The Switch

The Switch is a standard B feature but on the surface looks as if it should have so much more - a cast led by the trio of Anthony Steel (by now on the downslope of his briefly stellar career), Dermot Walsh (minus famous badger quiff) and Zena Marshall (fresh from cavorting with then spitting at Sean Connery in 'Dr No') - never really takes off.

Nevertheless, there are some nice touches- a 5 minute cameo from Jerry Desmonde, a 10 second cameo by Jimmy Hanley, a few minutes for Susan Shaw in (sadly), her last role, and a hilariously camp Peter Butterworth for a preciously short appearance, and at least two very nice Sunbeam Alpines (the first Bond car and one of several nods to 007). It also has to be mentioned in dispatches that Arnold Diamond is the least convincing Frenchman since 'Allo Allo'.

Once the mystery about why the same model of car keeps getting stolen is explained this becomes a rather flat and predictable crime story. Fans of b-movies like me will still find it worth watching though, even if only to see some familiar English stars of the 1950's whose careers by now were clearly on the downward slope.

A breezy quickie in which Conrad Phillips and the always glamorous Zena Marshall make a charming couple as they cross the path of the usual bunch of mean-looking crooks.

This is not very remarkable, and there is nothing special about it. Anthony Steel and Conrad Phillips are on the hunt for smugglers of wristwatches, and that gang of professional crooks are so fanatic about their business that they don't hesitate to murder if anyone impedes their activity. Dermot Walsh is also in that customs team, and they take their job dead seriously, intending to stop that gang at any price. There are no shoot-outs but plenty of fighting by the knuckles, and some really get hurt. Even a lady gets caught up in the desperate racket and actually risks getting her throat cut, but naturally it never goes that far in the pictures, and the one corpse of the film is only shown floating head down in the water. It is exciting but very predictable. You will know exactly what will happen next, and nothing will surprise you. The one character that could have been of some interest is the Frenchman Arnold Diamond, and the one almost funny character is Dawn Beret, but this is neither any laughing matter nor even quite serious.

A typical British supporting feature of its day, with the classy Zena Marshall as the victim of a watch-smuggling racket. With the heroic figures of Anthony Steel, Dermot Walsh, and Conrad 'William Tell' Phillips on the case though, it's clear that the villains don't have much of a chance. Not as complicated as some of the contemporary Edgar Wallace movies but not lacking in some dry humour and very watchable. Steel was no longer a major star by now and Fifties leading lady, at least in 'B' pictures, Susan Shaw, has only a minor role as the Search Officer.