Doublecross

I recall seeing this on the BBC one Saturday morning and have never seen it since. The presence of Hartnell as a water bailiff was enough to spark by interest but he has few scenes. The bulk of the narrative falls on wily poacher Donald Houston as he is enlisted by enemy agents Anton Diffring and Alan Cuthbertson (not to mention Delphi Lawrence) to smuggle them across to Europe before they're arrested for murder - they shoot a security guard in the opening scene as they steal secrets from an office. A pleasant if unremarkable time-waster with a surprisingly brutal fight at the climax between Houston and the baddies - he gets the girl at the end. Its astonishing that such an obvious B quota quickie should attract such a decent cast but its a pity we don't have the film industry to churn out such films nowadays.

Well not quite,but up till the last quarter of an hour this is a brisk and entertaining thriller. Unfortunately a really sappy romantic interest weighs down the film like an anchor. Robert Shaw features in a bit part as a policeman.

As well as his part in the film he gets a credit as.dialect adviser. Lucky he didn't make it his vocation.

Although a reasonably low budget film, the story and portrayals are sound. Yes, it's not a blockbuster, but (probably more as an indictment of the present day film industry), it is more enjoyable, believable, and entertaining than many of the fayre currently on offer.

A nice balance of humour and mild suspense, with a good plot and actors - I'd find it difficult to dismiss this film as 'just a B movie'.

Set during the cold war in the 1950s. With Anton Diffring in the cast, maybe it should had been set during the events just before second world war.

Diffring plays Eastern European spy Dmitri Krassin who suddenly needs to get to France with his wife Anna after killing someone.

His British associate Clifford hire Cornish fisherman Albert Pascoe (Donald Houston) to sail them to France. For payment of £100 Albert a salmon poacher and bell ringer thinks it will be a bit of a lark.

However Albert has his suspicions and thinks he might not get out alive. So he leads the trio a merry old dance.

Back in Cornwall, the locals believe that Albert is missing at sea.

This is a creaky spy thriller without many thrills. It is meshed with Ealing style comedy. A local official is on the lookout for salmon poachers. The love story between Albert and Anna is unconvincing.