Across the Bridge (UK, 1957)

Rod Steiger touches up his hair to match the guy whose passport he stole.

Rod Steiger plays a crabby German businessman with British citizenship. He comes to New York to make a business deal. He gets a call. His secretary in London warns him that Scotland Yard is investigating the missing $3 million Steiger embezzled.

He heads for Mexico, takes the train since airlines have passenger lists and he doesn't want to be extradited from Mexico. He meets a man on the train, drugs him and steals his identity and comes up with a clever scheme to get across the border, but once he's there he finds himself up against people who are smarter and more corrupt than he is and British detectives who cope surprisingly well.

It bogged down a bit toward the end and I felt sorry for the dog.

He was only facing 7 to 10 years, about what the British gave people convicted of homosexuality back then. You'd have to be crazy NOT to be an embezzler.

With Bernard Lee.

Based on a story by Graham Greene.

Greene had fled to Mexico in the '30's after being sued for libel in Britain for a scathing review he wrote of a Shirley Temple movie. Something about "dimpled depravity". I can see why they sued.

Available on Pub-D-Hub.