Crossplot (1969)

For many years "Crossplot" was one of the most hard to find films starring Roger Moore. It was shot in 1968, soon after finishing filming the last episodes of "The Saint", and premiered in November 1969. It marked Moore's return to the big screen after seven years as Simon Templar in a hugely popular TV series "The Saint". The film was produced by Television Reporters International, a production company fronted by Moore and Robert S. Baker, fellow producer of "The Saint". The company had a deal for three pictures with United Artists, but after "Crossplot's" failure at the box office UA resigned from further venture.

The film, very often described as lightweight Bond, is a an action comedy, a genre that fits Moore's charisma perfectly. There are many scenes in which it's obvious that he feels very comfortable playing a bon vivant fashion company executive always late for the job and always managing to escape with it without any harm. The film takes off brilliantly with a dynamic sequence of Moore trying to get to work before his boss will arrive. There's everything - timing, humour and a shining star in a leading role. Unfortunately, although the story's fine and the assembled cast proves competent, the film failed to succeed.

"Crossplot" was written, produced and directed by people previously known mainly for working for television and that's why the film has a very TV-like quality, which didn't seem attractive for ordinary moviegoers when it premiered. Although there's a fine chemistry between Roger Moore and Claudie Lange, the film suffers from campy production values, dodgy back projections and artificial special effects. Still, it's a great chance for all the fans to see Moore in a slightly different role in a, nevertheless, well-tailored action comedy. As for the man himself, it was an important occasion for him to return to making feature films, an attempt fulfilled few years later by accepting the role of James Bond.

In 2005 "Crossplot" was released on DVD by MGM/UA in USA. As the film must have been popular in Germany, the mirror version followed in there next year (titled "Tödlicher Salut"). The two versions differ only in terms of cover, both of which are very nicely designed and relate discreetly to Moore's image as Bond.

Unfortunately it seems that the film didn't undergo any kind of visual restoration. The 96-minute version we get is however satisfactory and the only thing that sometimes looks a bit dodgy are slightly distorted colours. The overall quality is similar to the TV transmission of the film I saw some 15 years ago. No extra material is featured and it's a pity since many of the crew have worked on "The Saint" series and they're probably still available for sharing their memories from the making on the film. Let's hope we'll get an extended version one day.

 Filmographic details.
 DVD details.

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