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American tourist in England Simon Wells (Macdonald Carey) has gotten in a kerfuffle with a gang of thugs, so much so that he saw it necessary to take flight by boat - with Joan (Shirley Anne Field), sister of gangleader King (Oliver Reed) as his unlikely shipmate, with her being desparate to escape her brother. This only drives King wild though and he's now hell-bent on hunting them down - which leads to a finale at some cliffs where Wells, Joan and King all go over and probably would have drowned before long if they weren't saved by a bunch of kids. The kids, all 11 years of age, are a strange bunch though, their skin is ice cold, they claim to have no parents and are brought up at a nearby facility where they have no direct contact to other humans but receive their education via video screens - and it soon becomes clear that they are part of a secret gouvernment experiment led by mysterious Bernard (Alexander Knox), who claims to be their benefactor. Wells, Joan and King bury their hatchet to help the children escape - an escape that's unfortunately short-lived as the kids are all highly radioactive, and being in their presence alone kills Wells, Joan and King before long, with all the kids quickly collected again and all other witnesses to the goings-on shot dead.

Now one can't deny how great the film looks. It's expert camerawork get the most out of the beautiful location, its direction is aesthetically flawless, and a subplot about a sculptor (Viveca Lindfors) allows for the inclusion of many an unusual artwork by Elisabeth Frink - all of which really defies the film's moderate budget. On top of that, the film profits from some very poignant dialogue - and yet the whole thing is somewhat let down by its rather silly Cold War propaganda plot that pretends to make much more sense than it actually does. Now seen from today's perspective that's endearing as well, as a sort of time capsule, and I won't deny the film is entertaining enough as it is, one would just wish a movie as good looking as this one would have been graced with a better plot.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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