MovieChat Forums > The Traitor (1958) Discussion > Colin Croft

Colin Croft

posted 13 years ago by number62-1
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Here's a strange thing about the cast-list of "The Traitor"...
Australian actor Colin Croft has a small but important role as Theodre Dehmel in the first reel of this film, but is not credited at the start of the film whereas ten other actors, many of them virtually extras, from Dennis Edwards onwards, are billed. Very strange.
Croft is billed in the film's end credits, but the size of his role suggests he should have appeared on the cast list at the beginning after John van Eyssen.
Does anyone know the reason?

[–] John-367 13 years ago

In 1957 when this film was released Colin Croft, according to IMDB, had a couple of TV episodes and two very minor roles in features to his credit so wouldn't be expected to have a prominent credit unless he had virtually a lead role.

In the UK, as in most countries with a developed professional film industry, the exact form of an actor's credit are the product of negotiations between the producers and the actor's agent.
While the size of a role has some bearing on the credit and its position it is generally the actor's perceived recognition and status which has most influence.

While credits are often agreed very easily they can occasionally be very tricky to negotiate especially if the agent has an inflated idea of their client's status.
The "and XXXX as" type credits are a way of recognizing that a role might be small but it is being played by a higher status actor, the old "and introducing XXXX" was a way of getting round the problem of an unknown actor in a very significant role.
Real problems can happen when two actors with a similar status and similar sized roles each have their agents demanding the same position in the credits.