Director: Alvin Rakoff
Screenplay: Leigh Vance (additional scenes and dialogue by John Kruse)
Starring: Roger Moore, Martha Hyer, Alexis Kanner, Claudie Lange, Francis Matthews, Bernard Lee, Derek Francis, Ursula Howells, Veronica Carlson, Dudley Sutton
Country: United Kingdom
Running Time: 96 min
Year: 1969
BBFC Rating: PG
In 1969, Roger Moore’s star-making seven year run as Simon Templar in the TV phenomenon The Saint was coming to an end. His light and breezy partnership with Tony Curtis in another television hit, The Persuaders, and portrayal of James Bond 007 were still to come.
So what happened in between? Well, one of his roles was in lesser known film Crossplot, an entertaining British film which sees Moore share some screen time with a future 007 co-star in Bernard Lee (M in the first 11 Bond films). It was also essentially a test run to see if Moore would make a good James Bond.
Crossplot follows London modelling agency talent scout Gary Fenn (Moore) who ‘finds’ the perfect new model, Hungarian Marla Kogash (Claudie Lange). Well, the model’s photo is planted to use Fenn to track her down, so ‘find’ is a loose term.
When Fenn discovers Marla, he finds she is protected by an overbearing man called Tarquin (Alexis Kanner) and is fearful both of her aunt and for her own life, and Fenn has to go on the run for a murder he didn’t commit after he’s thrown the murder weapon in front of a crowd of people. Â From here a light but thrilling, and occasionally dark, tale plays out featuring a shadowy organisation, an assassination plot and some similarities to the Alfred Hitchcock ‘wrong man on the run’ thrillers, like North by Northwest.
Following an intriguing pre-credits sequence set on London Bridge in which a man falls to his death after some shady men in suits turn up as he walks with a woman, we meet Moore’s character seducing a woman. He then realises he’s late for work and leaves, mid-romancing. It’s an introduction and scene that wouldn’t feel out of place in a 007 movie, which makes sense given Moore was being primed for the role.
Moore carries the film; he’s perfectly cast – equal parts handsome leading man, comedy star and action hero – and proves his chops as the future 007 he will be. Belgian model and actress Claudie Lange – who would feature in films directed by Federico Fellini and John Huston amongst others – is also great fun in what was her largest English speaking role. Moore and Lange have fabulous chemistry.
There are some wonderful smaller roles for British character actors or well-known faces too, including Lee, Dudley Sutton (famed for 80s and 90s TV show Lovejoy), Hammer Horror star Veronica Carlson and a ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ role as a best man at a wedding for Darth Vader actor David Prowse.
After a darker in tone pre-credits scene, the tone is mostly bright, light and jovial. It’s a very breezy affair for the most part, almost played for laughs at times, before another dark finale.
Crossplot also features some marvellous and evocative location filming in Swinging Sixties London, including the opening scene on London Bridge, with the Houses of Parliament and the River Thames in the background. There’s a lot of London footage, which is great to see. There’s also a thrilling chase sequence involving Fenn, Marla and Tarquin, who are in a yellow 1967 Opus HRF car, chased by a helicopter through the English countryside. It ends in explosive style.
In conclusion, I had a great time with Crossplot. It’s very fun and entertaining, though at times can be a tad convoluted. It’s an easy watch though, thanks to its light tone and Moore’s performance, and there are some nice smaller roles for familiar faces, a couple of decent car chases and lots of evocative location footage.
Film: 
Crossplot has been released on region-free Blu-ray in Australia by ViaVision as number 344 on their Imprint label. It is limited to 1,500 copies and can be purchased direct from their website.
The restoration is fabulous, with the film looking excellent throughout, vibrant colours, the on-location footage looking very good, and plenty of detail – check out the sequences involving water in particular; you can see every drop on Moore’s brow. There’s a fair amount of back projection footage in the film and that is very noticeable, though the restoration makes this footage, which can often look incredibly soft, look as good as possible. The audio is also strong.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
1080p High-definition presentation on Blu-ray from a NEW 2K scan of an interpositive by Imprint Films
Audio Commentary by Roger Moore’s biographer / talent agent Gareth Owen and film historian Henry Holland (2024)
Bond Practice – Interview with director Alvin Rakoff (2024)
Off The Charts – Interview featurette with actors Norman Eshley, Michael Culver, Prudence Drage and Stephen Garlick (2024)
A Dressing-Down – archival audio recollection by actor Francis Matthews (2010)
The New Look Sixties London: Paternoster Square and London Wall – a personal view by Jonathan Wood (2024)
Restoring ‘Crossplot’ – restoration featurette with film grader Jonathan Wood
Textless Titles
Restored Theatrical Trailer
Photo Gallery
Audio English LPCM 2.0 Mono
Original Aspect Ratio 1.85:1
Optional English Subtitles
Limited Edition Slipcase
Miniature reproduction of the film’s original pressbook
The commentary by Roger Moore’s biographer / talent agent Gareth Owen, who worked with the actor in the last 15 years of his life, and film historian Henry Holland is a great listen. The pair share lots of factoids about the cast and crew, pointing out Easter eggs and elements that the casual viewer may miss on first viewing. They’re particularly good on the film locations and details about Moore.Â
Bond Practice sees director Alvin Rakoff share his recollections of the making of the movie. He’s mostly complimentary of cast and crew. His 22-minute interview highlights how the film was a trial run for Roger Moore to see if he could play a future Bond. Rakoff speak very fondly of Moore and shares a sketch the actor made of him. A very welcome inclusion.
Off the Charts features interviews with Norman Eshley, who plays Athol; Michael Culver, who portrays Jim; Prudence Drage, who had a small part as Vision Mixer; and Stephen Garlick, who played a small boy who points a toy gun at Moore’s character on a bus. It’s an 11-minute archive featurette from 2010. There are a few neat memories during its brief running time and it’s good to hear some of the actors who played smaller parts sharing their memories.
The New Look Sixties London: Paternoster Square and London Wall – a personal view by Jonathan Wood is a fantastic 27 minutes look at the filming locations, from the damage caused during The Blitz, to the five year building work for Paternoster Square. It contains a variety of archival images, footage, clips and a lot of detail. We hear about and see the locations used in Crossplot but also other TV series and films, including episodes of the The Saint, starring Roger Moore. I thoroughly enjoyed this extra and would welcome similar ones on future releases.
The audio recollection by actor Francis Matthews is two minutes long and also dates from 2010. There’s a small but lovely anecdote about Moore from the actor who played Ruddock.
Restoring Crossplot is a four-minute featurette that shares how much restoration was needed and what a remarkable job was done on the transfer.
The textless titles run for two minutes and provide a chance to see the colourful and eye-catching titles on their own.
A three-minute trailer, which has been restored, is included, which sells the film well.
The photo gallery runs for just over eight minutes. It contains promotional photos in black and white and colour, lobby cards, posters and other ephemera.
Rounding out the package is a miniature reproduction of the film’s original pressbook. It’s got some great black and white photos, the film’s synopsis, some mini articles and various other promotional materials. This, together with a gorgeous slipcase, are wonderful additions.
ViaVision have delivered an excellent package of worthwhile and informative special features for Crossplot, a lesser known Roger Moore film that is important for essentially being the late actor’s audition and trial-run for the James Bond character he would later portray in seven films. The restoration is fantastic and all in all it’s a great release for a film that is very entertaining, fun and should be better known.
Disc/Package: