Checkpoint

Checkpoint (1956)

Stanley Baker's O'Donovan is sent to steal the plans of a rival company's racing car designs, to ensure his employers win the competition. However, when opening a safe containing the plans, he triggers an alarm leading to a gun battle where he kills a number of people. James Robertson Justice, alarmed by the scandal surrounding the killings, orders his agent be killed surreptitiously to hide his involvement with the plot. The film uses original footage from the Mille Miglia , an Italian open-road endurance race, featuring classic period racing cars.

Date of release
1956-12-25
TMDB
5.6 / 10 (7)
Runtime
1h 24m
Genres
Crime, Drama, Thriller
Director
Ralph Thomas

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Filmed in: Pinewood Studios

Checkpoint is a 1956 British crime drama film directed by Ralph Thomas and starring Anthony Steel, Odile Versois, Stanley Baker and James Robertson Justice. It was written by Robin Estridge.

Production

It was the first in a new ten picture deal between the Rank Organisation and the team of Betty Box and Ralph Thomas. Rank announced the film in February 1956 as part of a slate of 20 films costing over £3 million of which sixteen were to be in colour. It was one of several thrillers made by Rank that year.

Jeanne Crain was mentioned as a possibility for the female lead. The movie was the first of several Stanley Baker made for Rank.

The film was shot in April 1956 at Pinewood Studios in London with location work in Italy, including footage of the Mille Miglia, and scenes at Lake Como. It was Anne Heywood's first movie for the Rank Organisation.

The movie features the Lagonda DP115 sports-racing car as the fictional 'Warren Ingram' car driven by the principal actors. John Wyer and Roy Salvadori worked on the film as advisers. "Steel handled the car with surprising ease—and it isn't an easy thing to drive", said Wyer.

Anthony Steel married Anita Ekberg during the making of the film. It was one of the last movies he made for the Rank Organisation.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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