À tombeau ouvert

What begins with an edgy heist by square-jawed tough guy Stanley Baker as a hired thief provides CHECKPOINT the only hint of not only a criminal but being a crime film at all...

Otherwise featuring cocky race-car drivers led by handsome Anthony Steel and younger Lee Patterson, standing around a track discussing an upcoming Italian race when Steel's not romancing ingenue Odile Versois...

Meanwhile a temperamental Baker waits for the next step since, after killing several guards in the initial heist... and having been hired by the car company owner... his mere existence is blackmail alone: so head racer Steel has to drive Baker across the Swiss border during the anticipated third act race - unless (or until) one kills the other...

At which point neither the sport or crime film had panned-out since it all should have belonged entirely to Stanley Baker who, ironically, the next year became a superstar in HELL DRIVERS, making CHECKPOINT one of his last good-for-nothing scoundrel roles before playing cool anti-heroes, tough cops or upright villains.

The robbery of an Italian automobile factory goes horribly wrong, resulting in the deaths of several policeman. After he escapes, the robber, O'Donovan (Stanley Baker), is able to blackmail his sponsor into helping him get out of the country. Their plan is to use an international automobile race as a cover to smuggle O'Donovan out of Italy and into Switzerland. O'Donovan will have to impersonate one of the co-drivers. Will the other drivers go along with the plan and can O'Donovan keep his cool all the way to the Swiss border?

This is one of those cases where I find a film underrated on IMDb. IMDb - 5.6/10. Me - 8/10. So it's obvious that I enjoyed Checkpoint much more than most. There's a lot I liked about director Ralph Thomas' film. There's plenty of drama, action, and intrigue throughout Checkpoint. The opening robbery, even though at this point we have no idea what's happening, is a great introduction to what is to come. The race scenes really worked with me and I found them incredibly exciting. I've seen other films with similar race scenes that either do not look "real" or are just plain old dull. The fight scene at the film's end is thrilling. It could have gone either way in my mind. The acting is top notch. Stanley Baker plays about as good a thugish brute as anyone. And Odile Versois is just delightful - a word I don't think I use very often, but it describes her perfectly. Finally, the Italian locations are as gorgeous as anything I've seen recently. It's all so beautifully filmed. I can't say enough about Ernest Steward's cinematography. My only complaint is with the second act of the film where Checkpoint seems to lose a bit of focus and almost turns into a schmaltzy romance. Still, the overall movie is highly enjoyable.

I don't know much about old racing cars, but the cars featured in Checkpoint are amazing looking machines. If you're into racing, it's probably worth checking out the movie for all the cool cars and real racing footage.

This film was produced in colour in 1956 at a time when Britain was just emerging from post-war austerity and pleasant motoring trips to the continent were becoming a possibility for the British middle class. The film was made on location and Ralph Thomas the director is clearly anxious to show off the delights of Florence and the Italian lakes. In fact the whole thing is like a Peter Stuyvesant cigarette commercial. It includes a great deal of motor racing from an era when 160 mph racing cars were raced on public roads with huge crowds lining the routes and minimal safety considerations (fits in with the ciggies I guess). The plot is pretty mechanical, the acting, except for Stanley Baker, who was incapable of a bad performance, is pretty routine and the script merely servicable. I have to confess to liking James Robertson Justice, the overbearing boss from central casting, but actually the cars (Aston-Martins) had the meatiest roles. The participation of Aston Martin no doubt accounts for O'Donovan trying to burn some DB3 bodyshells in the opening sequences. Well, it was all a great excuse for some jaded Rank and Aston-Martin employees to catch some Italian sun and one can only hope they enjoyed themselves.

This film was part of Ranks plans to go to far flung locations as background to their films.So here we have a colourful location in front of which is played out a colourless story.Anthony Steel is so inert he is virtually horizontal.Stanley Baker on the other hand wildly overplays barking out his lines like an RSM on a parade ground. Lucky they didn't film the following year as there were two fatal crashes which brought an end to this extremely hazardous race.

I taped Checkpoint when Channel 4 screened it one afternoon earlier this year (2006) and quite enjoyed it.

A man, O'Donovan breaks into a car factory to steal some plans for new models of racing cars to ensure his company wins the forthcoming race. But things go wrong and gets spotted resulting in him killing a security guard and several coppers who were sent to see what was going on at the factory after an alarm was triggered. The factory then catches fire. Later, O'Donovan enters the race himself and threatens his driver with a gun and both end up in a cliff hanging position, literally...

This movie contains some great Italian scenery and nice to see some classic cars too.

A great cast: Stanley Baker (Zulu) as O'Donovan, James Robertson Justice (Mobey Dick, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang), Anthony Steel, Maurice Denham, Odile Versois, Michael Medwin and Anne Heywood.

Watch out for Checkpoint in TV listings, doesn't seem to have been released on video or DVD anywhere. A treat.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5.