Time Lock

source: Time Lock

Moviecut—Time Lock

Economically shot on a low budget by Beaconsfield Studios this film has curiosity value for two small reasons; it was the first speaking role by Sean Connery and one of the earliest films to feature a helicopter (Bell 47 CF-AKL). Interestingly one of the stars of the film (Robert Beatty) also shared a plot featuring a later version of the same helicopter type in the film "Where Eagles Dare". It is a mildly atmospheric B movie which due to it's venerable age (it reaches it's half centenary in 2007) provides an interesting and nostalgic look at Canadian/British class values and aside from the aforementioned flying object is refreshingly free of UFO's, little green men or giant spiders as was the fashion in 1950 b-movies.

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!

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.

I remember seeing this film on TV when I was a teenager. I have just seen it again 20 years on and like me it has aged. As one reviewer says the characters are a microcosm of society and it is a world I wouldn't want to live in. The cop, the expert, the bank manager are unbelievably rude, bullying, and cruelly insensitive. The acting is poor and hardly credible. Even Sean Connery chews his dialogue (on this showing it seems a marvel that he reinvented himself as James Bond only four years later). The boy is as wooden as a barn door with his repeated "Yes, Daddy." He even grins at the camera at one point. Surely they could have found someone of Dean Stockwell's or Pamela Franklin's abilities. The parents are predictably bland, the mother plays the hysterical part as usual. Beatty is OK as the main star and dominates as he should but his bullying of the volunteers is over the top and uncalled for. Someone ought to have given him a bloody nose after all the fuss was over. As for the bank manager his forelock was hanging down more or less from the start. The situation was promising and there is no doubt that the film is exciting, especially the use of statistics to heighten the tension. Unfortunately the performances let it down and the dialogue is at times laughable (perhaps the future "Carry On" director was getting some practice in). Also it doesn't seem credible that when the radio man said he wanted to put the story on the news that it didn't occur to the cop or the bank manager to tell him to use the stations to locate the expert. Instead this idea came from the journalist about three minutes later. Again the cop calculates the car journey time for the expert to get to the bank when my first thought would have been to get him on a helicopter. Again someone else suggested this. The selection for the hammering is like something out of the keystone cops. When the priest turned up, I thought, who next, the one-armed bandit? Why is the film based in North America, when it was made at Beaconsfield? The time bomb plot is usually handled better and the director makes a real mess of the tension. The film has sadly dated - but it is always watchable, even allowing for the shoddy direction and acting.

Almost all the action takes place in a bank where the manager has to set a time-lock on a Friday night at 6pm that keeps the vault securely locked until 9am the following Monday. But then the accountant's wife and six-year-old son arrive. It is the boy's birthday and he has been given a torch (flash-light) as a present. Of course he wants to try it out, and the dark unlit vault is a perfect place. A car crash outside distracts the manager and he doesn't see the boy go into the vault. When he comes away from the window he doesn't check inside the vault, just locks it up. When they realise the boy must be inside, they try to unlock the vault. But can't. So they try to contact Head Office and the expert who knows about vaults. But he has already left for a fishing trip. We all know that eventually they will rescue the boy, so "spoilers" don't apply, unless someone makes a disaster movie where the the heroes fail and everyone dies? Na. It is hard to recognise Sean Connery at age 27. Good acting, good story, not very demanding, so I liked it.

Hilariously stilted would-be thriller where a six year old boy spends an hour locked inside an impenetrable vault. The bank staff are concerned about the dead air inside, but the real problem is dead air outside, with flat lines and minimal chemistry. Guessing what year Time Lock was made is an almost impossible task... the film is so charmingly quaint that assembled crowds politely leave scenes when their time is over, and everyone addresses each other in clipped, semi-staccato tones. It's like a bygone relic of the 1940s, a time when men in their fifties could place their hands on a young child's backside without anyone batting an eyelid or thinking it inappropriate. Such impossible innocence actually comes far later than expected, it being filmed during the birth of rock and roll and on the cusp of the 1960s. Director Gerald Thomas is most famous for helming every single entry in the "Carry On" series, so possibly his skills weren't in drama. While Time Lock has a considerable charm, it's weighed down by all the unwieldy exposition and static blocking. Characters stand around uttering lines of plot advancement at one another without warmth or realistic body language and the whole thing steers towards the conclusion without any real tension. Shots of the boy inside the vault - he's unseen on screen for over forty minutes during the break-in scenes - may have added to the tension. It's arguable that his absence is to increase the sense that he may not be alive, but the end result is that you spend forty minutes watching men in trilby hats speaking to each other in an antiquated manner. It's not a bad film by any means, and is likable, but it wastes stars like Betty McDowall in nothing roles and fails to maximise its potential.

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.

Time Lock came on Channel 4 during the early hours one morning and I set the video to tape it and was pleased I did. A bank in Toronto is just closing up for the week when the accountant's small boy decides to go into the safe to try out his new flash light he had as a birthday present. Just as they are about to lock up, the staff get distracted to something outside and then lock the safe, which has been timed to open the following Monday morning, not knowing the boy is in there. Several ways are then tried to rescue him, including a loud speaker, hammers and an acetylene torch. They eventually get in the safe to rescue the boy by banging a hole at the side wall and unlock it by accessing the time lock through that hole. Luckily, the boy is OK when rescued at the end. This movie was rather enjoyable, despite its low budget. It was British made, despite the Canadian setting. The movie stars Vincent Winter (Gorgo) as the boy, Steven and a young, pre James Bond Sean Connery. The boy's parents are played by Robert Beatty and Betty McDowall. This movie is worth checking out if you get the chance, as it is rather obscure. Rating: 3 and a half stars out of 5.