Crossplot (1969)

Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

Don't Believe the Hype

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Crossplot is certainly a product of it's time, a movie that grabs onto the coat tails of Swinging London, just before London threw that colourful coat in the bin. It's also a movie of many faces. 'Hitchcockian' in the thriller elements and conventional in the screwball Comedy elements. Dare I say it, many plot elements are lifted straight from North by Northwest, however, star Sir Roger Moore is called upon to be a lot more physical than Cary Grant had been in that movie.Sir Roger Moore, straight from his 7 years in his iconic TV role as Simon Templar in The Saint, plays an advertising man, duped into finding a particular model for an Ad campaign he's trying to secure. The photo of this model has been 'planted' in his file by people with their own nefarious motives, who want to silence her for what she may or may not know, about a forthcoming assassination attempt on a visiting world leader and Moore's character is dragged further into this web of intrigue when he meets the girl and is wrongfully accused of Murder. Now on the run, he's determined to clear his name and unravel the mystery that has led to this mess. Throw in a few hippies, because after all, it's the sixities, you're left with a quite entertaining caper.The plot, (or crossplot, if I may be allowed drop a pun or two), has a number of obvious holes. For instance, the whole scheme of the bad guys, relied solely on Moore not looking at the file with the planted photo, before he presented it to his advertising client (Bernard Lee), who turns out to be in it up to his neck anyway. That's pretty thin for starters.The movie was designed to reinvent Roger Moore as something other than The Saint. Firstly, his image has been updated, (for the time anyway), the hair is slightly longer as are the sideburns and worn without the slick quiff the Saint had been known for. Secondly, the character Moore plays is not as cool under fire as Simon Templar had been and Moore's character is like Cary Grant's Roger Thornhill. This is where the comparisons to North by Northwest can be made.A) An innocent ad man in the wrong place at the wrong time B) wrongfully accused of a murder must now clear his name whilst trying to stay alive C) uses an attention seeking obnoxious way to escape from would be assassins in a public place. D) There is also a Mcguffin, in North by Northwest, it was the fictional George Kaplan, here it is the Hungarian model.I can only bring myself to give this a 7 because it is so obviously filmed on a shoestring budget, that the movie fails to be convincing. Poor and obvious back projection shots, blatant set constructions. It has all the hallmarks and feel of a Saint TV episode, which is not surprising given that almost to a man, the entire production crew that had worked on The Saint worked on this movie. In fact, had it not been for the different character name and the fact he was an Ad man, this would have made a great feature length Saint story.The real thrill, as always is watching the great Sir Roger Moore in the lead role, However, if you want to see Moore at his best when he wasn't Ivanhoe, The Saint, Lord Brett Sinclair or James Bond, then you need to watch Moore's next movie, the darker, more serious, The Man Who Haunted Himself, made the following year. This is a great example of a TV crew on a TV budget trying to make a theatrical movie and for the most part, they succeed admirably. Very entertaining.Enjoy!

Crossplot is an energetic yet disjointed blend of Hitchcockian romantic thriller, slapstick caper and spy thriller action gimmickry which must have looked pretty hackneyed by 1969 but now just about holds up on period charm value. For fans of the genre there is fun to be had in ticking off the 60s tropes as they come: cheesy crooning theme tune? Yep. Psychedelic op art graphics? Yep. Characters dressing up in Victorian/Edwardian costumes? Yep. Military marching bands, unconvincing hippies, minis driven over cliffs and exploding? Yep, yep and thrice yep.Made in 1968, the film manages to refract, despite its general frothiness, some of the darker events of the era – the Grosvenor Square riot, troubles in post-colonial Africa, political assassinations – but never takes itself seriously for a moment. Which is just as well given the general absurdity of the storyline. Moore plays a dashing advertising executive (shades of Cary Grant in North by Northwest) caught up in the plotting of a sinister international organisation bent on creating disorder and chaos so as to sweep aside 'decadent democracy'. Martha Hyer is the Hitchcock blonde (and obligatory token American) whilst Claudie Lange, an Italian who made few English language films, is the feisty (and hungry) Hungarian model who the sinister types are pursuing.It was the first project Moore worked on after completing his last series of The Saint and many of the personnel involved were veterans of that long running show. Unfortunately, it's quite apparent that the budget wasn't much in excess of an average Saint episode and the film is generally compromised by a lack of adequate location filming. A notable exception being the helicopter chase sequence which is well choreographed and distinguished by some great stunt flying.After 6 years as The Saint, Moore could play suave, wry and debonair in his sleep but here he moderates his unflappable Templar persona with a bit of 'confused everyman' and some comedy pratfalls. At the end, the spectre of his ironic 70s Bond (still some 4 years away) looms as he beds the girl, frowns at the camera and coyly pulls the sheets up. Incidentally, for a truly revelatory demonstration of Moore's range as an actor from the gap years between Templar and Bond check out 'The Man Who Haunted Himself'.For some, however, this film will be chiefly of interest for the appearance of Alexis Kanner as the aristocratic leader of the protest movement Marchers for Peace. Kanner was cast off the back of his memorable appearances in the last episodes of Patrick McGoohan's uber 60s TV meisterwerk The Prisoner. Here he plays a variant of his rebellious youth, No. 48 but, besides a spirited fight with our man Rog, and a bit of trademark methody eccentricity he isn't really given much to do and exits the picture before the final reel. Other appearances of note: Gabrielle Drake, sister of the tragic folk bard and soon to be Lieutenant Gay Ellis of UFO, as one of Moore's staff. Francis – voice of Captain Scarlet – Matthews is one of the leading baddies (and suffers death by unconvincing back projection). Bernard 'M' Lee is wheeled out to lend a bit of James Bond class to the proceedings. Dudley Sutton uses his psycho-baby features to unsettle Claudie Lange and the forever hangdog David Battley plays a confused groom whose wedding is disrupted by Moore and co. with, you guessed it, hilarious consequences.If, like me, you enjoy this kind of thing, Crossplot is now available on DVD in the UK (an undistinguished but generally acceptable transfer) for around a fiver. There are probably more productive ways you could spend 90 minutes of your life but, as one hippy character memorably utters, "what's time, man?"

A boyish pre-James-Bond Roger Moore plays advertising executive Gary Fenn in this preposterous tale about uncovering a sinister plot in London. "Crossplot," directed by Alvin Rakoff, is more 60s nostalgia than exciting movie-making. The dated costumes and hairstyles, the period dancing and songs, and the misfire mix of comedy and espionage seem like an early Bond film gone haywire. The presence of Bernard Lee, who distinguished himself as "M" in the Bond series, adds to the faux-Bond look, but adds little to the proceedings. The flimsy plot gets underway when a photograph is substituted in an advertising proposal, and Moore pursues an elusive model for his campaign. The writers were likely inhaling something stronger than Lucky Strike when they came up with this idea. Claudie Lange plays the exotic model as though she had studied under a drag queen doing Gina Lollabrigida, and she gives new meaning to wooden. Only her ample bosoms show any charisma. The scenes between her and Moore lack any chemistry, and the photo shoot destroys her supposed appeal for the advertising as she poses and grins embarrassingly for the camera. While Martha Hyer looks lovely, well coiffed, and classy as Claudie's aunt, she has little to do but make eyes at Moore and keep her hair in place.The story wanders over London and the English countryside, but the sights offer little distraction from the nonsense. "Crossplot" does offer a pastiche of scenes culled from other, better movies. A sequence that takes place in an antique car and period costumes seems like it was lifted from "The Great Chase," but without the talent involved in that film. Like the Bond films, the villains all have lousy aim, and the mechanics of the plot when it unravels make no sense whatsoever. A helicopter chase has been included to remind viewers that "From Russia with Love" was a far better film and starred a far better actor. The scene in which Moore disrupts a wedding is more than an echo of Cary Grant's antics in the auction scene in "North by Northwest." Only die-hard fans of Roger Moore will relish this movie, although he was admittedly more appealing here than in much of his later work. Either "Crossplot" was made as an audition for Moore to play James Bond or as a tax write-off for its investors. Either way the audience suffers.

Set in 1960's London and full of girls in miniskirts and hip young gunslingers who work in advertising - quicker than you can say 'Hey Swinging London!' this lighthearted romp through the world of Espionage and babes sees Roger Moore's womanising character pursuing a Hungarian model across London not realising that he isn't the only person who wants to find her. Basically an extended episode of 'The Saint' it's fun but not the kind of film you could watch too many times. The main reason I sought it out is to see a post-'Prisoner' acting performance by the late Alexis Kanner and his performance, whilst not demanding of his acting skills, is the most memorable of any of the characters. One to watch when it's shown on television late at night but don't get too excited.