Checkpoint

With simply stunning scenery which has now been all but destroyed or tamed by modernity, this film is more than a good British film, it is a wonderful tourist film and social documentary. A typically stout performance by JRJ helps the film retain some semblance of realism against a backdrop of lakes and mountains that post war Britain must have forgotten about.

The cars are the undoubted stars of the film, with many classic marques in evidence. They alone can make the hairs stand up on your neck as they go through small villages at (slightly) unbelievable speeds whilst driver and co-driver mange to hold a conversation!! Other performances are up to usual standards for the type of film, and as usual in this type of film, young men are played by ever-so-slightly older ones.

Overall a good film that can help while away a wet afternoon whilst taking you back to the post-war era that didn't really exist.

Another piece of fifties Rank escapism that proudly declares itself 'A British Film' in the opening credits before promptly decamping to a glamorous foreign location (in this case Florence) where we meet glamorous women against the glamorous and macho backdrop of motor racing, international crime and fisticuffs. All in glamorous fifties Eastman Color while composer Bruce Montgomery blares away in the background!

Stanley Baker has been sent by automotive financier John Robertson Justice to get an Italian racecar engineer to work for Justice. He refuses, so Baker steals automotive plans.... blowing up the plant and causing the deaths of several people, including five policemen. The authorities want him and have his picture posted. Justice feels responsible, so he arranges to get him out of the country as the co-driver of Anthony Steel's car on a Florence to Locarno run. Baker intends to leave no witnesses, including Steel.

It's a chance to look at beautiful people and beautiful cars. The race, which begins in the final third of the movie, is shot half on location and half in Pinewood Studios with some obvious back projection. Ralph Thomas directs for speed and excitement and the result is very watchable.... even more so if you enjoy handsome cars.

The film uses much footage from the Mille Miglia and although the plot is fairly thin it's worth watching for the amount of original footage of period racing cars. From the cars involved and the date of release it would appear to be the 1955 race, which was won by Stirling Moss and Denis Jenkinson in a Mercedes-Benz 300SLR. The cars used in the 'team' are actually Lagonda versions of the Aston Martin DB3S. Keen observers will note the scenes in the introduction, allegedly set in an Italian car factory, show Sunbeam Rapier bodies on a production line in what would have been Pressed Steel in Coventry. As the Rapier was introduced in 1955 this sets the date. Rootes Group were never slow in offering cars to the British Film Industry for scenes by way of publicity. The sports car bodies shown in part of the scene are obviously made-up replicas with a hint of Porsche. Worth watching if you are a car nut, but the scenery both automotive and geographical outweighs the story.

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.