Simply A Masterpiece

How sad is this?

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Tomorrow at ten is directed by Lance Comfort. The film stars John Gregson, Robert Shaw,Alec Clunes, William Hartnell, Kenneth Cope, Piers Bishop and Alan Wheatley.A shifty criminal called Marlowe(Robert Shaw)kidnaps young Jonathan Chester(Piers Bishop)the son of a wealthy man. Marlowe takes him to an abandoned house and locks him in.Marlow has put a bomb which is set to go off the following day in a toy left with the boy. Marlowe goes to the boys father (Alec Clunes)and demands fifty thousand pounds, in exchange for the money Marlowe will take Chester to his son. If the police become involved Marlowe won't say where Jonathan is, this will mean he will be killed when the bomb explodes.Jonathan's nanny phones the police when Marlowe comes to speak to Mr. Chester. Tough police Inspector Parnell (John Gregson)is sent to deal with the situation. Parnell tries to intimidate Marlow, he want's to arrest him but is prevented from doing so by his boss (Alan Wheatley). Parnell must try and get Marlowe to reveal some information about where Jonathan is before it's too late.I've never been much of a fan of John Gregson, but he really impressed me in this, playing Parnell as a no nonsense copper who treats criminals exactly how they deserve to be treated. Robert Shaw is very good as the deranged Marlowe, he manages to steal every scene he's in with just a look.The supporting cast all deliver solid performances and there's lots of suspense. Is it believable that Mr. Chester would be allowed to be left alone with Marlowe when time was running out? Probably not, and I think that is a flaw for the film; it doesn't make this any less enjoyable though.Good performances and plenty of suspense help make this well worth a watch.

In the glorious days of the 'support' features that accompanied the main film at the local cinema,a minor gem would occasionally appear throughout the morass of routine,mediocre dramas and thrillers."Tomorrow at Ten" is one of those diamonds that came out of the rough, overcoming it's low budget and modest production values with taut direction by Lance Comfort,a decent script,an interesting,well detailed plot and a fine cast.The cool and ruthless Marlow (Robert Shaw) kidnaps the young son of a well to do widower (Alec Clunes) and leaves the boy at an isolated house with a golliwog that happens to have a time bomb inserted,and is programmed to blow up at 10am the following morning.It is left to a Police Detective (John Gregson) to see if he can break Marlow and find the boy in time.The budget and production values are inevitably modest, and the addition of a golliwog into the storyline is decidedly non-PC in this day and age,but this is easily overcome by stylish handling and plotting,with a script that quite successfully reaches unexpected depths of exposition and character,with clashes between those coppers on the ground like Gregson and those like Alan Wheatley who are seemingly more interested in social climbing.Gregson's overall performance as the by-the-book Detective is actually quite muted,and the best performance comes from Robert Shaw as the villainous kidnapper Marlowe.The film was originally made in 1962,just a year before Shaw's star making turn as Donald 'Red' Grant in the James Bond film "From Russia With Love",where he played an even more ruthless villain.Shaw was never a conventional actor,whether playing the support or lead,and he manages to add shadings and nuances to a highly disreputable character here,even making him pitiable.There's solid support from such reliable actors as Wheatley,Clunes,Kenneth Cope and Ernest Clark,with decent cameos from William Hartnell and Renee Houston as Shaw's parents,set in a gloriously seedy and anachronistic nightclub,exactly the sort you would expect to see in British second features from this era."Tomorrow at Ten" now has something of a cultish reputation thanks to it's quirky,inventive style and a story that grips to the very end;such staples of the local cinema programme have sadly long since gone, but as this film proves,every now and then,they could provide as much if not more entertainment than the main feature.

Suspenseful thriller in which Robert Shaw gets the lion's share as a kidnapper of a wealthy man's only son.The story almost entirely focuses on the villain and (it's rare ) tries to explain the reason why he did it .It's not only a matter of money as the viewer little by little discovers .The things themselves play a prominent part ,the ticking of the clocks or a jumping jack .The kidnapper is at hand ,under the police's eye ,like in more modern thrillers such as "oxygen" ;and of course there is a quarrel between the scared father and the police .The whole film is a race against the clock ,for the boy is in a house with a time bomb.

Robert Shaw kidnaps the child of a wealthy industrialist and stashes the kid in a rented house. He then just walks into the boy's family home and lays out his terms to the boy's father. 50,000 pounds in cash and no calling the police. Of course the police are called and headed by John Gregson put in a quick appearance. They are about to haul Shaw off to jail for a bit of third degree when he pulls out his ace in the hole. Shaws tells them that he has left the boy in a locked room with a time bomb. If he does not get the cash and then allowed on a flight to Rio, the boy will die. They have till ten the next morning to decide. The father loses his temper and supplies several right hands to Shaw. Shaw goes down in a heap smashing his head in on the fireplace. Of course Shaw dies without telling them where the boy is. Now how do they find the boy? It is the old race against time routine. It works though as they track down every possible clue before rescuing the boy in the nick of time. Nice cameo bit by William Hartnel as Shaw's father. Decent time-waster. (b/w)