Date with Disaster (1957) User Reviews

Neat thriller, done well on the cheap

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 30 May 2016]

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.

mismatched leads

[malcolmgsw · 4/10 · 2 August 2015]

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.

Richard Shaw extra on film set

[howardmorley · 6/10 · 16 July 2018]

The above actor shown in a blue shirt in the film poster, holding a blonde actress (Shirley Eaton), was evidently "promoted" by the producers from film extra to talking featured part in this 1957 British "B" film as he appears in the film credits which I saw on "Talking Pictures" channel 81 yesterday.

As a 72 year old I love watching these type of films with views of the capital blissfully free of double yellow lines, resident parking only, parking meters , traffic wardens etc. as it reminds me of what London used to be like in the 1950s when you could park in the high road and could park where you desired and did not need to wander around fruitlessly looking for a free space.Also I like seeing vintage cars like the Humber Hawk, Morris Minor and police Wolseleys.

The captioned actor because of his appearance was usually cast as a villain and in "Date with Disaster" was no exception.At least he was recognisable because of his looks.In "A Night to Remember" (1958) Richard was cast as an extra as a member of "Titanic"'s crew with one line to speak which was "She"'s going!" said on the deck as the liner prepared for her final descent and which was probably nearer to the actual historic facts than any similar film about this maritime tragedy.

Shirley Eaton was obviously the "eye candy" in the captioned film and in the course of its length had romantic scenes with Maurice Kaufman, Tom Drake as well as having Richard Shaw thrust himself on her.Of course with the British board of film censors criminals could not appear to profit from their misdeeds and this film was no exception.Who can forget Shirley painted head to toe in gold as Jill Masterson in "Goldfinger" (1964). which must be her seminal film role although I remember her in "Three Men in a Boat " (1956) as "Sophie" which she announced in seductive tones! As to the rating of the captioned film, I awarded it 6/10 mainly due to Shirley's appearance.

Be Very Sure of Your Friends

[richardchatten · 3/10 · 15 November 2019]

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.

Low Budget British Crime Film

[magicshadows-90098 · 6/10 · 6 September 2015]

A very modest little movie set at a busy automobile dealership. William Hartnell plays a tough gangster working on the outside who initiates a plan to rob the garage. Tom Drake plays the honest hardworking manager of the business. Two employees on the inside are working with Hartnell. The robbery should come off without any problem but both crooks are distracted by another employee, played by Shirley Eaton.

Eaton in her prime is very effective as the sexy worker gathering everyone's attention. She wears tight sweaters and she has the ability to turn many heads. She dates her unscrupulous co-workers but slowly starts to prefer the solid Drake. Alas, one of the criminals murders his partner and frames Drake for the crime. The crook's plan falls apart when he includes the unwilling Eaton in his getaway scheme.

Someone Will Talk

[boblipton · 5/10 · 6 February 2020]

Tom Drake is a partner in a used car lot with Maurice Kaufman. Drake is an honest fellow in the business, who likes the secretary, Shirley Eaton, but she's Kaufman's girl. It's a marginal business, but Kaufman has worked out a way to supplement his income. He's going to provide the getaway car for cracksman William Hartnell. However, when the first job goes wrong, and it looks as if the watchman they slugged may die, police inspector Michael Golden warns suspect Hartnell that someone will talk... so one of the fellows kills Kaufman, and suspicion falls on Drake.

It's far too brief and rote a crime drama to be particularly good, but it does have some good performers in it, and they do their best; the script, although bare, is serviceable in the hands of director Charles Saunders.

Neat little Brit thriller despite the gratuitous US lead

[barkiswilling · 7/10 · 18 December 2021]

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.

Low budget thriller from a different era

[ewaf58 · 5/10 · 24 October 2017]

An interesting film if only to see an example of very low budget British film of the late 1950's.

It had some good actors but they were let down somewhat overly simple plot and clunky script.

Still it's always a pleasure seeing a young Shirley Eaton and William Hartnell is always good value for money.

Viewing the UK as it was also holds attention with relatively empty streets with about 15 million less people around. Old fashioned cars and clothes except for one futuristic event. When the police car gives chase at the end a police constable says that he has no idea where the bad guy (chased by the good guy) went to.

However the police drive across London and over the Thames and somehow find the very street where the bad - and good guys - cars are parked. Perhaps they had computerised tracking drones in those days (or perhaps it was just lazy writing as they needed to tie the film up quickly before the £200 budget ran out)

Early Shirley Eaton

[jameselliot-1 · 7/10 · 29 December 2019]

Every schoolboy's crush after seeing Goldfinger, Shirley Eaton is the flirty and busty office assistant who likes cocktails and dancing in this early entry in her career. Shirley likes to flaunt her beauty, slim body and big boobs and tease all the guys. To her it's harmless fun. When you watch films from those years, how much everyone smoked cigarettes and drank makes you realize how society has dramatically changed. Tom Drake is the colorless American partner of a small used car dealership in London working with Richard Shaw and Maurice Kaufman, who is dating Shirley. The latter two align with Dr Who's William Hartnell to crack a safe at a local business and learn that crime doesn't pay. Shaw coshes Kaufman (a little too hard and kills him) after Kaufman and Eaton return from a date to keep him quiet even though the police have been around to ask a lot of questions. Shaw covets sexy tease Shirley and of course fails to win her over as he is not Prince Charming in the looks or personality department. He gets caught with a pile of the stolen cash on the bed by his go-to squeeze, voluptuous Judy (Deirdre Mayne), who appears to be one of those bra-busting, London bad girls who populate London-based crime thrillers. So now Shaw is on Judy's hook. At the office, Drake fires Shaw for groping Shirley who now wants Drake for a boyfriend. Shaw retrieves the hidden cash from a pile of coal outside the dealership and is about to take off when Shirley follows him outside. He throws her in his car and kidnaps her to keep her quiet and drives to his waterfront hideout. Judy happens to be streetwalking not far away, sees them go into his dilapidated apartment and calls the police out of jealously, thinking the two are an item. In pursuit, Drake shows up for a brawl with Shaw before Shaw can strangle Shirley and get away with the money. A happy ending is in the cards for Drake with his hot new British girlfriend. The best parts of the film are the exchanges between Hartnell and Detective Inspector Matthews at the police station. Two professionals just doing their jobs and being very civil. It's enjoyable seeing London locations and the cars of those years.

Staying up to watch it is a date with disaster indeed!

[jamesraeburn2003 · 1/10 · 20 December 2016]

Staying up to watch this worthless crime drama is certainly a date with disaster! Used car salesmen Maurice Kaufmann and Richard Shaw enlist the services of professional safe cracker William Hartnell to steal twenty grand from a nearby chemical firm. But, what is supposed to be their once in a life time job goes wrong when they cosh a nightwatch man leaving him in a critical condition. Then, worried that Kaufmann's heavy drinking may loosen his tongue, they kill him and frame Shirley Eaton's boyfriend, the senior partner of the autosales firm, Tom Drake. Directed by Charles Saunders, a former editor who went on to be a prolific maker of routine b-pics such as this; it lacks anything in the way of tension; its action is listlessly staged and the climatic fight on the docks between Drake and Shaw sees the latter attempt to hook it with the money in a rowing boat. Yeah, you're really gonna outrun the cops with that! In those days British cinemas were required by law to show a quota of UK made films every year under The Cinematograph Act and the result was the quota-quickies that gave our film industry a bad name.

The great brain robbery

[kalbimassey · 6/10 · 25 May 2023]

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.

Brit sort-of noir

[lucyrf · 4/10 · 18 July 2020]

I confess I fell asleep halfway through and missed some of the plot. Three guys run a used-car dealership, but they've done up the flat that's built onto the garage like a seedy nightclub, with rattan bar stools and jazz on the record-player.

Shirley Eaton is the love interest, and as in many films of the time she looks completely unlike a secretary in a garage. In fact she looks like a pin-up all the time, and dresses up to go out as if she's headed for the Ritz. She also throws herself into cheesecake poses which will look good in the stills.

Tom Drake is the only honest member of the syndicate. The others are more interested in robbing a safe with deadpan William Hartnell (excellent). The loot ends up in a holdall, and the good guy ends up fighting with the bad guy on the Thames foreshore. SURELY the bag is going to fly open and let the notes float off towards Teddington - or the Estuary, depending which way the tide is flowing.

Actually when the crook and Shirley (who he's kidnapped) arrive at the boathouse there is a high tide of the kind that were more frequent before the Thames Barrier was built. Ten minutes later when Tom Drake and then the cops arrive, it has fallen enough to reveal quite a lot of beach.

Unusually, the bag stays shut.

Date with Disaster

[CinemaSerf · 5/10 · 28 April 2024]

This is an odd film - the cast don't gel at all. The story is the usual run-of-the-mill stuff as a gang carry out a robbery but soon discover, with the police on their tail, that one of their number isn't reliable so turn this case of robbery into one of murder. William Hartnell's "Tracey" is the henchman who holds this together but "Sue" (Shirley Eaton) and "Miles" (Tom Drake - presumably drafted in to bolster US box office attendance) have all the chemistry of yesterday's scrambled eggs. The photography is basic and the production standards are decent enough but the ending is just a bit too bit hammy.

Good Old Brit Crime Movie

[TondaCoolwal · 7/10 · 8 November 2022]

At my age I just love these 50s Brit-crime quota quickies: usually featuring well-known, but not internationally known, famous faces. This one is right up my street. Apart from token Yank Tom Drake, we have reliably devious Maurice Kaufman, sinister Richard Shaw, cynical William Hartnell and delightful Shirley Eaton modelling a wardrobe of eye-catching fifties fashions.

The basic plot involves Tracey (Hartnell) a professional safebreaker, pulling a job with Redman (Kaufman) and Prescott (Shaw) who are employees of the sales firm which supplies the getaway car. Afterwards Redman turns into a jelly when Inspector Matthews comes sniffing around and Prescott subsequently disposes of him. This draws more police attention, but then everything goes crazy and the action relies too much on fortuitous coincidences. Tracey tries to light a cigarette with a piece of broken drill when being interviewed (Fair cop guvnor. You got me bang to rights!) Prescott makes a pass at secretary Sue (Eaton) and is fired by boss Miles Harrington (Drake). In retaliation Prescott frames Harrington for Redman's murder and then unbelievably returns to the sales lot to retrieve his share of the loot, despite the police presence. He drags Sue away with him to his riverside hideout but is seen by his jealous girlfriend who spitefully shops him to the law. Naturally Harrington catches up with him first. Cue big punch up until police eventually arrive and Sue collapses gratefully into the arms of her boss.

Unremarkable and very predictable . Drake does not add a lot to the proceedings. It is William Hartnell's solid performance which impresses. Tracey is implacable under police interrogation, and you almost think he will get away with it! Richard Shaw also has the unsettling appearance of a real East-end gangster and Maurice Kaufman plays his usual wavering, unreliable character. But, lots of opportunities to see lovely old British cars on traffic-free streets in pre-developed London and of course, young beautiful Shirley Eaton.