Tony Curtis may not have been the greatest of actors (though he did give some great performances), but he was very charismatic and immensely likeable and improved hugely with each film, it was very difficult to dislike him even early in his career. The more mature the film and role actually, the better he was.

'Six Bridges to Cross' for me is one of his better films, if not one of his very best like 'Sweet Smell of Success', which contained the meatiest character of his career, and 'Some Like it Hot'. On paper, it seemed that 'Six Bridges to Cross' would intrigue, entertain and nail-bite. It does all three. It's not quite great, though its good things are many and large in quality, but as an overall whole it's very good and deserves to be wider known.

It may be on the talky side at times and the ending agreed does frustrate.

Count me in as another person who found that it didn't make much sense or ring true.

On the other hand, Curtis gives a performance that is among his better ones, showing that he really delivers when given interesting intelligently-written characters and how in a short space of time how much his acting improved. George Nader is terrific in his role, while Sal Mineo charms in his screen debut, Julie Adams is sympathetic support and Don Kneefer enjoying his weasel-like character. Nader and Curtis have very believable chemistry together.

Visually, 'Six Bridges to Cross' is photographed atmospherically, while the direction is assured enough in the early stages and it goes along at a crisp yet not too rushed pace, letting the atmosphere speak for itself. The script mostly is taut and intrigues and entertains, while the story is absorbing and carried by the atmosphere and the chemistry between the cast.

In short, very good. 8/10 Bethany Cox

This film is a crime drama that traces the strange relationship of a street smart hoodlum (Tony Curtis) with a straight arrow cop over 20 years. The film starts out with Sal Mineo playing adolescent hoodlum Jerry Florea in 1933, robbing street vendors of fruit with his gang and doing some nighttime breaking and entering. It is fleeing after one of these nighttime burglaries when Florea is shot by rookie cop Edward Gallagher (George Nader). Ed thought he shot an adult, and is upset when he realizes he shot a kid, plus due to his wound Jerry will never be able to have kids of his own. Being that this is during the production code era, that is as detailed as the wound description gets. The community is in an uproar over the shooting of a child, juvenile delinquent or not, but Gallagher manages to keep his job. Gallagher's guilt does cause him to strike up a friendship with Jerry that begins as Jerry is recovering in the hospital. Jerry gives Gallagher tips on crimes that help his career, and Ed tries to befriend the boy and point him in the right direction, only to be let down time and again.

Both Curtis and Mineo were great in this. They really do seem to be playing the exact same character at different ages. As adult Jerry Florea, Curtis flashes that charming smile of his and plays the lying sociopath so well that even an audience should have a hard time determining when he is conscientious and when he is not. Florea can be violent when he needs to be, but mainly thieving and its thrill are his game. He doesn't even seem to enjoy the actual fruit of his theft that much.

An interesting piece of trivia - Sammy Davis Jr. sings the film's theme song. It was in route to the recording studio to sing this song that he had the car accident that caused him to lose an eye.

"Six Bridges to Cross" is an entertaining crime film, but I have to tell you up front that it didn't always make sense...especially at the end of the film...and that's a bad place for the picture to let down the audience.

The film begins with a young punk (Sal Mineo) getting shot by a cop after a break-in. Everyone says that 'the kid will never be able to father any kids'--meaning he must have blown his testicles off with the bullet. But this doesn't make sense for many reasons. First, the kid, Jerry Florea, becomes good friends with the cop who shot him. If someone shot off my testicles, I don't think friendship is something I would seek...even if it was my fault. Also, later in the film the guy is arrested for statutory rape. Am I missing something?!?!

Regardless of how illogical the beginning is, years pass and Tony Curtis now plays the older Florea. He and the cop have a strained relationship. Although they've been friends, Florea has not stayed out of crime and now they meet mostly because Florea is a stoolie and the cop's career is blossoming because of all the crimes he solves because Florea has a big mouth. Even this sort of relationship sours over time, as Florea goes in and out of jail his whole life. By the end of the film, the cop is certain that Florea is behind a huge 2.5 million dollar heist...and how Florea comes to take responsibility for the crime is 100% unbelievable in light of the fact that he's a scum- bag.

The acting is fine, the script interesting, the script...uneven. Overall, a time passer that SHOULD have and COULD have been a lot better. The ending is very frustrating.