Port of Escape

There are some good actors in this, and the setting is interesting, especially for those of us who know the East of London nowadays. Joan Hickson puts in a great cameo, and Bill Kerr is convincingly twitchy. However, this really is not a very good film.

Apart from the lack of tension, the very predictable playing out of the plot to its obvious ending, and the various very illogical decisions that practically every character makes, two particular problems stand out.

The most important is the not very impressive insight into female psychology. Would Googie fall in love with McCallum on the spot, just like that? Can Stockholm syndrome really set in after a couple of hours? Particularly as McCallum's character is pretty charmless, even as he thumps home his message that he is sacrificing all to get Bill Kerr back to Michigan.

And secondly, this is supposed to be a houseboat, yet appears to be the size of a decent suburban villa in Metroland. And furnished in more or less the same fashion. Three cabins and a spare one in case hostage-takers drop in. A giant living room containing the only grand piano ever on a Thames houseboat. And a galley that could host a cookery programme, complete with camera crew and audience. All with 15 foot high ceilings. This isn't a houseboat, it's a superyacht.