Rough Shoot is the UK title of a 1953 espionage film that was called Shoot First in the US. I found a copy on YouTube and just watched it. It's based on a Geoffrey Household novel called A Rough Shoot, Eric Ambler wrote the screenplay, Robert Parrish directed. I've never read any Household novels that I recall, the same can be said of Eric Ambler. Just never got to be a fan of the espionage novel but I do like a few spy films. Parrish directed the 1967 James Bond film Casino Royale, I've seen that 3 or 4 times, I've also seen The Bobo but can't remember anything about it. I've seen Cry Danger with Dick Powell and Doppelgänger, which is better known as Journey To The Far Side Of The Sun.
Joel McCrea is a retired US Army Colonel who's living in England. He rents some land for hunting, one day he sees a man he believes is a poacher, he fires a load of buckshot to scare him off. Unbeknownst to Joel, a spy guy takes a pot shot at the exact same time that Joel let go with his single barrel. The shot man dies shortly after Joel finds him. Joel panics and hides the body, poorly. Joel encounters the other shooter and lies about seeing the dead man.
It gets more complicated as the movie unfolds. Herbert Lom shows up as retired Polish officer who's working with Roland Culver at British Military Intelligence. Roland tells Joel to help Herbert, H & J sneak into the woods to see what's going on with the secret plane landing. They kidnap the man coming in and set the woods on fire. More and more stuff happens and the movie ends with a bang.
Other than thinking Joel is a bit dim, I thought it was a pretty entertaining movie, it kept my interest right to the end. You can find out if you like it for yourself, I posted the YouTube link in the title above.
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