Doublecross ** (1956, Donald Houston, Fay Compton, Delphi Lawrence, William Hartnell, Anton Diffring, Frank Lawton) – Classic Movie Review 13,288

The 1956 British crime thriller film Doublecross is based on Kem Bennett’s spy story The Queer Fish, and stars Donald Houston, Fay Compton, Delphi Lawrence, William Hartnell, Anton Diffring, and Frank Lawton.

Director Anthony Squire’s 1956 British second feature crime thriller film Doublecross is based on Kem Bennett’s spy story The Queer Fish, and stars Donald Houston, Fay Compton, Delphi Lawrence, William Hartnell, Anton Diffring, and Frank Lawton.

Ah, yes, poached salmon! Soviet spies are unmasked by Cornish salmon stealer Albert Pascoe (Donald Houston) in this somewhat waterlogged British spy tale that perhaps is not always taken quite seriously enough to be fully enjoyable. For example, there’s some very feeble comedy when Albert’s rowing boat is found with poached salmon in it and a friend hides them from the authorities.

Cornish village fisherman Albert Pascoe agrees to take three foreign people (Anton Diffring as spy Dmitri Krassin, Allan Cuthbertson as spy Clifford, Delphi Lawrence as Anna Krassin) to France for £100, and they sail off on a moonlit night, but meanwhile UK local police find that one of the foreign men is a murderer.

Albert overhears his passenger discussing that one of the men Dmitri Krassin (Anton Diffring) had to kill a man in England while stealing UK state secrets. So Albert decides to double-cross the three, altering the boat’s compass and landing them back on the coast of England.

Nevertheless, creaky and unconvincing though it is, the story is some fun, and it is very solidly and enthusiastically performed by the tremendously good cast, notably including Fay Compton as Alice Pascoe, Anton Diffring typecast as a murderous spy, and police inspector Raymond Francis, best known for his Inspector Lockhart role in the popular 60s TV police drama series No Hiding Place.

Welsh actor Donald Houston is struggling with his Cornish accent although Robert Shaw is among the film’s additional crew as dialect adviser. And original Doctor Who William Hartnell has too little to do as landowner Herbert Whiteway.

It is Robert Shaw’s first film role as Ernest, an off-duty policeman. And it is Kenneth Cope‘s first credited role in a film as Jeffrey of the Coast Guard.

It was filmed at Fowey, Cornwall, England, and in the studio at Beaconsfield Film Studios, Buckinghamshire, England.

The cast are Donald Houston as Albert Pascoe, Fay Compton as Alice Pascoe, Anton Diffring as spy Dmitri Krassin, Allan Cuthbertson as spy Clifford, Delphi Lawrence as Anna Krassin, William Hartnell as landowner Herbert Whiteway, Kenneth Cope as Jeffrey of the Coast Guard, Colin Douglas as Police Sergeant, Robert Shaw as Ernest, an off-duty policeman, Frank Lawton as Chief Constable, Raymond Francis as Inspector Harris, Harry Towb as the pub landlord, John Blythe as Fred Trewin, Bruce Gordon as Harry Simms, Ann Stephens as Rose, and Toby Perkins as Langford.

Doublecross is directed by Anthony Squire, runs 72 minutes, is made by Group 3 Films and Beaconsfield Productions, is released by British Lion Films (UK), is written by Kem Bennett and Anthony Squire, based on Kem Bennett’s story The Queer Fish, is shot in black and white by Kenneth Talbot, is produced by Donald Taylor, and is scored by Edward Williams.

Release date: February 1956 (UK).

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 13,288

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