, as it were-- especially Felix Bressart, whose pixilated professor lifts the sometimes stolid proceedings. Aesthetically, there's one really striking composition of black and white photography. Powell's on his way to the river to end it all. But next to the coursing dark waters separated by a zigzagging wall is a shimmering cobblestone boulevard lit by three foggy street lamps. It's an uncommon depth of field with subtly contrasting shades of black and gray. All in all, it's a real grabber, and demonstrates vividly those values that have been lost in the wholesale move to Technicolor.

Pretty good mystery with (amnesiac) William Powell and Hedy Lamarr

[jacobs-greenwood · 6/10 · 16 December 2016]

Directed by Jack Conway, with a screenplay by Guy Trosper, this slightly above average mystery has its ironies: William Powell plays an amnesiac, two years and three films after playing one in the comedy I Love You Again (1940) (with Myrna Loy), who's married to Hedy Lamarr, as he was in his next film, the comedy Heavenly Body (1943), and only other pairing with her; all three films were made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Even though this one is not a comedy, it is a fairly compelling mystery, featuring two twists in the final 15 minutes. Excellent support is provided by Claire Trevor (whose character sings), Basil Rathbone, Margaret Wycherly, Felix Bressart, Sig Ruman, and H.B. Warner.

David Talbot (Powell) and his newlywed wife Lucienne (Lamarr) have just celebrated three months of marriage when he receives a mysterious letter. Though it's unsigned, it insists that Talbot pay his debt of one million francs in a most unusual & discrete way. Talbot, a diplomat that expects to become France's ambassador to Brazil soon, pretends to follow the instructions so that the authorities can arrest La Duc (Vladimir Sokoloff, uncredited). In court, La Duc claims that Talbot is really Jean Pelletier, a man who borrowed the requested sum 13 years prior. During the proceedings, Talbot's friend Dr. Tessier (Bressart) testifies that Talbot has suffered from amnesia, that Talbot was badly injured around the time of the date in question and doesn't remember anything prior to when Tessier found him, and helped him to recover. The prosecuting attorney (Warner) introduces Dr. Dubroc (Ruman), who successfully counters Tessier's testimony. He also introduces Michelle Allaine (Trevor), who solidifies the prosecution's case that Talbot and Pelletier are one in the same. However, Henri Sarrou (Rathbone) comes forward and exonerates Talbot, given legal documentation that proves Pelletier is dead.

Later, however, Sarrou arrives at the Talbot's and privately demands one million francs from the diplomat. He claims that Talbot really is Pelletier, that as such he participated in a theft of two million francs 13 years ago and even suffered a powder burn on his hand from killing the messenger during the robbery. Later, Michelle visits Talbot at his office and shows him a locket she wears around her neck which contains an intimate picture of the two of them. She also tells him that he should be ashamed of letting his mother live in poverty, giving him the address. Talbot visits the elderly Madame Pelletier (Wycherly) who convinces him, without overtly admitting it, that she is indeed his mother. Throughout all of this, Talbot keeps his wife in the dark and tries to cover his tracks. However, she begins to suspect there is something going on and visits Tessier for council & comfort. Tessier is intrigued enough to visit Sarrou himself. When Sarrou then visits Talbot at a diplomatic luncheon, the hopeful future ambassador is pressured into a deadline by his blackmailer.

The film keeps one guessing right up until this point, one doesn't really know what to believe and Powell does an excellent job playing the role such that one's not sure if he was in fact Pelletier. It is then revealed that Sarrou, Michelle, and Madame Pelletier, who is really La Duc's wife, are scamming the diplomat. After an elaborate embezzlement attempt at the embassy, in which the suspicious wife who'd followed her husband also finds herself, the police arrive to arrest everybody. Then Talbot plays the game, pretending to think that he must be Pelletier and therefore guilty of murder in order to get Michelle to crack and admit the ruse.

Apparently, Talbot had alerted the authorities beforehand about the robbery to setup the all too convenient confession. If not for this, and the loose end of the powder burn on Talbot's hand (e.g. how did Sarrou know it was there?), I would have given this film an even higher rating.

Passable Powell Piece - Crossroads

[arthur_tafero · 7/10 · 25 July 2021]

What a pity they don't make films like this anymore.

In the dark days of WW 2, this film came out and made people forget about their troubles for an hour or so.

The film shows the big con being played by Basil Rathbone (always a good heavy) and Claire Trevor as his former girlfriend? This film reminded me of "House of Games", one of my top 100 films of all time. The big con in this film is not quite as elaborate as House of Games, but it is still pretty good when compared to other films of the period.

William Powell was much more serious in this film than in his Thin Man roles. Claire Trevor is very good in her nightclub singer role, as is his mother? The story of a top French diplomat being accused of being a thief and a murderer is really very compelling. Catch it if you can.

Not as good as I hoped but still enjoyable

[utgard14 · 6/10 · 11 August 2014]

French diplomat (William Powell), who suffered amnesia years before, finds himself the victim of an extortion plot. He's accused of being a former criminal who has changed his identity. As more information comes to light, it begins to appear the charges against him are true. William Powell is fine in this intriguing but flawed mystery. Hedy Lamarr plays the dutiful wife. Claire Trevor is the villainess. I wonder if the movie wouldn't have been better served by those actresses switching roles? Basil Rathbone is Trevor's partner in crime and he's enjoyable, as you might expect. It's got a lot going for it, not the least of which is the cast and that it is good-looking film overall. But there's just something missing about it. It's a little dull at times and it lacks kick. Still, with a cast like this, you shouldn't pass up giving it a shot.

Marlene was first choice

[bruno-32 · 7/10 · 29 October 2008]

According to a certain writer, MGM first offered the Claire Trevor role to MArlene Dietrich who turned it down by saying..."I share glamour with no one..."...but that did not cause any rift between Hedy and MArlene, they were very good friends, especially in the Hollywood Canteen USO, where they both entertained the armed forces during the ww2. In fact they even shared kitchen duty when a furious Bette Davis was suppose to have ordered.."Get those 2 krauts out and have them dance with the boys...". Bette, was 'captain' of the uso along with John Garfield. One time a brooklyn soldier won the prize of kissing Hedy as she puckered her lips and her eyes closed, and he surprisingly kissed her on the forehead, where the joint, including Hedy broke out in hysterics.

Basil Rathbone Day on TCM

[lastliberal · 7/10 · 1 August 2010]

While TCM showed this Movie on Basil Rathbone Day, he was not the featured character. It was William Powell of Thin Man fame that was central to the film, and who made it very enjoyable.

Powell played a French diplomat, married to the absolutely lovely Hedy Lamarr.

Rathbone and Claire Trevor, with help from Oscar nominee Margaret Wycherly (you will remember her as Sgt. York's mother) hatch a plot to blackmail Powell for a crime committed prior to his present memory when he had amnesia 1 years ago.

As you would expect, there are some great plot twists in the last scene, and Powell and Lamarr can go off happily to his new post as Ambassador of Brazil. Lucky man, that Powell.

Excellent and harrowing amnesia drama

[robert-temple-1 · 10/10 · 17 December 2011]

This is a superb amnesia thriller directed by Jack Conway (1887-1952, no relation to actor Tom Conway whose real name was not Conway), which he made towards the end of his career. He was famous for so many noted earlier films, A TALE OF TWO CITIES (1935), A YANK AT OXFORD (1938), RED-HEADED WOMAN (1932), LIBELED LADY (1936), and so on. In this excellent film we have superb interplay between the lead actors William Powell and Hedy Lamarr. Conway had worked with Powell before. Powell was able to transfer his delightful and insouciant on screen relationship which he had had with Myrna Loy in the six 'Thin Man' films and several other screen pairings with her to Hedy Lamarr in this one, with the greatest of ease. This shows pretty clearly that it was Powell's wit and personality which were the ultimate origin of his magnificent on screen charm with women. (My brief acquaintance with Loy when I was young had already convinced me that the sparkle did not originate with her, and that her part in it was reactive, just as Lamarr's is here. However, both Loy and Lamarr, who in real life was something of a genius who invented a naval torpedo, were highly intelligent women who were able to decode and return the Powellian signals and amplify them for the camera. Above all, Powell needed intelligence and wit in the women with whom he interacted for his magic formula to work.) This film has a superb script, although I would say that the intensity and the mystery sag towards the end because too much is revealed before the finish by letting us see the villains plotting, at which point the mystery leaks out of the balloon to a large extent. It would have been better to keep all the revelations to the very end and to have constructed a more dramatic finale which would have released all of the suspense at the last moment. However, the plot is not a simple one. William Powell plays a French diplomat in Paris who cannot remember anything about his life before July 27, 1922, the day of the Marseilles to Paris train crash in which many people were killed, and when he suffered severe brain damage. After the crash, he was identified by someone, so that he knows his name, but nothing else. He and Lamarr have a happy marriage and his career is thriving. But suddenly he receives a strange letter from a stranger demanding one million francs, which he says he is owed. The man is arrested for extortion but in his defence at his trial accuses Powell of being someone else and living under a false identity. The man says Powell is called Jean Pelletier, but Powell has never heard this name. A complex blackmail plot evolves, whereby Powell himself becomes convinced of his identity as Jean Pelletier, especially when he meets his own 'mother'. Meanwhile, Hedy Lamarr is getting more and more up tight, because of these events, and wondering whether she really knows her husband at all. Everything is greatly complicated by the sudden appearance at the trial of Basil Rathbone, who testifies that Powell is not Jean Pelletier, but then afterwards approaches him wanting a million francs for his silence, saying that he lied in court and that Powell really is Jean Pelletier. Pelletier, by the way, was a bank robber and a murderer, so not the sort of person one wants as an alter ego, or even as an ego. Thrown into the mix is the sultry and slinky Claire Trevor, always a favourite femme fatale. She says she and Powell were once in love, when he was Jean Pelletier, and she has a photo of them together to prove it, which she wears in a locket round her neck. Powell looks insufficiently interested in Trevor, considering how intriguing she is, not to mention attractive. But then he has Hedy Lamarr, so there is presumably no contest. It is an excellent yarn, and although it does not keep you biting your nails until the very end, at least it does so until near the end, and even then things remain ambiguous. So there is plenty of wondering to do, and those are the best kind of films.

Just the right mix of suspense and fun

[Philipp_Flersheim · 7/10 · 9 December 2022]

In order to enjoy 'Crossroads' you have to suspend disbelief long enough to accept the premise of the plot; you also must be willing to overlook a couple of plot holes. If you do, the film will give you almost one and a half hours of excellent entertainment. The premise is that thirteen years ago, French diplomat David Talbot (William Powell) woke up from a coma without being able to remember anything of his former life. Now happily married to a lovely young wife (Hedy Lamarr), he is approached by Henri Sarrou (Basil Rathbone) who claims to have known him in his former life as a small time criminal and murderer. Helped by his associate (Claire Trevor), Sarrou attempts to blackmail Talbot. 'Crossroads' is fast-paced and offers just the right mix of suspense and fun; moreover, the cast is excellent and plays along with verve. In sum: It is a pity that the film - in 1942 a considerable success - is not much better known today.

The Thin Man Meets Pirandello

[benoit-3 · 8/10 · 30 July 2010]

I was really taken in by the premise of this film: A respectable French citizen (William Powell) married to a lovely and loving wife (Hedy Lamarr) is accused at the onset of having been a cheat in a previous incarnation before a train accident destroyed his memory and he had a chance to assume a new life and identity.

Some shady characters (the always alarming Basil Rathbone and the equally ambiguous Claire Trevor) then approach him ("out of the past", in film noir fashion) in order to get back from him money he supposedly absconded with during his previous life as a devious and cowardly petty criminal. Or is it just a case of blackmailing a perfectly innocent man?

What makes this storyline fascinating at first, of course, is the chance to delve in a rather profound and affecting manner into the mysteries of identity, the kind of subject that Italian playwright Luigi Pirandello had tackled spectacularly in his 1930 play "As You Desire Me", turned into a MGM blockbuster starring Greta Garbo in 1932. In that respect, the scene where the hero confronts his supposed mother (Margaret Wycherly) is especially affecting: the very fact that the woman does everything she can to deny her motherhood is all the encouragement the hero needs to imagine she really is whom she claims she isn't.

The film's photography, music and editing are all sufficiently slick and atmospheric for the possibility of this version of events to stick with the viewer for a while. This makes it only more regrettable that the seemingly grafted-on happy ending and Agatha Christie-type final revelation make all this soul-searching seem ridiculous in retrospect. It might as well have been a bad dream. And the message might as well be: Don't be taken in by those fancy European dramas, fellas; life is much more simple than you think in the real (American) world.

Still, the film stands out as a perfect example of what cultured, educated and potentially creative script writers can come up with when they have to model their storyline on the prevalent Hollywood trends.

The "French" setting is equally devious. The actors, set designers and art directors make minimal efforts to create the illusion that the action is set in that strange, foreign Neverland called France, just enough for the viewer to assume that this is either a true story, a story of substance or at least based on a famous French novel or play, the better to disillusion everyone in the end.

What most people don't know, of course, is that this film really is the remake of a French 1938 film, "Carrefour", directed by Curtis Berhardt, based on a script by German émigré writer Hans Kafka, where the hero had lost his memory during WWI. The French film was later remade in England in 1940 as "Dead Man's Shoes". The original script, loosely based on a real event in Italy in the 20's (the Bruneri-Canella case that Kafka investigated and which also inspired Pirandello's "As You Desire Me") was of course one of the main inspirations for the novel "The Wife of Martin Guerre" by American writer Janet Lewis (1941), a story set in France in the Middle Ages, which became the French film "The Return of Martin Guerre" (Daniel Vigne, 1982), which was of course remade as a Hollywood film starring Richard Gere, "Sommersby" (Jon Amiel, 1993) and set after the US Civil War. The same Italian story also inspired Edward Wool's 1935 play "Libel!" (filmed in 1959), which has several similarities with the classic film "Random Harvest" (1942). All of those various versions, adaptations and rip-offs showed, in various degrees, considerably more respect for the theme of identity and memory inherent in this inspiring premise than "Crossroads" did.

Is he a good guy...or a bad, bad guy? Great cast, great story!

[cgvsluis · 7/10 · 16 February 2022]

William Powell plays a French diplomat who is suffering from amnesia. A gentleman shows up and tries to extort money saying not only does he know him from the past...but that he murdered someone while they were pulling a robbery! William Powell's wife is played by the lovely Hedy Lamar. The lovely couple play well together in this mystery...did he or didn't he.

"You're supposed to be the cat, not the mouse."

This is shot like a film noir and is a gaslight like con...or is it?

"Hysterical?!? Wait till you hear me at the trial!"

I thought the story was actually excellently told and you add in a phenomenal cast...making this a must see.

As Suspenseful and Romantic As A Ton Of Wet Diapers

[Handlinghandel · 1/10 · 13 November 2005]

William Powell was a charming actor but he had some bombs between the Thin Man series and "Life With Father." This surely is one of them. Hedy Lamarr was gorgeous. And the supporting cast is excellent: Felix Bressart actually imbues a cardboard character with some life. So, in a smaller role, does Margaret Wycherly. Claire Trevor does well with what she's given. Basil Rathbone, though, is stuck with the worst role and he can't bring it to life.

It has a paint-by-numbers feel. It bears no relationship to any sort of reality. The characters are not well drawn and the plot is risible.

Can you imagine William Powell as a French diplomat? Can you imagine William Powell as a murderer? If so, you may like this. Possibly.