Dennis O’Keefe’s character in this obscure film may seem familiar. His excellent performance in the gritty T-Men seven years before was a much tougher portrayal of a U.S Treasury agent, however. Perhaps that role gave him the insight to write this film’s story as well as share in directorial duties. This eighty-three-minute film was produced by Gibraltar Productions and released through United Artists. The film is another procedural account of the Treasury trying to track down who is profiteering from the sale of synthetic diamonds. The film was Britain's first in 3D. Unfortunately, moviegoers really never got their 3D money’s worth with limited opportunities to use the process. This B-movie has humor and competent performances in a routine investigation. It is nonetheless an entertaining effort. Hang on for a worthwhile, explosive ending.
There is very little to fault here from an acting standpoint. O'Keefe again displays his ability to be a real charmer. Especially when it comes to a stewardess, Margaret Sheridan, whom he has met on previous flights. It is not hard to imagine that his character would be fun to be around or that he rarely has a totally bad day. He is always trying to lighten the moment with a quip. Or persistently trying to get a date. A running gag concerns chewing gum. He is trying to quit smoking and has taken up gum to quell his habit. If he is offered a cigarette, he catches himself and reaches into his pocket for the gum instead. Ironic, in that O'Keefe was a chain smoker from an early age. And it shortened his life.
O’Keefe travels to London and teams with Philip Friend, a British detective with Scotland Yard. They hit it off right out of the arrival gate. They are always on the same page, each having an eye on Sheridan. She transferred to a London hub to be with her father, a renowned atomic scientist, busy making synthetic diamonds for industrial research into the medical and military fields. The spooky mountaintop castle appears to be a rental from Victor Frankenstein. The process is a dangerous mix of towering flames, giant dials, lights, and switches. These laboratory scenes are in stark contrast to the mundane search by O’Keefe and Friend. A few abrupt edits back and forth between the scenes can be jolting or irritating. O’Keefe’s accumulating evidence suggests the scientist’s integrity may be in doubt. Sheridan refuses to believe it.
Note: A couple of scenes to mention. One, reminiscent of The French Connection (1971), O'Keefe is at the top of an escalator, returning fire at a criminal holding a drawstring bag full of fake diamonds. Mortally wounded, the thief first falls backward, but the escalator slowly brings him back to the top as the diamonds spill out of his bag and roll to O’Keefe’s feet. Another is the filming of a ship's funnel as her steam whistle blows. Clever if not original, the camera then pans backward to reveal simply a model on the bridge of the real ship they are on.
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