MovieChat Forums > Time Bomb (1953) Discussion > Evacuation over

Evacuation over

posted 9 years ago by kennethfrankel
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One of the plot devices was that they would not let the bomber know they found the bomb, so they could scare him into admitting something. So why would they let all the people back into town? Could they make noise, or go over to take a look, and ruin the trick? When they first were talking about diverting the train, they made it look like the siding was in a remote area. Then later it seemed that it was in the middle of thousands of people and buildings. I know it was done on purpose, but why was the church bell ringing so much? I have not diffused bombs, but I would seem to want complete quiet. The bells at midnight would have made me nervous - would it ring at 1 AM and 2 AM and so on also?
Why didn't the train crew want to listen to the station master? Gee, do I really have to park the train over there and unhitch the engine? Who are you to tell me that? Why didn't the police have more people at the Portsmouth station to catch the bomber? He almost ran away. Couldn't they have several cops at the far ends in case he ran for it? Would the bomber maybe go to the town before Portsmouth to avoid any traps? After all, he did get into a fight with one of the policemen guarding the stations, and he did drop his bomb making kit.
Now I am just speculating -- why couldn't they separate the cars with the mines and spread them out so that if 1 blew up it would not set off the whole bunch? That assumes you have lots of open space which seemed to be one of the main plot devices - that in fact there was not much open space.

[–] julisa 8 years ago

My thoughts on some of your questions:
1) The saboteur was in custody when the people were let back in the town. So he would not know. Even though the public were allowed back, the train was still blocked off from the public at that time.
2) It was made clear earlier in the control room that the train was going to be abandoned in a built up area. One of the control officers ranted about why it should be left in the area where he lived
3) The church bells ringing were to warn the people that there was an emergency. Chuch bells have been used often in the past in England for such a purpose.
4) The train crew not listening was in part a plot device, but knowing human nature it's quite credible that they think he's just joking.
5) The Portsmouth Station watch was acting on a hunch. They had been waiting for a number of hours, and it was quite possible that he would not be on the train. So it could be considered there were better uses for other police.
6) It's quite credible that the bomber believe he not be suspected. He was spotted briefly at night, and there were one or two people who got off the train who could pass off as Victor Maddern doubles.
7) Spreading out the train carriages would only endanger a wider area. You saw the effect of a blast which was NOT attached to a mine. Those carriages would have to be spread very far apart indeed for a blast inside a mine to not affect the next mine.
8) The only jarring plot point for me was how the wife got through (noone could stop Charlie) and why Glenn Ford's character didn't throw her over into the blast. The only reason the script would have allowed her to get through was so they could end with a happy ending to the marriage. But based on her actions, if I was a marriage counsellor I would have told him to move on.