This film packs a lot of plot into a short running time.It goes so quickly that you tend to overlook the implausibilities and coincidences.Also travel in the 1950s was not nearly so easy or so relatively inexpensive as it is now.Russell seems to be able to arrange his trip to Panama very quickly.I would have thought that exchange restrictions were still in hand at this time so how was it that a travel agency were carrying foreign currency?Also what i don't understand is how Russell replaced all the money if he had bought another air ticket to Panama.Remember that the first one would have expired when the plane went on the Sunday.I suppose that i am being pedantic but the loose ends do seem to be tied up rather too nicely.
6 Reviews
Up the Panama Canal on a schooner ?..? Up the creek without a paddle, more like!
kalbimassey22 February 2022
Bored travel agent, William Russell dreams of the exotic locations his affluent customers frequently fly off to. Frustrated by his own dull, repetitive existence, he cunningly robs the office safe in a bid to join the jet-set and abscond to Panama with the loot.
In the kind of scenario where everything that could go wrong, does- from an irritating, motor mouthed colleague, to cancelled flights, to a stiletto heel wedged in grating- the exotic rapidly descends into chaotic. Hooking up with desperate housewife, Adrienne Corri, who initially threatens to report him to the police, but soon turns from superfine to super siren, (breaking and entering proving to be one of her lesser crimes), the unlikely, hapless couple find themselves on the run.
Circumstances conspire against the pair in grandiose fashion during this hugely improbable potboiler. Delivering a hint of situation comedy and a whiff of Brian Rix farce, The Big Chance remains surprisingly entertaining until the offbeat finale, with its fluorescent 'crime doesn't pay mantra.' ripped off from an earlier and superior Joseph Cotten noir.
The opening credits boldly announce that we are about to view A MAJOR PRODUCTION, but as we all know, it is vitally important to check out the small print informing us that this is a Rank film. Decide for yourself......You know the score.
In the kind of scenario where everything that could go wrong, does- from an irritating, motor mouthed colleague, to cancelled flights, to a stiletto heel wedged in grating- the exotic rapidly descends into chaotic. Hooking up with desperate housewife, Adrienne Corri, who initially threatens to report him to the police, but soon turns from superfine to super siren, (breaking and entering proving to be one of her lesser crimes), the unlikely, hapless couple find themselves on the run.
Circumstances conspire against the pair in grandiose fashion during this hugely improbable potboiler. Delivering a hint of situation comedy and a whiff of Brian Rix farce, The Big Chance remains surprisingly entertaining until the offbeat finale, with its fluorescent 'crime doesn't pay mantra.' ripped off from an earlier and superior Joseph Cotten noir.
The opening credits boldly announce that we are about to view A MAJOR PRODUCTION, but as we all know, it is vitally important to check out the small print informing us that this is a Rank film. Decide for yourself......You know the score.
Might This Have Been Intended As A Comedy?
boblipton8 June 2023
William Russell is a clerk at a travel agency with a dull life. He dreams of adventure and travel, but his wife awon't let him. One day, a client reschedules a trip to Panama, and his boss trusts him with the combination to the vault, so he empties the vault and takes the ticket, intending to do something different. On the way he meets Adrienne Corri, who married a rich man and now regrets.
So they start to have a series of misadventures that in the hands of a differently slanted director and a score that didn't insist on wailing trumpets might have been a very amusing comedy, as they crash a car, get lost in the fog, pursued by the police, lose their possessions.... clearly these are among the most inept runaways imaginable, but director Peter Graham Scott makes them look idiotic without making me crack a smile. As a result, a bad time was had by all, the leads and me.
So they start to have a series of misadventures that in the hands of a differently slanted director and a score that didn't insist on wailing trumpets might have been a very amusing comedy, as they crash a car, get lost in the fog, pursued by the police, lose their possessions.... clearly these are among the most inept runaways imaginable, but director Peter Graham Scott makes them look idiotic without making me crack a smile. As a result, a bad time was had by all, the leads and me.
Excellent quota-quickie
calvertfan9 June 2002
This movie manages to pack into an hour what most take two hours to do. The frustrated husband decides to make a run for it - his plan is to empty the safe he's in charge of (full of foreign currency) and smuggle it out of the country and make a new start in Panama. Except everything that can possibly go wrong DOES! He ends up on the run with a beautiful girl who is trying to flee her husband and finds himself in an awful pickle, and finally begins to realise that maybe life wasn't so bad beforehand...excellent performances all around and the first half will have you constantly on your toes, especially with the very 'Jaws'-like drumbeat (perhaps, seeing the date, this was what inspired Jaws? Hmmm)
I liked it. 9/10.
I liked it. 9/10.
Fast UK programmer!
gordonl568 August 2009
Warning: Spoilers
THE BIG CHANCE - 1957 UK
A good little 59 minute programmer from the U.K. that just rockets along at break-neck speed. William Russell is a clerk in a travel agency who dreams of far off places. He gets to see others travel the world while he is stuck at home with his dull life. He would leave his nagging wife, Penelope Bartly, if he could only afford it.
Then in the space of 24 hours everything changes. It is a long weekend and the life he has dreamed of seems to fall into place, Money, travel and a beautiful woman. First, Russell's wife leaves him, then, the contents of the company safe are left in his care for the weekend. He has access to a client's passport and ticket to Panama. It is now or never he decides and loads the cash into a briefcase. He switches out the photo in the passport for one of his own and heads for the airport.
Now things start to go wrong of course. The flight is delayed till the next day because of bad weather. Then he hooks up with stunning brunette, Adrienne Corri. Corri was taking the flight to Panama to get away from her older husband. The two start talking and Russell thinks he has found the woman of his dreams. She is not.
They head off to grab a room and things take a decided turn for the worse. Corri soon has him up to his eyeballs in fistfights, break and enters, hit and runs etc. She even dumps him on the side of the road and steals the cash. He manages to retrieve the cash and return it to the company safe before it is missed. He returns home to find the wife back and all is the same as before the weekend. His dull life and dull wife don't seem so bad after all.
This film moves along like a rabbit with a fox after it. Not bad at all for a low rent programmer and is much better than I make it sound. William Russell most will recall from the very first DOCTOR WHO series. He did the first 70 plus episodes. Miss Corri some will recall from her bit in A CLOCKWORK ORNAGE.
A good little 59 minute programmer from the U.K. that just rockets along at break-neck speed. William Russell is a clerk in a travel agency who dreams of far off places. He gets to see others travel the world while he is stuck at home with his dull life. He would leave his nagging wife, Penelope Bartly, if he could only afford it.
Then in the space of 24 hours everything changes. It is a long weekend and the life he has dreamed of seems to fall into place, Money, travel and a beautiful woman. First, Russell's wife leaves him, then, the contents of the company safe are left in his care for the weekend. He has access to a client's passport and ticket to Panama. It is now or never he decides and loads the cash into a briefcase. He switches out the photo in the passport for one of his own and heads for the airport.
Now things start to go wrong of course. The flight is delayed till the next day because of bad weather. Then he hooks up with stunning brunette, Adrienne Corri. Corri was taking the flight to Panama to get away from her older husband. The two start talking and Russell thinks he has found the woman of his dreams. She is not.
They head off to grab a room and things take a decided turn for the worse. Corri soon has him up to his eyeballs in fistfights, break and enters, hit and runs etc. She even dumps him on the side of the road and steals the cash. He manages to retrieve the cash and return it to the company safe before it is missed. He returns home to find the wife back and all is the same as before the weekend. His dull life and dull wife don't seem so bad after all.
This film moves along like a rabbit with a fox after it. Not bad at all for a low rent programmer and is much better than I make it sound. William Russell most will recall from the very first DOCTOR WHO series. He did the first 70 plus episodes. Miss Corri some will recall from her bit in A CLOCKWORK ORNAGE.
Entertaining short British film
darkdayforanime16 May 2004
This film, which usually pops up in the midnight-dawn slot on the local ABC network, like a lot of the old Rank, Gaumont British and Gainsborough films tend to do, is interesting for the performance of William Russell, better known to most as Doctor Who's Ian Chesterton, back in the days when his movie career seemed to be a going prospect. He's perfect for the role he takes in this film, as his fairly straight-jawed demeanor makes him look altogether too uncomfortable for the situations he finds himself in.
Not the greatest film in the world (nor the longest) but solidly entertaining for the timeslot it finds itself in, especially if you're an insomniac like me. :)
Not the greatest film in the world (nor the longest) but solidly entertaining for the timeslot it finds itself in, especially if you're an insomniac like me. :)
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