'Doublecross' is a 1956

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

directed by

Anthony Squire Jack Francis Anthony Squire (5 May 1914 – 15 May 2000) was an English film and television screenwriter and director. He was married for a time to the actress Shelagh Fraser. Born in London, he is best known for his work on ITC television ...

and starring

Donald Houston Donald Daniel Houston (6 November 1923 – 13 October 1991) was a Welsh actor whose first two films—'' The Blue Lagoon'' (1949) with Jean Simmons, and ''A Run for Your Money'' (1949) with Alec Guinness—were highly successful. Later in ...

Fay Compton Virginia Lilian Emmeline Compton-Mackenzie, (; 18 September 1894 – 12 December 1978), known professionally as Fay Compton, was an English actress. She appeared in several films, and made many broadcasts, but was best known for her stage per ...

and

William Hartnell William Henry Hartnell (8 January 1908 – 23 April 1975) was an English actor. He is best remembered for his portrayal of the First Doctor, first incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in ''Doctor Who'' from 1963 to 1966. In film, ...

. It was also known as ''Queer Fish''.Doublecross at the BFI
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Plot

The story takes place in a Cornish fishing town in the 1950s. Local fisherman assemble in a local pub, apparently to practise their bell-ringing. They are approached by two foreign men (and one woman) who are interested in making use of a boat and ask questions about going to the French coast. Albert Pascoe agrees to take them to France for £100, half paid in advance. They sail off on a moonlit night on a trip that will take until the next afternoon. Meanwhile, back in the village, Albert's smaller rowing boat is found with four large poached salmon in it. A friend hides them from the authorities. Police get involved when it is revealed that one of the foreign men is a murderer. Albert overhears the two foreign men and woman (wife of one of the men) discussing that one of the men Dmitri Krassin had to kill a man in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

while stealing UK state secrets. After this, Albert decides to doublecross the three tricking them by altering the boat's compass and landing them back somewhere on the coast of

, which he knows resembles the coast of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. In mid-channel the foreign men plot to kill Albert after he drops them in

. He is forewarned of this by the woman Anna and attacks them as soon as they land, trying to wrestle a gun from Krassin. He spits in Clifford's face. Anna has not left the boat and when he returns to the boat they set off to sea again. Anna discusses her home country of

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

where her father fished on

Lake Balaton Lake Balaton () is a freshwater lake in the Transdanubian region of Hungary. It is the largest lake in Central Europe, and one of the region's foremost tourist destinations. The Zala River provides the largest inflow of water to the lake, and th ...

and Anna and Albert begin to fall in love. When quizzed by the police Albert reveals that he dropped the spies at

Lands End Land's End ( kw, Penn an Wlas or ''Pedn an Wlas'') is a headland and tourist and holiday complex in western Cornwall, England, on the Penwith peninsula about west-south-west of Penzance at the western end of the A30 road. To the east of it is ...

knowing that they could not get off the beach and had no idea that it was not France and defends Anna as being completely innocent. The police refuse to charge Albert with illegally catching a salmon just as he returned to the harbour. Albert and Anna decide to try to live together as a couple.

Cast

- Albert Pascoe *

- Alice Pascoe *

Anton Diffring Anton Diffring (born Alfred Pollack, 20 October 1916 – 19 May 1989) was a German-born character actor who had an extensive career in the United Kingdom from the 1940s to the 1980s, latterly appearing in international films. He appeared in ove ...

- Dmitri Krassin a spy *

Allan Cuthbertson Allan Darling Cuthbertson (7 April 1920 – 8 February 1988) was an Australian-born British actor. He was best known for playing stern-faced military officers in British films of the 1950s and 1960s. Early life Cuthbertson was born in Perth, W ...

- Clifford, a spy *

Delphi Lawrence Delphi Lawrence (23 March 1932 – 11 April 2002) was an English actress. She was educated at Halidon House School in Slough, Berkshire, whilst living in Colnbrook. Born to Barbara Yvonne ( Enever) and Louis Holzman, who wed in 1930, she wa ...

- Anna Krassin *

- Herbert Whiteway, the landowner *

Kenneth Cope Kenneth Charles Cope (born 14 April 1931) is an English retired actor and scriptwriter. He is best known for his roles as Marty Hopkirk in ''Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)'', Jed Stone in ''Coronation Street'' and Ray Hilton in ''Brookside (T ...

- Jeffrey of the Coast Guard (his first credited role in a film) * Colin Douglas - Police Sergeant * Robert Shaw - Ernest, an off-duty policeman who fills in for Albert in his bell-ringing role (Shaw's first film role albeit minor) *

Frank Lawton Frank Lawton Mokeley (30 September 1904 – 10 June 1969) was an English actor. His parents were stage players Daisy May Collier and Frank Lawton (I). His first major screen credit was ''Young Woodley'' (1930). In the mid-1930s, Lawton appe ...

- Chief Constable *

Harry Towb Harry Towb (27 July 1925 – 24 July 2009) was an actor from Northern Ireland. Early life and career Towb was born in Larne, County Antrim, to a History of the Jews in Russia, Russian-Jewish father and an History of the Jews in Ireland, Irish- ...

- the pub landlord

References

External links

* 1956 films 1950s crime thriller films British crime films Cold War spy films Films set in Cornwall Seafaring films 1950s English-language films 1950s British films British black-and-white films {{crime-thriller-film-stub