I saw this film earlier on TV never having seen it or heard of it before..
Although the story of a group of militants causing mayhem and fear in British industry is more reminiscent of an episode of The Avengers (where instead of MI5 the protagonists would be pursued by John Steed and Emma Peel), there are some quite interesting things that surprised me.
Although WW2 had only finished just six years prior to this films release, the film depicts to dark forces trying to radicalise some sections of the British workforce into doing acts of sabotage to further their political infuence. The film may not state communist Russia by name by it strongly alludes to it.
The other interesting concept in the script is that the integrity of a fictional MP is questioned. In 1951 that must have been quite a bold thing to do in a British film. Accusing a member of Parliament of being anything but loyal to the UK must have broken new ground. So while the story itself may now look a little dated, there is something quite brave in the message. In some ways this film almost pre-empts McCarthyism but with a British twist. The film does try to put it in context of the working class struggle after all they had done to help the country in the war, and the film does also try and distance the workers unions from the trouble, but it also seems to be flagging the dangers of the influence of subversive foreign powers on British politics and life.
Anyway I certainly found it an interesting watch and quite unusual for its time. IT was also fun to see a youngish Geoffrey Keen amongst the cast (thirty years before he took over from Bernard Lee as 007's boss).
Although the story of a group of militants causing mayhem and fear in British industry is more reminiscent of an episode of The Avengers (where instead of MI5 the protagonists would be pursued by John Steed and Emma Peel), there are some quite interesting things that surprised me.
Although WW2 had only finished just six years prior to this films release, the film depicts to dark forces trying to radicalise some sections of the British workforce into doing acts of sabotage to further their political infuence. The film may not state communist Russia by name by it strongly alludes to it.
The other interesting concept in the script is that the integrity of a fictional MP is questioned. In 1951 that must have been quite a bold thing to do in a British film. Accusing a member of Parliament of being anything but loyal to the UK must have broken new ground. So while the story itself may now look a little dated, there is something quite brave in the message. In some ways this film almost pre-empts McCarthyism but with a British twist. The film does try to put it in context of the working class struggle after all they had done to help the country in the war, and the film does also try and distance the workers unions from the trouble, but it also seems to be flagging the dangers of the influence of subversive foreign powers on British politics and life.
Anyway I certainly found it an interesting watch and quite unusual for its time. IT was also fun to see a youngish Geoffrey Keen amongst the cast (thirty years before he took over from Bernard Lee as 007's boss).