A gimmick movie. One of the reasons that it doesn't wholly succeed is that two of the leads, namely Juliette Greco and Bradford Dillman, are rather wet, especially the latter. Multiplying their roles by two is NOT an improvement. At least Orson Welles is only on-screen in both his roles for a very short time, but he so grossly overacts the low-life character that he destroys most of his credibility. Fortunately, in the final scenes, especially in his last speech to the court, Welles delivers his dialogue with a ring of sincerity that compels attention. However, another problem with the movie is there are some super-dull patches in the script which I'm surprised were not jettisoned by the editor. These scenes were not necessary for continuity. They were just plain boring. Another problem less capable of remedy is that apart from three or four inspirational flashes and his effective use of locations, Fleischer's direction is rather dull. Maurice Jarre's over-insistent music score doesn't help either.
Review of Crack in the Mirror
