It's really hard to see what GLENN FORD saw in the role of a man who is an expert at detonating explosives because his role in TIME BOMB (or TERROR ON A TRAIN--U.S. title), is one that any halfway decent actor could do blindfolded. Why did he go to England to appear in this insignificant little post-war film that hangs its plot on one simple theme--a bomb planted on a train with all passengers out of danger.A sub-plot has his worried wife (with whom he argues incessantly), seeking a reunion and returning home to find him gone--whereby she spends the rest of the film fretting over his safety.Wisely, the film runs only an hour and twelve minutes. Unfortunately even at that brief length, it runs out of steam before it's halfway through and what should be the final excitement of the closing scenes amounts to little more than a thud.Very tepid thriller directed by Ted Tetzlaff who shows none of the skill he had when he had a good script (THE WINDOW--1949). Should have been much more suspenseful and looks like the sort of film that was intended to play the lower half of double bills.The humorous element of a demented old man repeating over and over again that "he loves trains" and can't stay away from them--even when they contain explosives--gets a bit tiresome.

Some people have rated this a one star, too each his own, but they probably have not seen many movies to think this is that low. A simple straightforward thriller. I really enjoyed this film. If you don't like older, lower budget films than this wont be your cup of tea, so to speak, but I do like them and being made by MGM it had quality all over it. I would have thought that in post war London they would have had no trouble finding hundreds of bomb disposal people than to use one Canadian though! I was also saying to myself, how is he going to search that whole train by himself? In reality they probably would have had dozens of war vets searching that train, but that wouldn't have been much fun, now would it? I liked that it wasn't the Glenn Ford show, there was the patrolman searching for the terrorist, and the sergeant who was with the Detective and so forth, even the Royal Navy pitched in with an early helicopter, so it was a good group effort. A reason why I also enjoyed this movie was the banter among the characters like the scene when the switch man tells the train conductor that he needs to dump off his load in a siding and the conductor is reluctant to do it, that seemed real, I really liked that. Well if your watching Turner Classic movies in the middle east (like me) and are tired of the limited movies they usually show, it's worth a watch from start to finish. 7 of 10, Ford was pretty good! Oh and if you want a true one star film check out Beast Of Yucca Flats, thats a real "worse film ever made"!

Truly awful film made by cinematographer-turned-director Ted Tetzlaff. Decent enough looking film but for a time-bomb movie totally devoid of any tension whatsoever. Ford, as someone put it here, sleepwalks though this one with his characteristic smirk. There are some details thrown around- Canadian ex-army or RAF, defused bombs in the war, his wife is leaving him- but none of these back stories add up to much. The bomber himself is a complete mystery. Why is he trying to blow up this shipment of mines? For that matter, what time period are we talking about here? WWII or postwar?? I assumed the latter which makes bomber's motive even more salient. Generally, though, just a horrible film. There are plenty of good time-bomb flicks to skip this one. Watch any episode of "Danger UXB" for a more exciting time, at about the same running time.

An enjoyable British thriller from the 1950s with an excellent supporting cast makes this well worth watching. But was it necessary to get an actor all the way from Hollywood? Glenn Ford always played himself, perhaps there could have been idea to have a more anonymous actor in the lead? The love story between Ford and Anne Vernon is unnecessary and does not add anything to the story.