Editing Miller's Crossing (section)

==Influences==
[[Christopher Orr (film critic)|Christopher Orr]] sees the opening scene, in which Johnny Caspar (Jon Polito) confronts Leo O'Bannon (Albert Finney) and Tom Reagan (Gabriel Byrne) as "an obvious nod to the opening of ''[[The Godfather]]''".<ref name=Orr>{{cite news| author=[[Christopher Orr (film critic)|Christopher Orr]]| title=30 Years of Coens: ''Miller's Crossing''| date=September 10, 2024| work=[[The Atlantic]]|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/09/30-years-of-coens-millers-crossing/379895/}}</ref>

Roger Westcombe finds the title sequence of a fedora being blown off its bed of fallen leaves in the forest to be a subtle homage to [[Jean-Pierre Melville]]'s crime film ''[[Le Doulos]]'' (1962), which ends with the gangster protagonist's fate underlined wistfully by the shot of his fedora coming to rest, alone in the frame, in the soil of the forest floor.<ref name=Westcombe/>

''Miller's Crossing'' quotes many gangster films and [[film noir|films noir]]. Many situations, characters and dialogue are derived from the work of [[Dashiell Hammett]], particularly his 1931 novel ''[[The Glass Key]]''. There are some parallels between the two stories and many scenes and lines are lifted from this novel. The relationship between Tom and Leo in the film mirrors the relationship between Ned Beaumont and Paul Madvig, the principal characters of the Hammett novel.<ref name=franklycurious>Moraes, Francis. (March 17, 2010). [http://www.franklycurious.com/index.php?itemid=128 Miller's Crossing].</ref><ref name=sensesofcinema>{{cite web|last=Coughlin |first=Paul |url=http://www.sensesofcinema.com/2002/cteq/millers |title=Senses of Cinema – Miller's Crossing, The Glass Key and Dashiell Hammett |date=February 8, 2005 |publisher=Sensesofcinema.com |access-date=October 20, 2013}}</ref><ref name=Westcombe>{{cite web |url=http://www.crimeculture.com/Contents/FilmReviews/MillersCrossing.htm |title=Millerscrossing |publisher=Crimeculture.com |access-date=October 20, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022162938/http://www.crimeculture.com/Contents/FilmReviews/MillersCrossing.htm |archive-date=October 22, 2013  }}</ref> Another important Hammett source was his 1929 novel ''[[Red Harvest]]'', which details the story of a gang war in a corrupt Prohibition-era American city, a war initiated by the machinations of the main character. While ''Miller's Crossing'' follows the plot and main characters of ''The Glass Key'' fairly closely, the film has no direct scenes, characters, or dialogue from ''Red Harvest'' except for using a fixed boxing fight as a plot device.<ref name=franklycurious /><ref name=sensesofcinema />

Orr also notes, "The ending of ''Miller's Crossing'' makes even clearer reference to the immaculate final scene of ''[[The Third Man]]'': a funeral, a protagonist abandoned by his car, who watches as the last person he cares for in the world walks away down a dirt road hemmed by trees".<ref name=Orr/>