Double jeu

Following his turn as the infamous Simon Templar but before the likes of Lord Brett Sinclair and 007, Roger Moore starred in the little-known Crossplot. A hugely entertaining late 60s Bond-esque clone that plays like a feature-length ITC drama crossed with a Hitchcockian thriller even if the writing is nothing special and often exceptionally convoluted. Still, the film has an undeniable charm to its antics, largely thanks to Moore's natural panache and delightful cast; on a personal note seeing Francis Matthews in anything delights me greatly. Ripping along at a breakneck pace, Crossplot is certainly a product of its time but with noble ambitions by director Alvin Rakoff, an upbeat Barry-esque score by Stanley Black and hilarious moments of havoc, the film is a mild-mannered mini triumph from Moore's then ongoing bid to play 007.

It was great to see Roger Moore in his post-Simon Templar pre-Bond role. He wasn't fighting off the guys in his usual spy-guy image. It was rather refreshing also to see him get into situations like this. Plus, the charm and beauty of Martha Hyer was always a pleasure to watch. There is a scene where he falls in the water trying to save her. Simon Templar would not put himself in such a way like that. Also when he fights off the bad guys you'll notice the sequences seem not so much as a spy-guy karate-chop image but he still ends up being the hero. There was a vulnerable side of him I enjoyed. I would also like to see this movie on video. It was on cable a couple of days ago.

Crossplot rattles along at a breakneck pace and is a smart, ingenious and enormously entertaining adventure film. Roger Moore is great in a pre-Bond role as an advertising executive who hires a beautiful Hungarian girl to pose for some modelling shots. What he doesn't realise is that she has eavesdropped on an assassination plot and is the target of some killers.

The film reminds me a lot of a John Buchan novel, brought up to date in the swinging sixties. Moore runs from the villains and takes every conceivable route to escape their grasp, fleeing in a classic car, deliberately causing havoc at a wedding, and finally tracking his prey to the scene of their planned atrocity. It's a fast-moving ride!

The film has never been available on video in the UK, and I'm pretty sure that it's never been released in the States. Come on guys, what are you waiting for? Get this movie released! It's a corker!

Gary Fenn (Roger Moore) is a talented advertising executive who finds the perfect target and calculates the events which mean that only one girl will be good enough for his bosses. Things go wrong, when Gary meets a Hungarian refugee, Marla Kugash (Claudie Lange), and he is innocently entangled in an assassination attempt. Gary meets her among the anti-war movement in the bohemian depths of swinging London. She is in the company of a young man, Tarquin (Alexis Kanner), who is extremely protective of her and overtly aggressive to Fenn. Marla accompanies Fenn to a photo-shoot; however, she admits she is in fear of her life, and seems unsettled by the presence of her aunt Jo Grinling (Martha Hyer). When the mysterious Hungarian model begins to work for Gary's modeling agency, and he becomes romantically involved with her, the most disastrous events precipitate. This playboy has killer instincts !. He had to stop a murder - and someone had to stop him!

British thriller full of political intrigue, blackmail, murder, action-packed, chases and professionally directed by Alvin Rakoff, a specialist in productions for the small screen. This film with a modest budget is part of the fashion of films inaugurated by Sean Connery's James Bond in the early 60s. That's why 'Crossplot' falls into the 'Euro-Spy' genre that was very common in that decade and early seventies. Roger Moore and Bernard Lee are ironically cast as an advert exec and his client in this comedy thriller, four years before they meet again as Bond and his boss. They starred together: Live and Let Die (1973), The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), and Moonraker (1979); this Crossplot (1969) is the only theatrical movie, outside of the Bond movies, that the two acted in together. Starring Roger Moore gives a likeable acting as a London modeling agency executive who involuntarily becomes an instrument of a terrorist organization that intends a political assassination. This film was the first top-billed lead starring role in an English language production for Sir Roger Moore. While the beautiful Belgian Claude Lange -who worked a lot in the Italian cinema- plays a young Hungarian, an illegal refugee who becomes involved with Moore and eventually falls in love for him. There's also various familiar faces from British cinema, among which the following are worth highlighting: Francis Matthews, Dudley Sutton, Ursula Howells, Michael Culver, Gabrielle Drake, Bernard Lee and the Hammer queen Veronica Carlson. Apart from its tense finale and some action set pieces as the helicopter relentlessly chasing the protagonists, the script is commonplace. There's some nice Eastmancolor cinematography by cameraman Brendan J Stafford a veteran -and one time director- of movies whose career went back to the earliest days of British soound cinema.

The motion picture was mediocrely directed by Alvin Rakoff and nothing special. Alvin directed episode of The Saint, titled: ¨The Ex-King of Diamonds¨ (1969), that's why he was hired by the producers, as well as several production personnel who had worked on Sir Roger Moore's television series. Alvin is a craftsman filmmaker, he's Canadian director both cinema and television. He directed more than 100 television, film and stage productions. As well as a producer of much of his screen and stage work, Alvin is also a prolific writer of original screenplays, adaptations, theatre musicals, plays, and three novels. He made all kinds of genres in films as: ¨Dirty Tricks¨ , ¨Death Ship¨, ¨Hoffman¨, ¨The Comedy Man¨,¨ The anniversary¨, ¨Long Distance¨, ¨Room 43¨, ¨Crossplot¨, and several others. ¨Crossplot¨ (1969) rating: 4.5/10. An average film, only for the very fans of Roger Moore and Euro-spy genre.

This film, basically a vehicle for Roger Moore, is a 90 minute television-style action adventure film. Roger Moore plays an advertising executive who utilises an Eastern European girl in a promotional campaign who just happens to be sharing a house with spies and unwittingly discovers their darstadly plot. This now provides a perfect opportunity for Roger Moore to slip into his Simon Templar/James Bond persona and save the day.

This film lies somewhere between an extended Saint episode and an early James Bond movie, but as Roger Moore was the best James Bond, (as we all know), this film is nevertheless enjoyable just for his suave, Mr smooth 1960's London swinger acting. The original Austin Powers.

Nothing exceptional, however this film is reasonably enjoyable in a mild mannered way. You could certainly do worse.