This tale of lone American newspaperman John Desmond (Larry Parks) taking on a gang of international thieves in London begins with the hero’s shooting and collapse, with all the rest one long flashback from his arrival in England.
His chance meeting with Anna Ray (Lisa Daniely) at a London bar leads to double-dealing and killings.
Constance Smith is attractive and capable in the female lead as Desmond’s secretary, Jane – a plucky and resourceful heroine in the face of danger.
Both stars of this film were struggling to revive their careers: Larry Parks had been blacklisted in Hollywood because of former Communist associations, while Constance Smith had been dropped from a lucrative 20th Century-Fox contract after her previous American films had been box-office flops.
The London backgrounds are faithfully photographed by Eric Cross as directed by John Gilling and the film packs a lot into 85 minutes with a very Hitchcockian sense of humour.
Released in the US in 1958 as Cross-Up on a double-bill with Run Silent, Run Deep (1958).
John Desmond
Larry Parks
Jane Claymore
Constance Smith
Anna Ray
Lisa Daniely
Foster
Cyril Chamberlain
Macaulay
Donald Stewart
Mary
Thora Hird
Annabella
Joan Heal
Fitzgerald
Alexander Gauge
Nick
Ronan O’Casey
Singer
Marie Bryant
Nurse Brady
Doris Hare
Dr Scott
Ronald Leigh-Hunt
Clarke
Robert Moore
Truscott
John Watson
Sam
Russell Westwood
Sgt. Gross
Frank Forsyth
Director
John Gilling