Date with Disaster

An interesting cast founder in this incredibly cheap-looking and inconsequential second feature that resembles a short public information film sternly warning us that Crime Does Not Pay that inadvertently came in at feature length.

Apart from the robbery sequence itself, lighting cameraman Brendan Stafford makes no attempt at all to make the film look like a thriller; which ceases to matter, however, when the crew finally take to the uncluttered streets of fifties Southall and the Thames Embankment.

Tom Drake looks as if he wandered in off the set of an adjacent production; while I'd much rather have seen the leaner, meaner picture that a spiteful-faced brunette called Deidre Mayne (as Richard Shaw's grasping and not to be trifled with moll Judy) escaped from.

Tom Drake and Shirley Eaton must be the most mismatched leads to be seen in any British B film.Drake is third billed in this film having been parachuted in as the mandatory American actor to help get an American release.Shirley Eaton gives probably the worst performance of her whole career.She just cannot find it within herself to register any sort of emotion.This means that the acting honours go William Hartnell without breaking sweat.The story is a routine crime film where the crops fall out after the robbery.However the last few minutes are so badly staged and acted that any tension that may have been worked up is totally lost.

A good example of a 50's British thriller short; the sort of highly agreeable time waster our studios churned out with impressive regularity. As usual, the limited budget shows on occasions but overall the story holds up well. The title is a typical exercise in hyperbole; the sinking of the Titanic was a disaster, whereas this amounts to a limited group screwup.

Tom Drake is given top billing, presumably in the hope that his presence will win over a US audience and add weight to the film (it doesn't). Maurice Kaufmann fares a lot better as an outwardly cocksure but ultimately naive chancer with an eye (along with most of the male characters) for Shirley Eaton, who in turn prefers his boss (Drake) - heaven knows why. Not surprisingly, William Hartnell steals all his scenes with consummate ease, this time in straight mode - as an old school pro crook. Richard Shaw (no relation to the great Robert, and whose career morphed into mainly TV roles) is convincing in a broodingly menacing performance, and despite a fairly insipid ending the film's positives outweigh its shortfalls.

Goodness gracious! What a caper! Hartnell's heist is in the paper.

Don't get too excited, this is no 'Rififi'. Hartnell, Kaufmann and Shaw's attempt to carry out a daring robbery in the dead of night falters at every stage, from broken drill bits to a stalling getaway car that just about gets away, narrowly beating an on the beat Bobby, in hot, but ultimately hapless pursuit.

The bogies are soon nosing around Hartnell's modest terraced house, which appears to be situated in an alibi free zone, whilst the cocky, caustic Kaufmann is hitting the bottle and mouthing off indiscriminately. Oh!....and there's a love triangle too with beautiful Shirley Eaton the centre of attraction for honest garage owner, Tom Drake and the insidious Kaufmann.

Simplistic and one dimensional, the plot leads to a murder, a laughable punch-up and the most feeble minded moment of self incrimination imaginable. It should all add up to a listless, insipid viewing experience. So why did 'Date With Disaster' leave me sporting a grin as wide as The Thames? Perhaps it's due to the fundamentals of story telling. By stripping everything down to the basic essentials, the movie's weakness is transformed into a strength, creating a simple, economical guilty pleasure. An entertaining, undemanding, eminently watchable little crime flick.

Here's a foggy notion. A review that's ALL in rhyme. If you second that (e)motion. I might try it out sometime.

Don't let the cheapness of this British B-movie put you off, because it's actually a pretty neat little thriller with a good sense of time and place to recommend it. The storyline is very, very typical for this genre of film, but a seasoned cast acquit themselves well with the material. The film was adapted by Brock Williams from his own novel and directed by B-movie maestro Charles Saunders (he of WOMANEATER infamy).

The storyline is set in a car dealership where a couple of the employees are crooks planning the robbery of a local business. At the same time that this criminal plot evolves, there's a romance developing of sorts between the business owner and a new female employee. What follows is reasonably interesting and never less than watchable.

Although he plays only a minor role in the proceedings, the best actor in this is William Hartnell giving a delightfully shady performance. Richard Shaw is incredibly sinister looking as one of the gang members. Tom Drake is the typical imported American star but is quite likable with it. Shirley Eaton is here too but I was quite surprised by how poor her acting is; perhaps Saunders was in too much of a hurry to make her do many takes. In any case, for a film which clocks in at just an hour in length DATE WITH DISASTER is worth your time.