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.

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.)

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!

An unexpected masterpiece from the Boulting Brothers, "Seven Days to Noon" is an object - lesson in how to make a small - budget suspense movie .It works supremely well as such,but it is rather more than that.The "Atomic Age" was upon us,anti - communist propaganda was coming to a peak and nuclear sabres were being rattled. There was a real fear that World War three might indeed be the war to end all wars and everything else as well.In such a climate a scientist with a conscience might well decide to rattle a few sabres himself in the cause of what he considered the collective good. By threatening to explode a nuclear device in Central London within seven days unless all work on atomic weapons is suspended Mr B.Jones causes a very British panic i.e.things carry on much the same right up until the last moment,an Ealingesque concept if ever there was one. The Boulting Brothers' proposition that the atom bomb was "a bad thing" might seem to belong to the era of duffel coats,beards and open - toed sandals but in fact predates it by several years. Over half a century later it is glaringly obvious to Londoners that any bomb,whether it contains Uranium 235 or fertiliser is a very bad thing and to find one bomber in a big city is a task beyond human capability. By pointing this out to the public in 1950 the Boultings were breaking new ground. Don't watch it through 21st Century eyes then complain that people aren't like that -obviously they're not.But they were then. What you see is the way people behaved,the way they spoke and inter - acted as much as "Eastenders" reflects daily life in London now. People expressed anger,love and hatred without foaming at the mouth. Five years after the end of the war there was still a little of the "Let's all pull together" spirit abroad in the air.Everybody knew what it meant to be British but nobody spoke about it - the polar opposite of today. Although today the Boultings are best remembered for their comedies this little masterpiece from early in their career is a worthy contender for consideration as their finest work.