Crossplot (1969)

Crossplot is a 1969 British neo noir crime film directed by Alvin Rakoff and starring Roger Moore and Claudie Lange (in her largest English-speaking role. It was written by Leigh Vance and John Kruse and is a loose remake of North by Northwest.

Plot

Gary Fenn is a shrewd advertising executive for a London agency, seeking an elusive modeling type to satisfy a difficult client. He finds her in Hungarian Marla Kugash, an peace activist deep in the bohemian society of Swinging London. She is accompanied by a young man, Tarquin, who is extremely protective of her and overtly aggressive to Fenn.

Kugash, an illegal refugee, accompanies Fenn to a photoshoot. She confesses she is in fear of her life, and seems disturbed by the presence of her aunt. When she is nearly killed, the girl drops out of sight and Fenn has to go on the run himself, suspected of a separate murder. He locates her in a country house, the home of Tarquin, an aristocrat in spite of his anti-war sentiments.

Marla's aunt is revealed as part of a shadowy organisation trying to destabilise the existing world order so they can achieve power. They will go to any lengths to silence Fenn and Marla. Their quarries escape to London, where they realise that the conspirators are planning to assassinate a visiting African head of state in Hyde Park. They foil the plot.

Cast

Roger Moore as Gary Fenn

Claudie Lange as Marla Kugash

Martha Hyer as Jo Grinling

Alexis Kanner as Tarquin

Derek Francis as Sir Charles Moberley

Ursula Howells as Maggi Thwaites

Bernard Lee as Chilmore

Francis Matthews as Ruddock

Dudley Sutton as Warren

Mona Bruce as Myrna

Veronica Carlson as Dinah

Michael Culver as Jim

Gabrielle Drake as Celia

Tim Preece as Sebastian

Norman Eshley as Athol

Michael Robbins as garage attendant

John Barrard as wedding guest

David Prowse as best man

Les Conrad as tugboat captain

Derek Benfield as man in cafe

Reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "A feeble attempt to refurbish the familiar story of the innocent booby frustrating the assassination of a V.I.P. at a state ceremony, already well-used when Hitchcock first filmed it some thirty-five years ago. Indeed, virtually the only room for manoeuvre lies in the final showdown, which coincides here with the occasion of the birthday salute in Hyde Park, with the chief assassin trampled to death beneath the thundering hoofs and limbers of the Royal Horse Artillery. Otherwise it is the old mixture as before, with uninspired direction, a hero singu[l]arly devoid of charm, and a plot nearly incomprehensible in its perfunctoriness. After an interesting start, the film settles down to an apparently determined mediocrity and a bedroom ending of almost incredible archness."

Variety wrote: "Leigh Vance, with added scenes by John Kruse, has written a thriller into which he has dropped a few good jokes, red herrings, a few quick genuine thrills, chases, sex and some mystery. It doesn't jell because the mystery is too cloudy. Motivation of most characters is indecisive and some are badly undeveloped (notably Martha Hyer, Bernard Lee and Alexis Kanner). ... Tighter direction by Alvin Rakoff would have been a plus. ... Moore plays amiably and tosses off some wisecracks brightly enough, but is not wholly convincing as a man of action. Claudie Lange tags along as the model and provides Moore with some provocative teasing. Miss Hyer, thanks to a poorly written part as a TV executive mixed up with the anarchists as a head girl, is a non-event, while Alexis Kanner as a peer on the side of Marchers for Peace gets what he ean out of a shadowy part."

References

External links

Crossplot at IMDb

Crossplot at Rotten Tomatoes