Ultimatum

... but tells the story of a nuclear scientist in England who goes a little nutty and writes a letter to the prime minister demanding that the country stop making bombs. If not, he'll set off a little atomic bomb he just swiped in the middle of London at noon on Sunday. Barry Jones plays the nutty guy and Andre Morrell plays the stalwart Scotland Yard superintendent who coordinates the manhunt.

Their inability to track down this crafty guy leads to a massive evacuation of residents. It's a fascinating little film about the new nuclear age set amid the rubble of blitzed London which is still obviously evident. About half-way through the film, matters take a little turn by introducing a washed-up actress who sort of picks up the fugitive in a bar. She's played by Olive Sloane and she's quite marvelous as the cheerful has-been who doesn't quite know it's over. It's an unexpected little turn and it makes the whole film, especially since there can only be one outcome to the film's premise. It won an Oscar for best writing.

A wonderful picture of London in the 50s, and an insight into the way people behaved, and were treated, during the war - patient crowds sitting on railway platforms waiting to be evacuated (Come along, ma! No, lad, you can't take that chicken!). I can't see or hear the married couples calling each other "darling" that another reviewer complained of - there's an engaged couple and he calls her "darling" about twice. Watch out for Joss Ackland as an eager copper and Jonathan Cecil as a young officer. The aging "actress" is simply wonderful and the relationship between her and Prof. Willingdon quite touching. ("He was a gentleman and I treated him as such - as he did me!") Lovely to see Joan Hickson as a cat-loving landlady, living in a house untouched for fifty years and crammed with Victorian nicknacks. What would they be worth now!

Seven Days To Noon is ironically one of those films that has grown into the times rather than be dated. It's certainly a relevant film given the threat of nuclear terror today.

But back in 1950 I don't believe the technical expertise was there so that Barry Jones or anyone else could have put a device like that in a briefcase. Take a look at pictures of Fat Man and Little Boy the code names for the weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Those things could not have fit in a briefcase and developments hadn't advanced that far in five years. Now sad to say it actually could be done.

Barry Jones is an atomic scientist who is suffering from fatigue and overwork and a questioning mind about what exactly he's developing. His mind snaps and he takes one of the weapons Great Britain has been developing and sends a letter to the Prime Minister. Issue a statement you'll stop the program or he's going to explode his package on Sunday at high noon.

That sets up a manhunt for Jones throughout the United Kingdom, but especially of course in London. His note does specify the seat of the government. Andre Morrell as a Scotland Yard Inspector, Hugh Cross as one of his fellow scientists who will have to disarm the device once located, and Sheila Manahan as his daughter lead the search for Jones and the package of destruction he has.

Despite the fact that it was a technological impossibility in 1950, Seven Days To Noon is still an effective thriller of a film, worthy of a Hitchcock. It's interesting that they came close to getting Jones a few times before they do catch up. Best in the film is Olive Sloane the frowzy former music hall entertainer who Jones holds as a hostage for a while. She wants to do her bit as well as she's trying to get to Aldershot to entertain the troops.

Seven Days To Noon got an Oscar for Best Screen Story. It remains one of the few films that actually grew technologically and became more relevant now than when it first came out.

An absorbing tale, well-told.

The big picture - London being evacuated, Prime Ministerial meetings, military operations - are contrasted with the anti-hero's attempts to evade detection among the city's ordinary people. His encounters with a seedy land-lady (brilliantly played the late Joan Hickson), and a fading second-rate actress, are depicted in fine detail.

But the film never gets bogged down - whenever the pace threatens to slow-up the scene cuts to racing police cars, thundering army convoys, or shrieking steam trains.

Carefully photographed set-pieces, solid acting all round, and a tense climax. Top stuff.

In this day and age when atomic weapons are everybody's bow and arrows the plot of this film has never been more up to date. The setting of the film in London with the devastation left by the bombing in World War II made a great back drop for the story. I can remember when London really looked like that. Both the plot and the characterisation are believable and the acting more than adequate. But star status must go to the people of London who back in 1950 still had the camaraderie and spirit forged by six years of war. This was a time when people still looked out for each other and this come over well as the story unfolds. With our video making mobile telephones and instant access to news this film may seem tame and dated but don't let the black and white format fool you this is a good story, well told and well worth seeing. Oh, and by the way, we really did talk like that back in 1950.