Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Artivels Undescribable Perfection

Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

howardmorley I have awarded this film 7/10 and was surprised as a 67 year old regular viewer of films that I had not seen this long neglected title on TV before.I was given this Christmas from my wife about 12 movies of my choosing after visiting my favourite contact of rare dvds in North London.I was attracted to this title by the inclusion in the cast of actress Cathy O'Donnell who won acclaim as a newcomer acting in "The Best Years of Our Lives" (1946), playing the young fiancé then wife of a U.S.seaman (Harold Russell) who actually lost both his wrists in WW11.There is no point giving the plot again but my wife & I both thought the mother was totally naive and not a little stupid allowing her very young daughter to roam over bomb sites rather than being escorted to school.However since I was 8 in 1954 I can state there was a much more casual approach by parents to child safety then like climbing trees, playing on bomb & building sites, walking by canals and walking home from school alone.Perhaps it was the effect of living through the war.Of course the 1954 British Board of Film censors would never have allowed a certificate for a film portraying murderous, psychotic paedophilia on cinema screens.Also in my DVD collection is Graham Greene's "Brighton Rock"(1949) which shows the depth of roles Dickie Attenborough could play.Here he plays an innocent cabbie in the wrong place & time who gets accused of the little girl's murder.To solve why Cathy O'Donnell has an American accent she plays Dickie's Canadian wife in this movie.She believes in her husband and fights to get him the best legal counsel for his defence.The real killer was spotted by my wife.

kidboots Didn't seem to have anything to do with an eight o'clock walk, more like 8.50 - the time the children were out in the street playing April Fool's jokes on everyone. Little Irene Manning is no exception, waylaying local cabbie Tom Manning (Richard Attenborough, goes without saying he turns in his usual solid performance) and, tearfully telling him her dolly is lost, she leads him onto an abandoned bomb site. When she is later found dead suspicion quickly mounts against Tom as witnesses testify that he was seen shaking his fist at the little girl - but it was all in fun!!!This is a typical wrong man in the wrong place with an innocent person being caught up in damning circumstantial evidence type of film that the British do so well. American Cathy O'Donnell who had never struck me as a particularly exciting actress, really rang true with her low key demeanour as Jill, who never for one moment doubted her husband's innocence. Once the legal eagles come into it, she finds no one really cares about seeing that Tom gets a fair trial - all except junior partner Tanner (Derek Farr), who when he hears Jill's impassioned plea decides to really delve into the matter and comes to the conclusion that Tom is completely innocent.Hovering in the background is the real killer, the shadowy man in the bowler hat, so obviously a local.I was so looking forward to seeing this film again as I hadn't seen it for over 20 years (and like another reviewer am very surprised that there are only a couple of reviews) and while it was not as thrilling as I remembered it, is a dependable and solid story. Nice to see an older and even more stiff upper lip (if that's possible) Ian Hunter as Tanner Snr. ,who is the prosecuting lawyer, also nice "slices of life" of the jury members and various women witnesses trying to keep their kids in line while waiting for their turn on the bench.

malcolmgsw At the time that this film was made there was a fierce debate about capital punishment.In the early fifties Timothy Evans was wrongly hung for murders committed by Christie.Then Derek Bentley was hung for a murder he did not commit,merely present when the actual murderer fired the weapon.The actual murderer went to jail as he was too young to hang.So this film sets up a perfect set of circumstances where an innocent man could be convicted of murder.It is only because of the theatrical contrivances that in fact Attenborough goes free.The trial in the film is fairly brief in that it appears to last a couple of days.frighteningly that is the way it was.At times it was all about "pour encourage les autres" rather than justice being seen to be done.A thoughtful film with sincere performances.

Jem Odewahn What I shame that I appear to be one of the few people out there (well, at least on IMDb) that have seen this very credible little film. I viewed it on a VHS double bill with another Richard Attenborough film, the better known "Brighton Rock", and found it well worth the time. Attenborough find himself accused and on trial for the murder of a little girl. He is innocent, but all circumstantial evidence points against him. Only his sweet, devoted wife Cathy O'Donnell and his stand-in lawyer, Derek Farr, are willing to believe him.I thought that this film captured the trial scenes particularly well, and they feel real. Richard Attenborough, a fine choice for the role, does well in conveying his character's fear and confusion at a situation he never expected to happen. The murder of children was not a subject touched very often in American films in those days, and this must be one of the first post-"M" (Fritz Lang's brilliant, groundbreaking German film with Peter Lorre as the whistling pedophile)films to deal with the subject. The film is neatly directed and edited, and it really is worth checking out. Hopefully this won't be the only comment that this film ever receives!