I was super keen to see Triple Cross when it was announced by Signal One Entertainment last year. The ultra-red cover design with Yul Bryner holding a cigarette like a proper Nazi officer alluded to a very sinister affair, but the subject matter is fairly lightweight as far as World War II goes. The film is almost comedic in some instances.
Christopher Plummer stars as safecracker Eddie Chapman, a real-life figure and famed double agent from whom his story comes loosely adapted. His talent for thievery attracts the attention of the Nazi hierarchy, who train him as a spy to sabotage Britain’s mainland war effort. However, lacking allegiance to the Fatherland and King and Country, Chapman plays both sides of the war for his gain and enjoys every moment of it.
Triple Cross has a runtime of 140 minutes, which only seems to vary slightly on various websites, such as Wikipedia and IMDb, but the length of this disc-based release is an odd 117 minutes despite the listing on the jacket. Having never seen the film precisely, I figured I wouldn’t know what I was missing, but it’s noticeably edited at times, and there is a lack of context in certain scenes and story points, suggesting that significant portions of the film are missing. I dare say that what I viewed was a television of cut, as those with the scissors seemed keen to have it fit a certain time bracket.
Despite not receiving the full experience, it’s a very enjoyable classic with Plummer delivering a performance that comprises mostly of parting glances, jovial remarks, and a very blasé attitude, much to the frustration of his dupped and somewhat suspicious superiors. He’s thrilling to watch as a spy, working his charms on the unsuspecting.
Yul Brynner as Baron Von Grunen is far from the villain that he’s made out to be. I would go as far as to say he’s almost sympathetic as a disenchanted Commander who comes to realize that Hitler has taken Germany for a ride.
SPECIAL FEATURES
- Stills Gallery
VIDEO AND AUDIO
Unfortunately, the quality of this Blu-ray release is far below the acceptable standard of high definition, even DVD for that matter. Sourced from the 2012 Italian edition, although upon some research it may date back to 2009, the clear discrepancy of the advised runtime suggests that Signal One were expecting a video master significantly different to what was ultimately supplied.
Presented in 1.78:1 widescreen, which is not correct as the image is noticeably stretched lengthways, the video is MPEG-2 encoded which explains the poor quality, that extends to the 1.0 Mono track. I honestly don’t think it’s necessary to go into detail as it’s ready well-documented online via various forums.
I wholeheartedly recommend Triple Cross which is a cheeky spy thriller that Christopher Plummer totally owns from start to finish, but I cannot in good conscience recommend this Blu-ray release unless you find it for cheap.
TRIPLE CROSS
(1966, director: Terence Young)
★★★
direct blu-ray screen captures
You can follow cinematic randomness on Twitter and Facebook where you’ll find all my cinematic exploits. Thank you for visiting!
