Seven Days to Noon (1950) User Reviews

Worth watching - more than once

[lucy-19 · 7/10 · 29 January 2007]

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!

Intelligent And Thought Provoking

[Theo Robertson · 8/10 · 20 January 2005]

Someone gets hold of an atomic bomb and decides to resort to blackmail . Boy I haven't seen a movie like this for almost a whole week . Can't story tellers think up something new ? Hey wait a minute the blackmailer is a white English guy called Professor Willoughby and SEVEN DAYS TO NOON was made in 1950 !

What can I say about this underrated British masterpiece ? It gives a whole new meaning to the word " Groundbreaking " , every time you see a movie like TRUE LIES featuring a bunch of nutters trying to nuke a city you know where they got the idea from . What makes SEVEN DAYS TO NOON stand out from the movies that followed it is the way it's written and directed . it'd be so easy for Willoughby to be a complete raving headcase but he's written in such a way you'll believe he existed in real life , he's someone who became a scientist to improve the lot of humanity and because of politicians he finds his work being used for destructive means . Do I see hints that this character influenced Nigel Kneale when he wrote his Quatermass stories ? Willoughby's well thought out arguments are interesting even though you might not agree with them .The scenario is helped even further by casting Barry Jones in the role , Jones being an actor who I'd no knowledge of hence I wasn't watching a well known face doing an acting performance I was watching a scientist with serious internal dilemmas . The reality is heightened even further by the Boulting brothers directing in the style of a documentary very similar to the way Fred Zimmerman later directed DAY OF THE JACKAL

As much as I've praised it there are one or two flaws . One is I couldn't take seriously the idea that the government would announce the truth and then evacuate London . Of course Willoughby not being a terrorist is essential to the plot , he won't detonate the bomb if alerted but again the government of the day would know this so why evacuate ? Think about it: Would he be more likely or less likely to press the button if there's ten million Londoners still in the city . I also found Prof Willoughby's ultimate fate very contrived

One other point of interest of this movie is that you're aware of how everything is different in Britain over the preceding decades . They'd be no need to stick posters all over London because television has become the medium for communication , ration books disappeared in 1952 and Britain still had a big enough army to spare four divsions to search for one man , so as a period piece alone SEVEN DAYS TO NOON makes interesting viewing

As a footnote the montage scenes of the soldiers combing London for Willoughby were reused for Hammer's cinema version of THE QUATERMASS EXPERIMENT . What makes this even more interesting is that the screenwriter of SEVEN DAYS TO NOON James Bernard ( Who won an Oscar for this screenplay along with Paul Dehn ) composed the music for THE QUATERMASS EXPERIMENT

Still effective and thoughtful after 55 years

[richard-meredith27 · 7/10 · 18 July 2006]

The Boulting Brothers stray from their usual cheery British comedy films to make this effective and thoughtful thriller. Leaving the plotting to one side, it is remarkable as, at that time, the Government was laying the basis for the U.K.'s independent atomic deterrent and the effects of Atomic and Nuclear testing were never discussed. (ask the poor soldiers who watched the tests in Australia!) The issue is never resolved, and in the end the Professor can't make his case publicly.

Part of the film shows the evacuation of London. It harks back to the great evacuations of 1939/4 and invokes the same spirit. Oddly enough, Wartime studios had not portrayed the Home Front (other than nods to Fire Services or War-Work)and perhaps this is a belated look back. It does show one incident that would never have passed the wartime censor's pencil- the shooting of looters.

Other cultural notes: How easy it was for the studios to clear London even then the most traffic congested city in England, and to get the army to lend hundreds of personnel (and demonstrate their efficiency). And the great attraction of the old 1950's films: glimpses of bomb sites, long lost street scenes and forgotten buildings.

Watch it and remember its been 55 years since this film was made and 7/7. I don't think the genre was attempted again. Instead Studios turned to Sci-Fi ( a thin disguise for the external Russian menace).

A great fifties thriller.

[RayB · 7/10 · 16 November 1999]

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.

Package Of Destruction

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 6 January 2009]

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.

Brief review

[boris-26 · 9 November 1998]

An excellent suspense thriller! Kindly old Prof Bullington (Barry Jones) gives the British government an ultimatum- unless they cease all atomic testing by the weekend, he will set off an A-Bomb in the center of London. Andre Morell heads the task force to find "the needle in one helluva haystack." Done in a documentary style that shoves the details and urgency of a great manhunt onto the audience. However, the human element of the story (i.e what Bullington's daughter has to go through, the dear sweet ol' actress Bullington holds captive, and the mass evacuation of London) is not lost for a millisecond. Superb acting (Especially by Morell and Jones) and writing. Do not miss!!

Takes a lickin' but keeps on tickin'

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 6 April 2009]

London has "Seven Days to Noon" before it faces destruction in this 1950 cold war film starring Barry Jones, Hugh Lane, Olive Sloane, and Joan Hickson. Jones plays Professor Willingdon, an overwrought scientist whose work in the atomic field has gotten to him; he feels his life's work is being used for evil rather for good. He sends a letter to the Prime Minister warning that if the government doesn't stop making nuclear weapons, he is going to blow up London the following Sunday. Willingdon then disappears from his job and family and hides out in London with an atom bomb in a suitcase.

Stories about the possible destruction of humanity are never out of style, and, though low-budget, "Seven Days to Noon" is no exception. Though the end (at least for this viewer) was never in doubt, the film holds interest, with good acting, good pacing, and suspense.

Two character actresses are standouts: Olive Sloane as a woman taken hostage by the scientist, and Joan Hickson, known today for playing Miss Marple on Masterpiece Theatre, as a landlady who is suspicious of him. Jones is very good as the disturbed Willingdon.

Very good, recommended.

Brilliant low-budget thriller

[curlew-2 · 10/10 · 17 June 2001]

An absolutely excellent thriller from the golden age of British SF filmmaking. Relying on tension and character rather than special effects, the film depicts a fevered manhunt for a scientist threatening to blow up London with a small A-bomb. Whereas other films would've easily dropped into stereotype, this film took the trouble to depict all the major characters as three-dimensional. Not to be missed.

A great story, well told

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 22 August 2017]

SEVEN DAYS TO NOON is a slow-burning British drama of the 1950s in which a disaffected nuclear scientist steals a small atom bomb and decides to revenge himself on Britain for their role in promoting world warfare. To this end, he sends the prime minister a letter threatening to explode the device in London. The film follows the police (in the form of the ever-reliable Andre Morell) as they hunt for the madman and the scientist himself as he seeks to evade capture. There are some nice slice-of-life character bits dotted throughout the production, such as the woman with the dog whom the scientist befriends, and solid character bits from the likes of Joan Hickson. This isn't as pacy or exciting as a modern-day version of the story would be, but it still does the job ably enough and builds to a suitably gripping climax. Watch out for Victor Maddern and Sam Kydd in their customary cameos.

A well made film that doesn't assume the audience is stupid

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 7 February 2009]

This is a lovely and seldom seen Oscar-winning film. Before it came on Turner Classic Movies yesterday, I'd never heard of it--probably because it is not often seen and is a bit more low-key and literate than the usual films seen on TV. There are no famous actors in the film, no explosions and no love interest--just exceptional writing and a gripping story from start to finish.

A British nuclear scientist has been thinking over a desperate plan for some time, though none of his colleagues know about it. He is so concerned about nuclear annihilation that he's come up with what seems like an insane plan. He'll steal a nuclear device and threaten to blow up central London unless the Brits publicly renounce their nuclear program. However, the man isn't necessarily mad or evil, as he gives the government ample warning in order to give them time to evacuate and blowing up this historic area is a price he thinks is worth it to ensure that nuclear war can be averted. While his scheme is a bit naive (after all, there are other nuclear nations), it does have a certain strange appeal--and this is much of why I liked the film, as they made a crazy thing seem so reasonable.

The guy who plays the scientist is Barry Jones and he is great in the part because he's so unassuming and normal looking. During most of the film he's on the run--hiding from authorities until he can ultimately destroy the city center as well as himself. Excellent acting on his part and the rest of the cast, superb writing (which earned this small film the Oscar) and an idea that is fascinating, this is a great film. In many ways, it's highly reminiscent of another wonderful film, THE Satan BUG, which is about an insane scientist who wants to unleash a lethal bacteria upon the world. The only problem with SEVEN DAYS TO NOON is that the central idea of stealing a nuclear device is a bit preposterous and you need to keep yourself from worrying about how this isn't possible--I know it isn't--just go with it!!

The end of the world is nigh. Let's have a cup of tea

[JamesHitchcock · 6/10 · 5 June 2020]

Professor Willingdon is a scientist working at Britain's atomic weapons research establishment. He writes a letter to the Prime Minister informing him that he has surreptitiously removed an atomic bomb from the establishment and threatens that he will use this device destroy central London in seven days' time, at noon, unless the British government agrees to his demand that it will immediately announce complete unilateral nuclear disarmament. The Government refuses to accede to this demand and orders a mass evacuation of the population of London, at the same time organising a massive manhunt to track down Willingdon.

There are no really outstanding acting performances, but this may be because the brothers John and Roy Boulting, who acted as producers and directors, deliberately did not cast any major name stars in the film, fearing that their presence would detract from the story they wanted to tell. The scenes of the evacuation and of the deserted city afterwards are well done. The film does, however, seem too emotionally low-key, a stiff-upper-lip thriller in which everyone reacts to the prospect of nuclear annihilation with typical British phlegm and without the slightest sign of panic. ("They say the end of the world is nigh. Let's have a cup of tea"). The evacuation goes off a bit too smoothly, as if to reassure people that in a real nuclear emergency the British Government would be able to get all its people to safety. The main attraction of the film for modern audiences, however, is less artistic than historic.

"Seven Days to Noon" is in many ways prophetic. In 1950 Britain did not yet possess nuclear weapons; the first British atomic bomb was exploded in 1952. At this period there was no organised anti-nuclear movement; large-scale protests against atomic weapons did not start until the mid-fifties, and CND was not founded until 1957, but Willingdon anticipates many of the arguments which they would later use.

The film, however, is not to be taken as arguing in favour of unilateral nuclear disarmament. The arguments in favour of nuclear deterrence are put in the mouth of the British Prime Minister, Arthur Lytton. Lytton is a fictitious character, and it is never established whether he is Labour or Conservative, but Ronald Adam plays him as a Churchillian figure with a similar gift of rhetoric. The arguments in favour of unilateralism are given to Willingdon, who is clearly mentally disturbed. Moreover, Willingdon has not thought through the logical contradiction in his position. Essentially, his deeds contradict his words. His words argue against the principle of nuclear deterrence, but by using a nuclear bomb to blackmail the British Government, he is inadvertently making an argument in favour of that principle. If the Government gives in to his demands, that will demonstrate to the world that governments are vulnerable to the threat of nuclear destruction and that such a threat can be used to force them to change their policies- for example, to desist from a planned course of aggression. There are parallels here with "The Day the Earth Stood Still", an American film from the following year, which preached a message of peace, but with an implied subtext that the best way to ensure peace is through strength and deterrence rather than through weakness. Or, as the Romans would have said "Si vis pacem, para bellum". If you want peace, prepare for war. 6/10

Boulting Brothers Masterpiece

[clive5 · 9/10 · 11 September 2006]

Seven Days To Noon is another masterpiece from the Boulting Brothers and, as you would expect is superbly written and directed.

The much-under-rated Barry Jones is simply wonderful as the kindly professor with a moral dilemma. The cast succeeds in maintaining the tension nicely and Andre Morell is particularly convincing as the Superintendent, however I feel the most impressive part is the documentary-style photography, which allows the viewer a most interesting and revealing snapshot of post-war London.

Anyone who enjoys the classic English dramas of the 40s and 50s will love this.

Not to be missed.

Please somebody bring it out on DVD soon!

Gets You Nervous.

[rmax304823 · 7/10 · 10 July 2011]

Barry Jones is a devoted atomic scientist who gets religion and believes that his entire life has been given over to purposes of evil. He steals an atomic device and walks off with it, then mails the Prime Minister a demand that England stop the manufacture of atomic weapons. If he doesn't get the desired response in seven days, he'll detonate the device near the seat of government. Everything in a radius of twelve square miles will be demolished.

The British government is not so easily cowed. The PM decides to remain with his staff in London, while the population of the city is evacuated, and a thorough search is made of London's neighborhoods in pursuit of Jones and/or the sinister black bag he's carrying around.

This is a serious and thought-provoking movie with considerable suspense, nicely directed by the Boultings and with solid performances from the cast, particularly Andre Morell as Superintendent G. W. Folland. Olive Sloane has an important supporting role as an aging show-business floozy who puts Jones up for the night -- it's never made clear whether the kitchen is open or not -- and is later held captive by him. However, her chipper character and cute dog probably aren't as amusing as the writers may have thought.

There are some amusing moments amid the drama. While the soldiers, in full field kit, are searching all the houses in all the rooms in the city, we get glimpses of one soldier going through a drawer filled with a lady's lingerie, pulling out a pair of what he unquestionably would have called knickers, glancing around, then stuffing the item in his blouse. Another grunt halts momentarily in his search through a pub, long enough to take a healthy swig out of an open bottle.

And two soldiers who have been called up to help in the evacuation and search are cleaning one of the trucks. A non-com passes by and snaps out an order. When he's gone, one of the soldiers explodes in a bitter tirade about working hours, in which every other word is a monstrous curse rendered as "flippin'". When the rage is exhausted, the second soldier nods vigorously and comments, "You're flippin' right, Charlie." There isn't much to laugh at in the rest of the story, but there's a good deal to think about. Jones, as a person, is played sympathetically but is written as a hopeless idealist. The PM explains it all for us, the audience. Jones pays the price of all hopeless idealists. He hasn't harmed anyone but the entire city is upset about him, and besides the pet dogs and parrots have had to be abandoned. Nice shots of deserted Trafalgar Square, Westminster Bridge, Picadilly, and other tourist spots. These shots are common in end-of-days movies but I always kind of like them.

Despite the graininess it shares with many other post-war British films, it's a professional production all around. And I can't help noticing that, now that the Cold War is finished, Jones' moral position carries more weight than ever. At one point, he quotes Milton: "Dark, dark, dark, amid the blaze of noon." Maybe the chief problem is not the atomic bomb but human nature, which seems intent on wielding it.

Last One Out. Turn Off the Lights!

[spookyrat1 · 5/10 · 16 December 2018]

Lets first deal with the elephant in the room, that virtually all reviewers lauding this film choose to ignore. I'm no student of physics, but I'm absolutely positive that atomic/nuclear bombs couldn't be concealed in Gladstone bags in 1950. After all, this is only 5 years post Hiroshima. Granted this is an early example of a "Cold War" drama, drawing on the collective fears of a population fearing some sort of nuclear exchange/accident. But the underlying thread of a nuclear scientist wandering out of a laboratory, carrying a hidden atomic bomb in his Gladstone lunch bag is plainly absurd.

Perhaps the onset of the Cold War also influenced the Academy of Motion Picture Sciences in 1952 when awarding the writers of this pretty thin and fanciful tale, an Oscar for Best Original Story. Half-way decent scripts must have been thin on the ground that year.

What is interesting with the story is the non-aligned, individually neutral motivations behind Willingdon's actions. He's not a Soviet spy, ex-Nazi or some religious nut pushing a philosophical barrow. He's just a self-confessed pacifist, who has clearly lost the plot. But in overtones that echo contemporary frequent media headlines, his family and friends have no idea of his current mental state or feelings about his work.

The big set piece of the film and what it perhaps is best remembered for, is the evacuation of London. For a film produced on a clearly limited budget, this is quite cleverly achieved using judicious use of peak hour footage at various venues, along with some likely very early morning footage at well known London landmarks.

The acting and general production details are all very adequate for a film of this type and time. But for me, notwithstanding its unlikely Oscar, Seven Days to Noon remains very much a "B" movie experience.

Better Than Ever

[dougdoepke · 11 May 2010]

On first seeing this movie in the late 50's, one bomb in a guy's suitcase seemed mild since millions like me were facing full-scale nuclear war from the skies at any moment. At least this anguished soul (Jones) gives a week's warning. Now, of course, the baggage-check bomb looks suddenly prophetic and much scarier. One question to ponder is the logic behind the professor's threat. It's strictly utilitarian—better to lose a few million people than a few billion! After all, that same utilitarian calculus is typically used in wartime without controversy. Just how crazy, then, is this guy. Note that the screenplay avoids mention of this sort of irony or the question of its rationality.

It's a tense film, but a curiously unemotional one, considering what's at stake. Perhaps it's the British tradition of stiff upper lip, or maybe the movie functions as an entertaining training film on how people should act during evacuation. But whatever the reason, no one gets very excited despite the apocalyptic threat. I suspect a Hollywood version would behave quite differently. At the same time, as someone who's never been to London, I enjoyed seeing the sights. And since many appear to be landmarks, likely the decades haven't changed much. Anyway, this has to be one of the few films on record to actually gain topicality after a 60- year passage and is well worth catching up with.

(In passing— The 49th Man (1953) is the only Hollywood period film I know of dealing with the threat of a suitcase bomb. There, it's foreign agents smuggling A-bomb parts into US for later use. It might be helpful to point out that Soviet aviation was still a year away from a long-range delivery system.)

Seven Days to Noon

[henry8-3 · 7/10 · 13 June 2019]

A top scientist steals an atom bomb and threatens to blow up London if nuclear disarmament isn't approved immediately.

Totally believable, relaxed, realistic(?) look at what we'd do if this happened such that real tension grows as to whether they'll get him in time. The performances are all good with Morrell providing the reassurance and authority with his clipped British tones and Jones fine as the troubled scientist trying to hide in London.

Very well done.

doomsday deferred

[mjneu59 · 7/10 · 1 January 2011]

"London can take it!" was the rallying cry in 1940, and a decade later the same, stoic answer to the Blitz might have summed up this tense speculation about the efforts taken to defuse an impending atomic holocaust. The film reflected many real fears of the embryonic nuclear age, but managed to embrace both ends of its argument, with the rogue scientist threatening to explode a bomb in downtown London (unless the government disarms its atomic arsenal) acting as both a voice of conscience and an agent of madness: the message is sane; his method is not. Meeting the crisis with clear heads and stiff upper lips are the real heroes of the film: the civilian and military forces who organize a heroic evacuation not unlike the victorious retreat from Dunkirk. The script benefits from some near-documentary realism and a swift, clockwork plot, earning co-writers Frank Harvey and Frank Boulting (who also co-directed the film with his brother John) an Oscar for their efforts.

A tense thriller with an exceptional portrait of post-war London

[lionel-libson-1 · 9/10 · 6 January 2009]

I'm not a big fan of "the people will panic..." films, so prevalent in the 50's. This film conveys a similar message, but manages to do so in a wonderfully understated manner. We see the British going on with life despite the undercurrent of menace. People going to work, dining, drinking, an unintentional precursor of New York after 9/11.

A counterpoint to the plot, and in many ways the strongest element of the film, we have these extraordinary images of London, still laden with the ruins of the "Blitz"...bricks, rubble, vacant lots.

An earlier comment spoke of the professor's moral dilemma. He is reproached for his willingness to let millions of average citizens pay the price for his conscience. Certainly, other, less fanatical means were available. Ultimately, we see him less as an ethicist but more of a quiet man of genius driven to madness. It is clear, from his actions, that to him, the lives of others are a mere abstraction.

Of special note to me, are the glimpses of soldiers sent on a life-or-death mission, acting not as robots, but as very fallible men, taking a drink, a cigarette or skipping a flat. In essence, human.

Most striking of all are the views of a deserted London. Eerie, silent, devoid of humans, but chilling. This is a memorable film for its cinematography, its slices of life, and mostly because it cares about people.

Good entertainment with a plot still current today

[mail-2978 · 8/10 · 18 July 2006]

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.

Totally brilliant film

[rayre · 10/10 · 11 May 2003]

I have seen it several times & find something new each time

A definite classic & the acting superb-details good too

Loved the fading actress & her little King Charles Spaniel

Victor Madden in one of his early films & dear Joan Hickson just added to the film content

Simply loved it

Dated thriller from the British studio conveyor-belt

[Libretio · 2/10 · 27 January 2000]

SEVEN DAYS TO NOON

Aspect ratio: 1.37:1

Sound format: Mono

(Black and white)

They must have been forced to close huge sections of London for certain crucial scenes in this subpar suspense-thriller, in which a disillusioned nuclear scientist (Barry Jones) threatens to destroy the British capital with an atomic bomb if the UK government refuses to discontinue the manufacture of such terrible weapons. There's a good movie waiting to be made from such a premise, but this isn't it. Though long considered a 'classic' of its kind, the film is a typically drab and restrained affair from the British studios of the time, with little or no sense of drama or suspense. The script offers a convincing account of what might happen in the event of such a threat, and Olive Sloane lights up the screen as a faded music-hall performer who's taken hostage by Jones near the end of the film, but the thrills are almost non-existent, and the whole thing plods timidly until it fizzles out during the lacklustre finale.

Solid British Thriller

[anthony_retford · 9/10 · 6 April 2010]

I was a child in Chelsea, London in 1950 so the scenes of this movie are somewhat familiar to me. I have always liked older British thrillers because they were all made with no nonsense or fat. This movie is another example of that. My complaint with modern British thrillers is that they are full of coarse language, as though this is the common currency in the UK. We don't hear one such word in this fine movie. I would show this to my young son when he gets to be 10.

It is wonder to me that the makers were able to show many scenes of London, including a portion of Trafalgar Square as unoccupied by anyone. The characterizations were very good and the movie had a lot of suspense. I thought the professor was very agile to climb out of a back window, and then over walls. I know I would have a hard time doing that. I watch a lot of movies so I am trying to understand how I missed this one. If you want a sensible, suspense-filled, well-thought out film you would do well by watching this movie.

Twelve O'Clock High

[writers_reign · 8/10 · 19 January 2008]

Despite a long and active career, which included amongst other things supplying the off-screen 'voice' of Lord Haw Haw in Twelve O'Clock High and creating the role of Socrates in the Broadway production of Maxwell Anderson's Barefoot In Athens, Barry Jones was relatively unknown to cinema-goers in 1950 which made him an ideal choice for Professor Willingdon who, well-shod in London, intends to detonate a nuclear device in its centre unless the Prime Minister agrees to issue a statement prepared by Willingdon. This is one of those British films that DO stand up half a century later which is not, of course, the same as saying they are without flaws - for one thing we never see Willingdon until he has stolen the nuclear device, left home, wife and daughter and made his way to London. What we feel the loss of is a sense of seeing him being slowly driven from brilliant scientist and nondescript family man to someone prepared to unleash devastation on a great capital city. Joan Hickson and Olive Sloan are both solid in support as is Andre Morrell, charged with the task of finding Willingdon but others characters, Willingdon's daughter, his colleague and son-in-law-in-waiting are cheapest cardboard cutouts. Overall the pace is the thing that keeps it interesting, that and the period 'feel' of a lost London. Definitely worth a look.

Class act film making from half a century ago

[Critical Eye UK · 9/10 · 19 July 2006]

Gawd knows what planet some reviewers here are living on if they think this movie belongs to the sci-fi genre.

Of course it doesn't.

It's in a league of its own, a 'protest' movie made before CND was thought of and a film with a social conscience long before other UK film-makers had awakened to the realities of the new world (i.e., nuclear era).

There's nothing 'sci-fi' in 'Seven Days To Noon' other than the fact that the writers fictionalised the ease with which a nuclear device could be carried around the streets of a city back in 1950. The issues broached by the movie are all too real, and given the way that at this particular moment in history, when the populace at large was still woefully ignorant of nuclear war (remember, both the US and UK Governments consistently denied that anyone ever died of radiation at Hiroshima; it was the blast-effect wot did it, guv) the movie must rank as one of the bravest made by any British studio.

Obviously, it has dated. Obviously, the characterisation and dialogue is out of the Ark. But in 1950, we really weren't that long out of the Ark anyway, our collective simplicities pretty well mirrored in the Cockney stereotypes which people the film.

Verdict: a lost gem of British film-making -- but never, ever, an example of science fiction.

Effective thriller, tense apart from weak cockney caricatures

[bob the moo · 11 May 2003]

Leading British atomic scientist Professor John Willoughby post a letter to the Prime Minister, gets on a train to London and then disappears. The alarm is raised when the letter arrives and is a threat to the security of London. Willoughby has tired seeing his work used for destruction and has given the Government 7 days to announce the end of their atomic weapons programme or else he will detonate an atomic device somewhere within London. As the deadline approaches a desperate search goes on for Willoughby.

It is strange to find a film from so long ago that has actually become more relevant as the years have gone on, and this is one of them. As the idea of a terrorist attack by a small nuclear device in the centre of a major city becomes much less of a sci-fi fantasy then this film becomes even more tense. The plot here is more of a comment on the arms race than anything else, but it's central premise is one of tense reality now. In fact the church-based climax will ring a bell as it was photocopied for the climax of `The Peacemaker' with George Clooney only a few years ago.

It could have been a lot tenser by making it more emotionally charged but it still holds it's own. What does take away from it a little bit is an abundance of cockneys adding local colour. They were clearly used to try and make it feel very realistic but sadly they are, to a man, cheeky chappies – all cheerfulness and rhyming slang. They aren't characters and it sucks the tension out of the middle section of the film by having them to the extent they are. Another weakness is the film's focus on Willoughby and less on those trying to stop him. The film does this to help make it's point but the fact that the audience know where he is etc takes away from our fear of him. Also less time with the authorities means that the sense of panic and deadline is more vague.

However these are minor complaints because the film does work quite well and delivers a fair amount of tension. People who were wowed by `28 Days Later' use of empty London streets would do well to check out the same here – it is eerily effect to see Big Ben and Tower Bridge devoid of any movement. I know that in 28 Days Later they used digital film to set up very quickly to get their shots and then reopen the roads – I wonder how they managed to do it so convincingly here?

Overall this is not as tense or exciting as it could have been, mainly because it is also trying to make a bigger point. However it is still pretty tense and very effective. As the threat of terrorist attacks from within cities becomes more possible it is hard to view this film without feeling some apprehension and fear. The thing I kept asking myself was, if we were given the same situation for real in the UK could our Government really deal with it as efficiently as the fictional Government did – evacuate the city and keep law and order? Now that's scary.