Date with Disaster (1957) Movie Review

Date with Disaster (1957)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Shirley Eaton in Date with Disaster (1957)

Second Hand Crime Dealer

Miles Harrington (Tom Drake) runs a second hand car dealership with Don Redman (Maurice Kaufmann) but they are very different as Miles is happy to refund money to unhappy customers whilst Don is always on the make. Don also has some criminal friends and is working with Tracey (William Hartnell) on a robbery. The business is not the only thing Mike and Don have in common as whilst Don is dating the stunning Sue Miller (Shirley Eaton) she is friendly with Miles and becoming keener on him as she realises that Don is not the good guy he was. But with the police sniffing around and Don being murdered, Miles finds himself in trouble.

Let me get straight to the point and just tell you that the most memorable thing about "Date with Disaster" is Shirley Eaton firstly because she looks absolutely stunning in this but also because she over acts many of her scenes. Now I am not an expert on Shirley Eaton's career but just a quick look at the movies she did before this and you will see they were mainly comedies and that makes sense of why her over the top reactions, be it when she dances sexily or just answers the phone, that she ends up coming over as awkward.

Beyond Shirley Eaton there is a nice performance from William Hartnell as a gangster type but for the most this is a routine and forgettable thriller where crime doesn't pay. As such we see how Don's attempts to get rich end up in disaster whilst Miles is the classic innocent guy stitched up for a crime. The minute the police walk in on him having an argument with Don you can guess that will come in to play.

What this all boils down to is that at just an hour "Date with Disaster" ends up a workman like thriller with okay writing, okay acting and okay directing but nothing about it stands out for the right reasons and a few things stand out for the wrong ones.


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