Reading a great issue of UK film magazine Infinity,I was surprised to learn that before his "Supermarionation" works, Gerry Anderson had made his debut with an Edgar Wallace adaptation. Having also read Red-Barracuda very good review for Thunderbirds Are GO (1966) recently, this felt like the perfect time to see Anderson's career take off.
View on the film:
Driving from the crossroads, Network present an excellent transfer, with the print having hardly any spots of dirt and the soundtrack being clean, all backed by compact, detailed extras.
Revealing in the making of that the two week production schedule was a nightmare, with him requesting the B-Unit team to get more involved with filming, as they tried to work with a sixteen thousand pound budget, director Gerry Anderson & his future regular cinematographer John Read display glimpses of style in gliding panning shots through high contrast Film Noir lighting, but suffer from an atmosphere of a cramped movie, where little breathing room space is given.
Despite Anderson revealing that he and his future wife Sylvia, (who did continuity on the movie) could not stop laughing at the clunky dialogue,the screenplay by Alun Falconer adapts Edgar Wallace's story into a lean Brit Noir with a focus on the cheerfully off-beat baddies,as police officer Don Ross sniffs out a gang of lorry hijackers working from a cafe, which leads to Ross to stir for answers from the waitress at the greasy spoon, as the wonderful Surf Punk Jazz score from Anderson's future regular composer Barry Gray, leaves Ross at a crossroads.
View on the film:
Driving from the crossroads, Network present an excellent transfer, with the print having hardly any spots of dirt and the soundtrack being clean, all backed by compact, detailed extras.
Revealing in the making of that the two week production schedule was a nightmare, with him requesting the B-Unit team to get more involved with filming, as they tried to work with a sixteen thousand pound budget, director Gerry Anderson & his future regular cinematographer John Read display glimpses of style in gliding panning shots through high contrast Film Noir lighting, but suffer from an atmosphere of a cramped movie, where little breathing room space is given.
Despite Anderson revealing that he and his future wife Sylvia, (who did continuity on the movie) could not stop laughing at the clunky dialogue,the screenplay by Alun Falconer adapts Edgar Wallace's story into a lean Brit Noir with a focus on the cheerfully off-beat baddies,as police officer Don Ross sniffs out a gang of lorry hijackers working from a cafe, which leads to Ross to stir for answers from the waitress at the greasy spoon, as the wonderful Surf Punk Jazz score from Anderson's future regular composer Barry Gray, leaves Ross at a crossroads.