Tomorrow at Ten
1964 film by Lance Comfort
Tomorrow at Ten is a 1963 British second feature thriller film directed by Lance Comfort and starring John Gregson, Robert Shaw and Kenneth Cope. It was written by James Kelley and Peter Miller.
Plot
A man calling himself Marlow kidnaps Jonathan Chester, the young son of wealthy industrialist Anthony Chester, and locks him in a rented house with a golliwog containing a time bomb. He then goes to see the boy's father and announces that he will only reveal his whereabouts once he has been paid £50,000 (a large sum at the time) and is safely in Brazil. The boy's nanny alerts the police and Inspector Parnell arrives to discourage Chester from paying up lest it encourages giving in to blackmailers' demands. Marlow then reveals that the time bomb will go off at 10 a.m. the next day, killing Jonathan. This is too much for Chester who attacks Marlow, causing the crook serious injuries from which he later dies, leaving the police with little time or indication as to where to find Jonathan.
Cast
John Gregson as Inspector Parnell
Robert Shaw as Marlow
Alec Clunes as Anthony Chester
Alan Wheatley as Assistant Commissioner Bewley
Kenneth Cope as Sergeant Grey
Ernest Clark as Dr Towers
Piers Bishop as Jonathan Chester
Helen Cherry as Robbie
William Hartnell as Freddie Maddox
Betty McDowall as Mrs Parnell
Harry Fowler as Smiley
Renée Houston as Masie Maddox
Alan Curtis as Inspector
Noel Howlett as brain specialist
Trevor Reid as Q Detective
Ray Smith as Briggs
Norman Coburn as desk man
Critical reception
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "By killing off the blackmailer relatively early on, this film robs itself of its principal asset, for Robert Shaw is chillingly effective in an intelligent performance which, for about twenty minutes – his methodical preparations for the crime, his scenes with the boy, his verbal duet with the Inspector – deludes one into thinking that Lance Comfort's direction is much better than it really is. Well before Robert Shaw's disappearance, however, the script begins to show signs of strain, in suggestions that Marlow will break because he has some awful mother-fixation; and with his unlikely demise, and the eleventh hour revelation, it finally snaps and becomes pure routine.
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The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 1964 film by Lance Comfort. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7820298. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1963.
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