The Small Back Room 1949

Sammy Rice is a British scientist in a London ‘back room’ team evaluating new weapons during the Second World War, a setting where progress is constantly hampered by bureaucracy and poor management.

Rice is disabled and in constant pain from his prosthetic foot, and he nurses a brittle self-pity that makes him doubt his worth to his girlfriend, Susan. A secretary in his department, she tolerates his temper and self-destructive streak in the hope that she can help him move past his woes, though staying away from whisky is key to keeping him on track.

Rice, who has a past background in bomb disposal, is drawn by Captain Stuart into a hush-hush assignment that probes the secrets of a new Nazi booby trap device. Progress is slow, bogged down by internal snags and the ever-shifting political climate of the section.

In the midst of this turmoil, Susan urges him to be more assertive at his job, a demand that lands heavy on him and sparks tension between them. He lashes out in a drunken rampage, smashing up his flat, and she leaves him to face the consequences alone.

Still under the influence, Rice receives a call informing him that two intact devices have been discovered on Britain’s Channel coast. On his arrival, he learns that Stuart has died while attempting to defuse the first device. Before tackling the second, Rice listens to a transcript of Stuart’s remarks from the disarming process, and in a gripping, harrowing moment he discovers that the device has two booby traps. He disarms both, a feat that restores his self-belief and his professional standing.

Rice returns to London with his reputation renewed and his confidence restored. Susan guides him toward an urgent meeting with Colonel Strang, the army officer he had previously backed during a heated dispute over an experimental artillery gun. The colonel’s stance had opposed the project, and yet the meeting culminates in Rice being offered the chance to head the Army’s own new scientific research unit, with a commission as a major. He accepts, embracing a new chapter in his life.

Back in his flat, the damage from his earlier stormy night has been repaired, and Susan awaits him, signaling a hopeful new balance between them as the story closes.