Crossplot – 1969 | 96 mins | Thriller, Comedy | Colour

Plot Synopsis

Espionage thriller starring Roger Moore as an advertising executive who becomes drawn into a spy ring. The plot of this old-style comedy-thriller was written by occasional ‘Saint’ writers John Kruse and Leigh Vance, and that may explain why this decidedly humdrum attempt to launch a post-Templar Roger Moore onto the big screen appears like a tv-movie. Whilst the story breezes along nicely, the threadbare plot is undeveloped and the majority of the characters are one-dimensional, sinking the whole film beneath a series of monotonous action sequences that contain some laughable examples of special effects. The one plus is the Eastmancolor photography of swinging London locations by a veteran second-feature cinematographer Brendan J Stafford. Roger Moore would link-up with co-star Bernard four years later for the first of four James Bond outings together.

A playboy advertising executive, Gary Fenn (Roger Moore), is looking for an unknown model that mysteriously appeared in an advertising campaign portfolio. The model is a missing Hungarian girl named Marla Kugash (Claudie Lange), who is still residing in London despite her visa having expired. Fenn eventually tracks her down to a houseboat on the Thames.

It transpires that Fenn has been set-up by a band of international anarchists that seeks to destroy democracies, and they used Fenn to track down Marla because she innocently overheard an assassination plot being discussed. It becomes apparent that the plotters are led by Marla’s auntie, Jo Grinling (Martha Hyer), and they intend to assassinate a visiting African dignitary during a televised birthday celebration in Hyde Park. After narrowly escaping death on a number of occasions, Fenn and Marla attempt to foil the ingenious assassination attempt.