Check Point
In addition to the drama presented on the racing circuits of the world, there is a fair amount of intrigue and conspiracy involved, and there are indeed people in the industrial espionage business who are willing to shift loyalties for a price, which is why O’Donovan (Stanley Baker) is at this Italian factory that has the capability to manufacture racing cars, in the middle of the night. After a successful mission where he gathers what his bosses so desperately needed, he gets himself seen, and then when the night watchman cautions him that there is nothing personal against him, he receives a bullet for his effort.
The saboteur makes his way to the escape route, only to be faced with the police who have once again appeared almost instantaneously on the spot, resulting in the only option not to escape the cops but to shoot and destroy anything and everything in sight and in the process effectively killing five policemen upstairs. But in the end, he does get away.
Only, he remains marooned in Italy after he was recognized in the press and has no way out of the nation, thus becoming a resource burden to the principal man at the motor racing company he was employed; Warren Ingram (James Robertson Justice), who is most anxious to get rid of him. The intrigue in this British thriller shot in Europe is: how will O’Donovan make a perfect escape when the bulk of the Italian police are in pursuit of him?
That was the reason Checkpoint came to be a cult picture amongst the followers of racers. Checkpoint was good old fashioned racing action and plenty of it because Ingram struck on a plan to have his troublemaking spy eliminated from his life for good.
If it crosses your mind that it was quite progressive of a British movie of the 1950s to cast such a villain as its protagonist, then please don’t be too hasty, as though Baker had become a huge star portraying dark two-fisted rogues, he was not the hero at all, not even an anti-hero of sorts; that role was played by matinee idol Anthony Steel.
He was something of a bad boy in real life, but audiences liked to see him as the goodie, and so we have him again purring his chiseled features in the role of race car driver Bill Fraser (as whom the actor was not a conventional looking matinee idol Bill Fraser). While Steel enjoyed major success during his heyday, time has not been very benevolent to him and even with a film like this; it was never going to last in memory for him.
In stark contrast to Baker, who gravitates towards a younger audience with his comically tainted characters, there is a great mystery surrounding the rapidly declining star. After dying an early death, having a remarkable film career wrapping up with less celebrated films, he was willing to take gregarious roles in nearly all of his films. He could do that because he was Baker and his mere presence onscreen elevated the film.
He filmed average thrillers that were no different to the audience. Even on some lazy afternoons it was “entertaining” to watch Baker behind the wheel of some fast cars zipping around Italy. Baker in the Italian film was magnetic as usual and made the lead character appear invested in the film, although the film did not require much effort or grit to begin with. What a relief that final moment followed the overall disappointment of the film.
Thanks to the scheming of Ingram, O’Donovan and Fraser cross paths as the former feigns as the latter’s co-driver in order to escape the prying authorities in Italy. Well, yes, eventually, because there was a dollop of romance to endure as Steel and his leading lady, Odile Versois, were making eyes to each other in numerous scenes that may even make one wonder what was the point of his appearance in the first place; she was linguistically unnecessary.
However, she was mildly useful towards the end of the film when she did attempt to warn Fraser’s party about the imposter in the front seat, but she had little stress upon the events to come of it; however, such productions enjoy inserting a pretty foreign voice, as is the custom in British films, and Versois was there for this.
But at least this picture had a completely absurd ending, and a climactic one to boot, although it was not only sudden, but it was also during an already short show. The action made up for that, once it got going. Music was composed by Bruce Montgomery.
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