An interesting complex attempt to tell two stories with similar problems and motivations and with the same faces, in different milieus and economic standings, within the frame of a crime melodrama, which also touches aspects of social climbing and professional advancement. What I feel "Crack in the Mirror" lacks is the impact of the crime itself: although a couple of times women react with disgust at the description of the details, we the spectators need that visual representation of the murder and mutilation of the victim to believe it is truly a sensational case for the press. Times have changed very much since the days Aeschylus, Sophocles or Euripides spared the audiences the ugly aspects of the plot of Greek tragedies. With violence being part of their daily life, people want graphic representations of crimes. The story is sensual enough and it is quite explicit and daring for 1960, but the authors preferred to go for a chauvinistic final reflection on old men being replaced by ruthless women who want younger lovers. All three leads have little space to develop their characters, and the film belongs to Dillman and Greco who do not have Welles' histrionic scope to cover all the emotional range of the two parts each plays. Although it is very hard to find, it is worth a look.
Review of Crack in the Mirror
