Save your money for something good and enjoyable

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

This is a simple story of a boy who finds himself trapped in the vault at the bank where his father works and the race to get him out alive. It's Friday and the Bank is getting ready to close for the weekend. Stephen Walker (Winter) has just turned six and as a treat, his mom, Lucille (McDowall), takes him to meet his father, Colin (Patterson), out of work. His dad just has to close up the vault and then they can go and celebrate. However, while Colin and his boss, George Foster (Gifford), lock up the vault there's an automobile accident just outside the window, which takes their attention away for a couple of seconds. When they finally close the door and the time lock kicks in it's the teller, Evelyn (Francis), who alerts them to the child's predicament... now the race is on...What I really liked about this was the simplicity of both the story and the location. You get a few outside shots, which only take up a couple of minutes, at most, and then the rest of the movie is set in two rooms. Though you never really notice as the Director, Thomas, keeps you involved in the unfolding story. As time passes, the question, "Will they be quick enough?" becomes more and more imperative... while the outlook grows bleaker and bleaker. Thomas uses the limited space well, moving the camera around to its best advantage.Then there's the acting, which is above par. Every person involved in rescuing the boy has an urgency in their voice and in their movements. Robert Beatty really sells the self-assured and strong-minded Pete Dawson, the mind who is responsible for the banks' security. He is quick with a plan and quicker to rally the troops. Whereas, Gifford as the Bank Manager Foster hits all the right notes in portraying a man who feels accountable for the accident and the possible death of a child. One thing which got under my skin was how little the parents appeared in the film. It would have been better if these two characters had been stronger, then you would have had a near-perfect cast.I'd recommend this film to all. It's a nice way to spend an afternoon on these cold winter days, while the central heating keeps you nice and cosy.

Before he directed what seemed like thirty-five billion "Carry On" burlesques, Gerald Thomas directed this film, a simple drama about what happens when a small boy gets locked in a bank vault with a time lock set for over sixty hours -- and about ten hours' worth of air. It's from a play written by Arthur Hailey, and considering what the director would do, and Hailey's admiration of the AIRPLANE! burlesques of AIRPORT, based on his novel, it makes you wonder what a Carry On this would have made.As a straight drama, it's a pretty good, if minor picture, filled with the sort of situations and characters that would populate Hailey's big novels, the movies made from them and the Disaster Movie genre. Allen Gifford is particularly good as the bank manager who works hard to get the child out, and constantly blames himself.If I had any complaint, it is that it is too focused. Everyone is too focused, everyone is too polite. This, however, is not THE BIG CARNIVAL, nor AIRPORT nor CARRY ON, KID STUCK IN A BANK VAULT. For the story it tries to tell, it tells it well.

Generally speaking, British "B" films are far outshone by their Hollywood counterparts. But this one, produced by Peter Rogers and directed (of course) by Gerald Thomas, was based on a reasonably exciting TV script by Arthur "Airport" Hailey. It was screenplayed by Rogers himself and rates with me as one of his best. In addition to his admirably taut script, Rogers has assembled a first-rate cast led by Robert Beatty, Betty McDowall, Vincent Winter, and of course, Lee Patterson. The large variety of camera set-ups and well edited inserts divert one's attention from the cramped, hole-in-the-wall set and other limited production values. There has to be a worthwhile quota quickie in there somewhere, and Time Lock is it!

Just about everyone imaginable plays a part in this film - bank manager, accountant, doctor, anaesthetist, police inspector, police (x several), ambulance crew, bank vault specialist, welders, big guys wielding hammers, jack hammer operatives, even a helicopter pilot gets 15 seconds of fame! I guess the one 'professional' I expected to see but who didn't make an appearance was a safe-cracker. For some reason I was expecting that as the film drew to a close a guy would roll up wearing a black band eye patch and horizontally hooped shirt, carrying a bag marked 'swag', and he'd save the kids life by breaking into the uncrackable safe. But, I was slightly disappointed that this character didn't appear to save the day. A bit of a pity in that respect.I enjoyed the film nonetheless. This is a low budget movie, but these can often be better than the multi-gazillion dollar blockbuster because everything about the film is created by professionals doing their job, rather than some whizz-bang computer program producing special effects. Most of the role players in this film didn't go on to become household names, so good for them that they got their chance for 15 seconds to put their mark on a piece of cinema history.