Bond of Fear – 1956 | 66 mins | Crime, Thriller | B&W

Plot Synopsis

Well-made cat-and-mouse thriller from a story by Digby Smith and following an English family on holiday who discover a escaped killer hiding in their caravan.

Set in Birmingham, engineer John Sewell (Dermot Walsh) and his young family are heading off for a two-week caravan holiday in the South of France. Meanwhile, alleged murderer Terence Dewar (John Colicos) is on the run after escaping from the authorities and gunning down a pursuing police officer. As the family make their way to the south coast they discover Dewar hiding in their caravan; the fugitive takes the family’s son hostage and demands they drive him to the channel ferry at Dover.

The police have erected checkpoints along the route and Sewell must construct a tissue of lies to proceed whilst his son is held captive at gunpoint in the towed caravan; despite this they become saddled with an inquisitive motorcycle policeman. Once clear of the police outrider, Dewar makes the caravan pull over at the side of the road, locks Sewell in a nearby shed and drives on to Dover with the remainder of the family to catch the Calais ferry.