The Big Chance

William Russell is a clerk at a travel agency with a dull life. He dreams of adventure and travel, but his wife awon't let him. One day, a client reschedules a trip to Panama, and his boss trusts him with the combination to the vault, so he empties the vault and takes the ticket, intending to do something different. On the way he meets Adrienne Corri, who married a rich man and now regrets.

So they start to have a series of misadventures that in the hands of a differently slanted director and a score that didn't insist on wailing trumpets might have been a very amusing comedy, as they crash a car, get lost in the fog, pursued by the police, lose their possessions.... clearly these are among the most inept runaways imaginable, but director Peter Graham Scott makes them look idiotic without making me crack a smile. As a result, a bad time was had by all, the leads and me.

Short but sweet- a travel agent, Bill (William Russell), bored and unhappy, steals money from the company safe, puts his passport photo in place of another man due to go to Panama in a few days, and takes off for Panama himself.

If something could go wrong, boy, did it. Ultimately he meets a woman, Diana (Adrienne Corri) at the airport who is also running away, in her case from her husband.

The plane is delayed until the next day. Diana spots her husband, so the two take off in her car.

The car becomes stuck in the mud, and Diana and Bill walk to a nearby cottage, probably used on weekends, so they break in.

The housekeeper realizes someone has broken in and calls the police. The two run for the car. However Diana's purse has disappeared from the car.

Bill goes on a desperate search to trace who stole it.

Meanwhile the briefcase full of money starts looking pretty good to Diana as she waits in the cold.

Very good film. You know how it will end up, but it's an interesting adventure.

This film, which usually pops up in the midnight-dawn slot on the local ABC network, like a lot of the old Rank, Gaumont British and Gainsborough films tend to do, is interesting for the performance of William Russell, better known to most as Doctor Who's Ian Chesterton, back in the days when his movie career seemed to be a going prospect. He's perfect for the role he takes in this film, as his fairly straight-jawed demeanor makes him look altogether too uncomfortable for the situations he finds himself in.

Not the greatest film in the world (nor the longest) but solidly entertaining for the timeslot it finds itself in, especially if you're an insomniac like me. :)

Bored travel agent, William Russell dreams of the exotic locations his affluent customers frequently fly off to. Frustrated by his own dull, repetitive existence, he cunningly robs the office safe in a bid to join the jet-set and abscond to Panama with the loot.

In the kind of scenario where everything that could go wrong, does- from an irritating, motor mouthed colleague, to cancelled flights, to a stiletto heel wedged in grating- the exotic rapidly descends into chaotic. Hooking up with desperate housewife, Adrienne Corri, who initially threatens to report him to the police, but soon turns from superfine to super siren, (breaking and entering proving to be one of her lesser crimes), the unlikely, hapless couple find themselves on the run.

Circumstances conspire against the pair in grandiose fashion during this hugely improbable potboiler. Delivering a hint of situation comedy and a whiff of Brian Rix farce, The Big Chance remains surprisingly entertaining until the offbeat finale, with its fluorescent 'crime doesn't pay mantra.' ripped off from an earlier and superior Joseph Cotten noir.

The opening credits boldly announce that we are about to view A MAJOR PRODUCTION, but as we all know, it is vitally important to check out the small print informing us that this is a Rank film. Decide for yourself......You know the score.

This movie manages to pack into an hour what most take two hours to do. The frustrated husband decides to make a run for it - his plan is to empty the safe he's in charge of (full of foreign currency) and smuggle it out of the country and make a new start in Panama. Except everything that can possibly go wrong DOES! He ends up on the run with a beautiful girl who is trying to flee her husband and finds himself in an awful pickle, and finally begins to realise that maybe life wasn't so bad beforehand...excellent performances all around and the first half will have you constantly on your toes, especially with the very 'Jaws'-like drumbeat (perhaps, seeing the date, this was what inspired Jaws? Hmmm)

I liked it. 9/10.