Date with Disaster (1957)

Date with Disaster (Dir: Charles Saunders, 1957). 

A British B-movie from the era of the second feature. Notable for featuring Doctor Who and a future Bond girl among its cast, but little else. 

Date with Disaster is something of a misnomer of a title, seemingly designed to appear more sensational. With no particular date or disaster to be found, the movie concerns two partners of secondhand car dealer Highgrade Autosales, who plan a safe robbery while third partner Miles Harrington (Tom Drake) is out of town. Engaging the help of professional criminal Tracey (William Hartnell) things, as you might expect, do not go according to plan. Mixed up in the dodgy doings is Miles' girl Sue (Shirley Eaton). 

At barely 60 minutes this is a surprisingly slow moving film noir-ish crime drama. Dating from an era when British cinema was associated with realism, this is a wholly incredulous tale from beginning to end. Many of its plot devices are highly convenient and downright laughable. A highlight is an unintentionally comic Thames side punch up. 

An MGM contract player from the 1940s, Tom Drake is the nominal star here. Of more interest to most modern viewers is the supporting cast. Later to don a gilded coat in Goldfinger (Guy Hamilton, 1964), Shirley Eaton is little more than eye candy here, but is appealing nonetheless; while future Doctor Who William Hartnell projects a suitable gruffness as an ageing safe cracker. The rest of the second string cast do their best with the very slender material. 

Charles Saunders stodgy direction does little to help this B-picture rise above the expectations of a low budget support feature. Perhaps I am being overly harsh on a movie which was never destined to be a masterpiece. Its shortcomings would be forgivable if the whole thing wasn’t so dull. I wouldn’t even describe it as so bad it’s good. It is merely bad.

Ultimately Date With Disaster is a thriller without the thrills. If you have a particular interest in vintage British cinema you may find it worth a watch. Otherwise, unless you especially want to lose an hour of your life to this tosh, I would give it a miss.