Crossroads to Crime - Anthony Oliver

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Edgar Wallace Presents: Crossroads to Crime" )

directed by Gerry Anderson
UK 1960

When you hear the name Gerry Anderson most people will think of classic animated fantasy serials such as Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet but in the 1970s he also directed live action dramas including Space: 1999 and The Protectors. However this neat crime drama proves that he was already doing so as early as 1960 although it appears to be his only foray into this field at the time.

The film stars Anthony Oliver as Police officer Don Ross who discovers a ruthless group of hijackers are using a transport café and petrol station as a base. He ends up investigating alone, taking bribes from gang leader Diamond (George Murcell) to make them think he is on their side and eventually works with them on a robbery to steal a load of nickel. [...]

The film boasts an impressive cast with Ferdy Mayne as gang boss Miles (one of a long line of creepy screen villains), George Murcell as gang leader Diamond, David Graham (and Gerry Anderson stalwart) as Johnny and ever-reliable Harry Towb and Victor Maddern as lorry drivers. Less impressive are Miriam Karlin as chain-smoking cafe owner Connie who can't seem to recall from scene-to-scene whose side her character is supposed to be on, and Arthur Rigby as the Police Sergeant whose eye-rolling antics and mugging to camera do not pass as acting in my book.

Excerpt of review from last-picture-show for imdb.com located HERE

Theatrical Release: November 1960 (UK)

Reviews DVD Reviews

DVD Review: Network - Region 2 - PAL

Big thanks to Gregory Meshman for the Review!

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Network Region 2 - PAL
Runtime	54:08 (4% PAL speedup)
Video	1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 7.92 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate
Audio	Dolby Digital Mono (English)
Subtitles	None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Network Aspect Ratio: Fullscreen - 1.33:1 Edition Details: • Crossroads to Crime Remembered featurette (9:30) • Theatrical Trailer (2:01) • Original U.K. titles (2:49) DVD Release Date: August 19th, 2013 Slimcase Chapters 11

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Comments

Gerry Anderson is now mostly remembered for Thunderbirds and his other Supermarionation TV shows and Space: 1999, but Crossroads to Crime is a little curio released in 1960, a live-action crime drama directed by Gerry Anderson and based on original Edgar Wallace story that later was included in Edgar Wallace Presents anthology TV show. The pedestrian story is not helped by unoriginal direction and some poor acting, although the twist coming in the end makes the whole program quite watchable.

The whole series Edgar Wallace Presents has been released on DVD by Network, but Crossroads to Crime was released separate since it was released originally by another studio and included in the series later. The progressive transfer done by StudioCanal is fine, with very little damage, good contrast and grey-scale. The 54-minute programmer get a stacked release from Network with an original theatrical title sequence, a theatrical trailer and a fun 9.5-minute featurette with some remembrances by the late Gerry Anderson, his wife Sylvia Anderson, editor David Elliott and David Graham (Johnny). None of them try to defend the film and their hate for the whole production is evident. This is a must for any Gerry Anderson-completists and moderately recommended for British noir fans.

- Gregory Meshman

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