This 1950s crime drama opens with a burglar opening the safe of Stone & Company; he trips the silent alarm and the police are there before he can escape. He isn't caught though; he even opens the door to them claiming to be the night-watchman and suggests it is a false alarm. In the morning when the theft is discovered Detective-Superintendent Tom Halliday is put in charge of the case along with his new sergeant, DS Ward. At first it looks as though it must be an inside job as there burglar had a key and there were only two keys in the office but none sound like the man the police spoke to. Halliday has a hunch that the thief must have experience but had not been caught so looks into similar cases looking for a link; they learn that a string of outwardly unconnected cases elsewhere in the country share one thing in common; each involved a safe made by the same company. The urgency of the case in increased when somebody is killed as the thief and his getaway driver flee another robbery. When their damaged car is found there are few clues; just a copy of The Daily Mail with what looks like the word 'Grange' written on it; it is this one clue that will take Halliday and Ward to Manchester and North Wales before they realise the identity of the man they are after.
Anybody expecting plenty of action may be a little disappointed as apart from the man being run over and the final capture of the criminals there is little in the way of action. Instead we see the police following the clues and this is the strength of the story; the way the newspaper was traced from the car to a remote area of North Wales was particularly fascinating. Jack Hawkins and John Stratton put in solid performances as Halliday and Ward; they worked well together and even injected the occasional touch of humour to the proceedings. There is some nice location work; it is clear they went to Wales rather than just filming in the countryside with a few appropriate signs added. The only real weakness was the relationship between Halliday and his son did children really talk like that in the '50s? Overall a pretty good film and well worth watching if it is on TV.
Anybody expecting plenty of action may be a little disappointed as apart from the man being run over and the final capture of the criminals there is little in the way of action. Instead we see the police following the clues and this is the strength of the story; the way the newspaper was traced from the car to a remote area of North Wales was particularly fascinating. Jack Hawkins and John Stratton put in solid performances as Halliday and Ward; they worked well together and even injected the occasional touch of humour to the proceedings. There is some nice location work; it is clear they went to Wales rather than just filming in the countryside with a few appropriate signs added. The only real weakness was the relationship between Halliday and his son did children really talk like that in the '50s? Overall a pretty good film and well worth watching if it is on TV.