crime
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Ca ...
thriller film
Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...
directed by
John Gilling
John Gilling (29 May 1912 – 22 November 1984) was an English film director and screenwriter, born in London. He was known for his horror movies, especially those he made for Hammer Films, for whom he directed ''The Shadow of the Cat'' (1961) ...
and starring
Larry Parks
Samuel Lawrence Klausman Parks (December 13, 1914 – April 13, 1975) was an American stage and film actor. His career arced from bit player and supporting roles to top billing, before it was virtually ended when he admitted to having once been ...
,
Constance Smith
Constance Smith (7 February 1929 – 30 June 2003) was an Irish film actress, and contract player of 20th Century Fox in the 1950s.
Early life
Smith was born into a family as the first of 11 children.'' The Oakland Tribune'', 18 March 1962, O ...
,
Lisa Daniely
Lisa Daniely (born Mary Elizabeth Bodington; 4 June 1929 – 24 January 2014) was a British film and television actress.
Life and career
Born in Reading, Berkshire, to an English solicitor father and a French mother, she was educated in Paris ...
and Donald Stewart. It is an adaptation of the novel ''Never Come Back'' by John Mair. Larry Parks, a memorable
Al Jolson
Al Jolson (born Eizer Yoelson; June 9, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Lithuanian-American Jewish singer, comedian, actor, and vaudevillian. He was one of the United States' most famous and highest-paid stars of the 1920s, and was self-billed ...
in ''
The Jolson Story
''The Jolson Story'' is a 1946 American musical biography film which purports to tell the life story of singer Al Jolson. It stars Larry Parks as Jolson, Evelyn Keyes as Julie Benson (approximating Jolson's wife, Ruby Keeler), William Demares ...
'', had fallen foul of America's House Un-American Activities Committee, and had his first film role for four years starring in this British low budgeter. It was shot at
Walton Studios
Walton Studios, previously named Hepworth Studios and Nettlefold Studios, was a film production studio in Walton-on-Thames in Surrey, England.on location around
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. In 1958 it was distributed in the United States by
United Artists
United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stud ...
under the title ''Cross-Up''.
Premise
An American journalist works to expose a criminal gang in London. However, his investigation of their counterfeiting activities leads to his kidnapping by the gang.
Main cast
*
Larry Parks
Samuel Lawrence Klausman Parks (December 13, 1914 – April 13, 1975) was an American stage and film actor. His career arced from bit player and supporting roles to top billing, before it was virtually ended when he admitted to having once been ...
as John Desmond
*
Constance Smith
Constance Smith (7 February 1929 – 30 June 2003) was an Irish film actress, and contract player of 20th Century Fox in the 1950s.
Early life
Smith was born into a family as the first of 11 children.'' The Oakland Tribune'', 18 March 1962, O ...
as Jane Claymore
*
Lisa Daniely
Lisa Daniely (born Mary Elizabeth Bodington; 4 June 1929 – 24 January 2014) was a British film and television actress.
Life and career
Born in Reading, Berkshire, to an English solicitor father and a French mother, she was educated in Paris ...
as Anna Ray
*
Cyril Chamberlain
Cyril Chamberlain (8 March 1909 – 5 December 1974) was an English film and television actor. He appeared in a number of the early '' Carry On'', ''Doctor'' and '' St. Trinian's'' films.
Chamberlain was born on 8 March 1909 in London and die ...
Ronan O'Casey
Ronan O'Casey (18 August 1922 – 12 April 2012) was a Canadian actor and producer.
Early life
O'Casey was born in Montreal, Quebec, to poet father, Michael Casey, and actress mother, Margaret Sheehy, a Dubliner who had co-starred with the y ...
as Nick
*
Alexander Gauge
Alexander Gauge (29 July 1914 – 29 August 1960) was a British actor best known for playing Friar Tuck in ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' from 1955 to 1959.
Born in a Methodist Mission station in Wenzhou in China,Ronald Leigh-Hunt
Ronald Leigh-Hunt (5 October 1920 – 12 September 2005) was a British film and television actor.
His father was a stockbroker and he attended the Italia Conti Academy. He began acting whilst serving in the army. Though never a major star, he ...
as Doctor Scott
* June Rodney as Young Psychiatric Nurse
* Joan Heal as Annabella
*
Thora Hird
Dame Thora Hird (28 May 1911 – 15 March 2003) was an English actress and comedian, presenter and writer. In a career spanning over 70 years, she appeared in more than 100 film and television roles, becoming a household name and a Briti ...
as Mary
* Doris Hare as Nurse Brady
* Marie Bryant as Melodie
* Russell Westwood as Sam
* John H. Watson as Truscott
* Robert Moore as Clarke
* Hal Osmond as Charlie
* Frank Forsyth as Sergeant Gross
* Alastair Hunter as Hotel Clerk
*
Margot Bryant
Kathleen Mary Margaret Bryant (8 March 1897 – 1 January 1988), known professionally as Margot Bryant, was an English stage, teleivison and actress best known for playing Minnie Caldwell in the soap opera ''Coronation Street'' from its in ...
as Cleaning Woman
Critical reception
*The '' Radio Times'' described the film as "a tatty little tale."
* Sky Movies called it a "thoroughly routine British `B' thriller...Familiar situations and backdrops give a competent cast ... little chance to elevate their material above the ordinary. Director John Gilling, who also co-scripted, ensures the thriller is competent in all departments if no more."
*Derek Winnert observed that "director John Gilling puts some energy into a busy though stock thriller plot".