Date with Disaster

Even a cast that includes William Hartnell and Shirley Eaton (before fame came a-calling with Doctor Who and Goldfinger, respectively) cannot elevate this British crime flick from the status of 1950s potboiler. Hollywood import Tom Drake (Judy Garland's beau in classic musical Meet Me in St Louis) is the nominal star here, as the boss of a second-hand car dealership who's fitted up to take the fall by a trio of quarrelsome crooks. Drake looks decidedly uncomfortable whenever he's on screen (which isn't too often) so it's left to Hartnell (as a wily safecracker) and Eaton (as a vivacious secretary) to light up the by-the-numbers plot.