Tomorrow at Ten – 1964 | 94 mins | Thriller | B&W

Plot Synopsis

A modest second-feature thriller with a workmanlike script expertly translated by director Lance Comfort. The unexpectedly excellent cast includes dependable veteran John Gregson in the lead role, with strong support from a thrilling Robert Shaw, distinguished-looking Alec Clunes and light relief courtesy of Kenneth Cope of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) fame.

A psychotic kidnapper and blackmailer called Marlowe (Robert Shaw) disguises himself as the chauffer of widowed millionaire Anthony Chester (Alec Clunes) and abducts his young son Jonathan. After imprisoning the child in the bedroom of a remote house, Marlowe gives him a toy golly for comfort – but hidden inside the doll is time bomb. Marlowe then has the audacity to visit Chester’s mansion and demand a ransom. The police, led by the indomitable Scotland Yard Det. Inspector Parnell (John Gregson) and his dry-witted deputy Sergeant Grey (Kenneth Cope) are called in to investigate.

Parnell confronts Marlowe in the boy’s home, and the brazen blackmailer informs the police that unless he is paid a ransom and put on a flight to South America the boy’s location will remain unidentified and the golly is scheduled to explode by 10 o’clock the following morning. The afternoon becomes a verbal psychological battle of wills between Parnell and Marlowe until the interrogation is interrupted and a fight ensues between Chester and the kidnapper – and an unconscious Marlowe is subsequently rushed to hospital with a fractured skull. When Marlowe dies in hospital, the police frantically search London to locate the boy.