Booby Trap

A prequel to the James Bond series (played for laughs as Wilfred Burns gallumphing score keeps reminding us) in which a boffin absent-mindedly leaves the exploding fountain pen he's currently working on in a taxi and spends the rest of the film trying to recover it in a cynically observed fifties London rife with dope peddlers, mercenary blondes, 'blind' beggars that can see and sundry other lowlifes.

As the other reviewer on this site has noted, BOOBY TRAP has a rather flimsy premise for a movie. After an interesting, scientific jargon-heavy introduction, we follow an eccentric scientist who's created a bomb inside a pen. Unfortunately, he loses the pen, and the police must then hunt it down before it explodes.

The thriller-ish premise is an excuse to reveal some of the murkier sides of modern life in a film that is both short and snappy. We're introduced to a cast of ne'er-do-wells and those trying to lift themselves out of the gutter, while all the time mild crime and thriller elements play out. Incredibly, this movie was based on a novel, so we can only imagine what that was like.

The cast is rather undistinguished, excluding comedy actor Harry Fowler who brings charm to his role. Director Henry Cass made a number of genre films from the era, some good (BLOOD OF THE VAMPIRE) and some bad (THE HAND). This falls into the middle somewhere.

Tony Quinn has invented a bomb that fits inside a fountain pen, and for purposes of the plot, has devised it so that when the cap is off, the sound of Big Ben tolling the hour will set it off. Then he has lost the suitcase containing it. Henry Fowler and Patti Morgan have found the case and pawned it. Quinn tracks them down and offers them thirty pounds for its return.

That's the start, and of course, it becomes much more complicated, involving Sidney Tafler. He owns the club Fowler and Miss Morgan work at, and it soon becomes clear that he's engaged in some shady operations. While the first three run around trying to find the missing pen, Tafler becomes suspicious of what they are up to, and marshals his forces against them.

It's a slow-moving thriller; no one is particularly admirable or terribly interesting, and director Henry Cass seems more interested in making this rather complicated plot come out neatly in seventy minutes than in filling in the details interestingly, although Fowler shows a terror of bells that, with a more interesting performer, might be amusing. The result is a workmanlike second feature.

Tony Quinn is "Prof. Hasdane" - a genius boffin who has adapted a pen so it can act as a devastating bomb. He is also, however, your archetypal absent-minded professor and when he accidentally leaves his case in the back of a taxi he must hastily track it down. This investigation exposes the rather naive academic to some of London's less scrupulous population who are all too keen to take the old chap for a ride - physically and metaphorically. There is something he is especially worried about - this pen has a trigger. If it hears bells then... boom! Harry Fowler ("Sammy") and Sydney Tafler ("Hunter") contribute well enough, but simply - this story is far too thin for seventy minutes and once the joke has recycled itself for the fifth time I just wanted the pen - wherever it was and whoever had it - to explode. Quinn's efforts reminded me a little of Alastair Sim, but without the quirky and engaging facial expressions. It's a fun concept, but the execution is basic and uninspired. Not awful, just standard 1950s afternoon cinema fayre that did it's job then, but is unremarkable now.

Booby Trap is billed under drama/thriller/suspense but unfortunately all were on very short supply throughout this little British caper. A caper is a more apt description of the proceedings. By that measure it is just a tad bit more successful but not really enough to get excited about. It involves and absent minded professor who loses a pen that has been adapted with an explosive and a slapstick type of yarn unfolds to get it back. The art direction and sets aren't particularly interesting, nor was the score. As for the performances, they're mostly fine but none really shine. As for the explosive loaded pen, I'm not going to spoil things for you but I'm sure you can guess how that ends.