''Crosstrap'' is a 1962 British B-movie crime film, starring

Laurence Payne Laurence Stanley Payne (5 June 1919 – 23 February 2009) was an English actor and novelist. Early life Payne was born in London. His father died when he was three years old, and he and his elder brother and sister were brought up by their ...

Jill Adams Jill Adams (22 July 1930 – 13 May 2008) was an English actress, artist and fashion model. She featured or starred in over 25 films during the 1950s and 1960s. Life Jill Adams was born Jill Siggins in London in 1930, the daughter of the sil ...

and Gary Cockrell, and marking the directorial debut of

Robert Hartford-Davis Robert Hartford-Davis (born William Henry Davis, 23 July 1923 – 12 June 1977) was a British born producer, director and writer, who worked on film and television in both in the United Kingdom and United States. He is also sometimes credited as ...

. The screenplay was adapted from a novel by

John Newton Chance John Richard Newton Chance (1911 – 3 August 1983), who wrote as John Lymington, was born in London. He was a prolific writer of Short story, short stories, children's literature, Mystery fiction, mystery and science fiction novels. An obituary ...

. The film was reportedly unusually graphic for its time in its on-screen depiction of violence, with one reviewer describing a "climactic blood-bath where corpses bite the dust as freely as Indians in a

John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...

western".75 Most Wanted - ''Crosstrap''
BFI National Archive. ''Retrieved 09-09-2010''

Plot

Novelist Geoff (Cockrell) and his wife Sally (Adams) rent an isolated countryside bungalow to enable Geoff to finish his latest book without the distractions of life in London. On their arrival, they are horrified to find a dead man in the property; before they can report the discovery they are confronted by Duke (Payne), a gangland boss, and his henchmen who have, it transpires, been using the empty property as a hide-out for stolen valuables which they are planning to smuggle out of the country. A rival gangster, Juan (Derek Sydney), also has his eye on the goods and has discovered their whereabouts. The dead man is one of his minions. Geoff and Sally are held captive, and matters take a turn for the worse when Juan and his men also arrive on the scene, forcing a stand-off between the two factions during which Geoff and Sally are roughly-treated by both sides. Duke starts to fall for Sally, and his obvious interest in her antagonises his girlfriend Rina (

Zena Marshall Zena Moyra Marshall (1 January 1926 – 10 July 2009) was a British actress of film and television, who was born in Kenya. Early years Marshall was of English, Irish and (on her mother's side) French descent. Though born in Kenya, after her ...

). Eventually there is a bloody shoot-out between the rival gangs, with Duke's men getting the better of the exchange. Duke and his gang board the plane to make good their escape with the valuables, but the plane is shot at before take-off by the jealous and vengeful Rina, first shooting the pilot and then hitting the fuel tank after which the plane bursts into flames killing all 4 people onboard.

Cast

as Duke *

as Sally * Gary Cockrell as Geoff *

as Rina * Bill Nagy as Gaunt *

Robert Cawdron Robert Cawdron (29 December 1921 – 14 September 1997) was a French-born British film and television actor. Often cast as police officers, he had a long-running role on '' Dixon of Dock Green'' as Detective Inspector Cherry.The Guinness Book of ...

as Joe *

Larry Taylor Samuel Lawrence Taylor (June 26, 1942 – August 19, 2019) was an American bass guitarist, best known for his work as a member of Canned Heat from 1967. Before joining Canned Heat he had been a session bassist for The Monkees and Jerry Lee L ...

as Peron *

Max Faulkner Herbert Gustavus Max Faulkner, OBE (29 July 1916 – 26 February 2005) was an English professional golfer who won the Open Championship in 1951. Early life Faulkner was born on 29 July 1916 in Bexhill-on-Sea, the son of Gus (1893–1976), a ...

as Ricky * Derek Sydney as Juan * Michael Turner as Hoagy

Reception

''Crosstrap'' appears to have received a mainly negative critical reception, with verdicts such as "overacted, ludicrous and amateurish" (''

Monthly Film Bulletin ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with '' Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with ...

'') and "brawny but brainless" (''

Kine Weekly ''Kinematograph Weekly'', popularly known as ''Kine Weekly'', was a trade paper catering to the British film industry between 1889 and 1971. History ''Kinematograph Weekly'' was founded in 1889 as the monthly publication ''Optical Magic Lantern a ...

''). ''The Daily Cinema'' was less dismissive, labelling it an "incredible but lively tale of gang-warfare, packed with hearty action and intrigue, plus a spot of sex for flavour" offering "robust ... programme support".

Later history

''Crosstrap'' was originally released to cinemas as a supporting film in January 1962 by Unifilms Ltd. Unusually for a supporting feature, it was later picked up by Monarch Films for another cinema outing as a double-bill feature in 1967, possibly as a result of the success of that year's ''

Night of the Big Heat ''Night of the Big Heat'' is a science fiction novel written in 1959 by John Lymington. It tells the story of an unnamed British island that is experiencing a bizarre and stifling heatwave. Plot summary The main characters are a former noveli ...

'', another film adapted from a Newton Chance novel. There was no record of the film after this point. There was no indication that it was ever shown on television in the UK, and attempts to trace a print of the film proved fruitless for decades. ''Crosstrap'' is viewed with great interest by film historians as the debut of Hartford-Davis, who would go on to direct a number of cult 1960s films which pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable at the time in terms of sexual content (''

That Kind of Girl ''That Kind of Girl'' is a British cult film and the directorial debut of Gerry O'Hara. Produced by Robert Hartford-Davis with a script by Jan Read, it was released in 1963. The film's subject is premarital sexual relationships and sexually tra ...

'', ''

The Yellow Teddy Bears ''The Yellow Teddy Bears'' (US: Gutter Girls and The Thrill Seekers) is a 1963 British drama film directed by Robert Hartford-Davis and starring Jacqueline Ellis, Iain Gregory, Raymond Huntley and Georgina Patterson. Premise The pupils at a gir ...

'') or violence (''

Corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

''), alongside others that provide a very time-specific depiction of Swinging London (''

Saturday Night Out ''Saturday Night Out'' is a 1964 British comedy-drama film directed by Robert Hartford-Davis and starring Heather Sears, John Bonney, Bernard Lee, Erika Remberg, Francesca Annis, Margaret Nolan and David Lodge. The screenplay concerns a trio of ...

'', '' The Sandwich Man''). It was one of two Hartford-Davis films—the other being ''

Nobody Ordered Love ''Nobody Ordered Love'' is a lost 1972 British drama film directed by Robert Hartford-Davis and starring Ingrid Pitt, Judy Huxtable and Tony Selby. Plot summary After film director Paul Medbury attempts to replace Alice Allison, the alcoholic s ...

'' (1971)—that the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

(BFI) included on its " 75 Most Wanted" list of missing British feature films. However, the BFI reported that a black-and-white negative of the film was discovered in the early 2010s and digitally scanned. It was screened on

Talking Pictures TV Talking Pictures TV (TPTV) is a British free-to-air vintage-film and nostalgia television channel. It was launched on 26 May 2015 on Sky channel 343, but later also became available on Freeview, Freesat, and Virgin Media. It is on air for 24 h ...

on 9 March 2018 and 3 October 2019. It is also available for screening on the BFI player website.

References

External links