Seven Days to Noon

''Seven Days to Noon'' is a 1950 British drama/thriller film directed by John and Roy Boulting. Paul Dehn and James Bernard won the Academy Award for Best Story for their work on the film.

Plot

In 1950, the British Prime Minister receives a letter from a man who says he has stolen a nuclear weapon and will destroy the centre of London next Sunday at noon, unless the British government declares that the country is going to stop making such devices. The letter is signed "Professor Willingdon", which is the name of the senior researcher at Britain's atomic weapons development facility, the Wallingford Research Centre, so, on Monday, Detective Superintendent Folland of Scotland Yard's Special Branch is charged with investigating whether the letter is a fraud or represents a genuine threat.

At the Research Centre, Folland finds that Willingdon has gone missing, as has a UR12 nuclear bomb, which is small enough and light enough for an individual to carry. He recruits Stephen Lane, Willingdon's assistant, to help with the search, and they go to Willingdon's house. Neither Lane, nor Willingdon's wife or daughter, Ann, had noticed anything unusual in the Professor's recent behavior, but troubling notes are found among his papers which, coupled with some remarks he made to the local vicar, who is the last person known to have spoken with Willingdon, indicate he had come to believe that his life's work was being used by the government for evil purposes.

On Tuesday, Willingdon, who is carrying the bomb around with him in a Gladstone bag, sees his picture in the newspaper (though it is not stated why he is wanted), so he has a barber shave off his moustache before looking for a place to stay. He rents a room from Mrs Peckett, but spooks her by pacing around his room all night. After he has left the next morning, she sees an article about the hunt for someone who is killing landladies, so she calls the police. A quick-thinking constable realises the description matches Willingdon, and a car is sent to the boardinghouse. Willingdon returns, but he sees the police car parked outside the building and is able to make a quiet getaway.

Willingdon throws away his overcoat and goes to a pawn shop to buy another one. There, he meets Goldie, an actress whose best days are behind her, and her dog, Trixie. The trio are reunited that evening when Trixie gets away from Goldie and leads her to Willingdon. They go to a pub and, when it closes for the night, Goldie invites Willingdon to her apartment, as he has no lodgings. He sleeps on her spare bed and leaves before she wakes up in the morning.

The recent unscheduled Cabinet meetings and indications of an impending mass mobilisation have not gone unnoticed by the press. By Thursday, rumours of war are circulating and there is a growing crowd outside 10 Downing Street, so the Prime Minister decides to finally make a statement over the radio. He reveals the threat and announces an evacuation of the 12 square miles around Parliament, to begin the next morning. When this is complete Army units will begin a search of central London, beginning at the edge of the evancuation area and moving toward the centre.

Goldie sees one of the increasing number of posters with Willingdon's face on it and goes to the police. When she gets home, she finds Willingdon waiting for her—the ever-intensifying search has made him nervous, so he has decided to hold Goldie hostage in her apartment, saying he will blow up the bomb prematurely if she calls for help.

The evacuation (of people, as well as important cultural artifacts) proceeds smoothly. When the systematic military search reaches Goldie's street on Saturday night, Willingdon escapes out a window. Shortly before noon on Sunday, he is found, praying in a church that was destroyed during The Blitz. Folland and Lane rush over, bringing Ann to try to talk Willingdon out of his plan. He says it is too late to change his mind, but she sees his bag across the room and calls for help. Willingdon is restrained and Lane begins to defuse the bomb. Screaming that it is "Too late", Willingdon breaks free, runs from the church, and is killed by a nervous soldier. As the clock strikes twelve, Lane finishes disarming the UR12. Goldie, who is on Westminster Bridge attempting to hitch a ride to Aldershot hears the all-clear sirens and heads for home.

Main cast

* Barry Jones as Professor John Willingdon
*Olive Sloane as Goldie Phillips
*André Morell as Superintendent Folland
*Sheila Manahan as Ann Willingdon, Professor Willingdon's daughter
*Hugh Cross as Stephen 'Steve' Lane
*Joan Hickson as Mrs Emily Georgina Peckett, a landlady
*Ronald Adam as Honorable Arthur Lytton, the Prime Minister
*Marie Ney as Mrs Willingdon, Professor Willingdon's wife
*Wyndham Goldie as Reverend Burgess, the vicar of Wallingford
*Russell Waters as Detective Davis
*Martin Boddey as General Willoughby
*Frederick Allen as Himself, a BBC
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