Gerry’s first feature as director
Our introduction explores the modest 1960 crime film and its place in his career.
Watch the film introduction →Live-action feature film
Crossroads to Crime
A local café conceals a hijacking gang, and one young policeman is determined to expose it. Explore Gerry Anderson’s compact British crime thriller and an early chapter in his ambition to direct live action.
- AP Films · 1960
- Directed by Gerry Anderson
- Music by Barry Gray
Crossroads to Crime
Where to begin
A few rewarding routes into this world. Choose the one that catches your imagination.
Revisiting the 2013 DVD
An archive account of the surviving titles and retrospective interviews. It is not a current release announcement.
Read the archive feature →From crime to Supermarionation
Explore the cast, production circumstances and later creative connections.
Read the film history →Crossroads to Crime
Characters
Meet the people at the heart of this world. Open a card and follow their story.
Don Ross
The police constable investigates a hijacking gang after his suspicions are dismissed. Anthony Oliver plays the determined officer at the centre of the film.
- Played by Anthony Oliver
Miles
Ferdy Mayne plays the gang’s leader, whose planned robberies draw Don Ross into an increasingly dangerous investigation.
- Played by Ferdy Mayne
Diamond
The gang member attempts to bribe Ross. George Murcell’s performance offers an early Anderson connection before his voice work as Supercar’s Professor Popkiss.
- Played by George Murcell
Connie Williams
Miriam Karlin plays the owner of the café associated with the gang’s activities. The everyday location gives the crime story its small-scale setting.
- Played by Miriam Karlin
Johnny
David Graham appears on screen as Johnny. Anderson audiences would later know his voices for Dr Beaker, Parker and Brains.
- Played by David Graham
Watch, listen and discover
A quick introduction
Discover the story, production and distinctive world of Crossroads to Crime in this official Gerry Anderson introduction.
Watch the introduction →Find services by country, with free and paid options.
Where to watch full episodes →Stories
Go deeper into this world
Fresh perspectives, familiar heroes and adventures beyond the screen.
From the archive
The story of Crossroads to Crime
Explore the production, the people and the original archive material behind this world.
A crime story at ground level
A policeman suspects that a local café is being used by a gang of hijackers. Determined to expose them, he investigates their operation as they prepare a final robbery involving a valuable load of nickel alloy. Crossroads to Crime brings danger to roads, yards and everyday interiors rather than an imagined future.
Released in 1960, the film is an unusual entry in the Anderson catalogue: a short, contemporary crime feature directed by Gerry himself. It provides a view of his ambitions as a live-action film-maker at an early stage of his career.
Between Four Feather Falls and Supercar
AP Films made the production between Four Feather Falls and Supercar. The team was still developing the puppet television work that would bring it wider success, but this project offered Gerry the opportunity to direct human performers in a different format.
John Read handled photography, Reg Hill the art direction and Barry Gray the music. David Graham and George Murcell appear among the cast, providing familiar connections with the voices of later Supermarionation programmes.
A small film with an unusual place in the archive
The cast includes Anthony Oliver, Ferdy Mayne, Harry Towb, Patricia Heneghan, Miriam Karlin and Victor Maddern. Its compact running time and crime premise place it within a different production tradition from Gerry’s later science-fiction features.
The film’s importance here is not that it predicts every element of the work to come. It records another direction Gerry wanted to pursue, using some of the same collaborators who would help create the miniature worlds of the 1960s.
Titles, restoration and recollection
The film’s negative was later altered to carry titles associated with the Edgar Wallace Mystery series. The 2013 DVD release used those surviving film elements and included the original titles separately, alongside recollections from people involved in the production.
Read the archive note on the 2013 release for the restoration context. That article is a historical release announcement; its original shopping and launch information may no longer apply.
For Gerry’s later work with a live-action crime series, continue to The Protectors. For the move into cinematic science fiction, visit Doppelgänger.
Production record
AP Films / Anglo Amalgamated. Released in 1960. Approximately 54 minutes. Produced and directed by Gerry Anderson.
Producer: Gerry Anderson
Director: Gerry Anderson
Director of Photography: John Read
Art Director: Reg Hill
Music Composed, Arranged & Conducted by Barry Gray
Cast:
Anthony Oliver, Ferdy Mayne, Harry Towb, Patricia Heneghan, David Graham, Terence Brook, Miriam Karlin, Arthur Rigby, Mark Roberts, George Murcell, Victor Maddern, Donald Tandy
Watch the introduction
Follow the creative thread
Your next world awaits
Shared makers, familiar ideas and unexpected connections. Choose your next world.
Four Feather Falls
What AP Films was also making
See the contrast between this crime thriller and the company’s puppet Western.
Explore the world →
The Protectors
A later world of crime and intrigue
Move from a local investigation to an international network of specialists.
Explore the world →
DOPPELGÄNGER
A different scale of cinema
Follow the route from a small British thriller to an ambitious space mystery.
Explore the world →