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
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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.
