Two cockney criminals (Tommy Godfrey and George Sweeney) break into an office to break into the safe, but this isn't a blag from the Sweeney, this is a promotional film from the General Post Office for it's fancy new Number 23 teleprinter! George becomes obsessed with the machine while his old man works on the safe and helpfully reads out from the manual all of the swish new features. This is great fun, how a promotional film should be done. I certainly want to buy a 23 after seeing this, though i guess eBay will be required these days...
This is a rather difficult film to categorise. It was made as a promotional film for a new town called Cumbernauld in the 1970s but instead of a fairly standard set of promotional images (often narrated by someone famous, see below) somehow the decision was made to do it as a spoof spy or action film.
It stars Fenella Fielding as Liana, the evil mastermind behind a plot to take over the town using mysterious weapons including little boxes which turn to be a bio-weapon with which she holds the town to ransom. Local journalist Valerie Fyfer is trying to work out how to stop her and her evil plot.
Its all very strange, sometimes very very strange and Fenella is wonderful camping it up throughout. Little of the film makes much sense and is more like a vaguely linked series of weird and humorous vignettes (which of course are designed to show off the town, it's people and what goes on there - expect plenty of 70s architecture, which personally I love).
Its nonsense and it makes the film so wonderful. If it was any good at promoting Cumbernauld though is another question. In it's own little way it is epic, almost as good as a certain other British town promotional film from the 1970s...
