To avoid the heat of a sweltering summer night a 9-year-old Manhattan boy decides to sleep on the fire escape and witnesses a murder, but no one will believe him.To avoid the heat of a sweltering summer night a 9-year-old Manhattan boy decides to sleep on the fire escape and witnesses a murder, but no one will believe him.To avoid the heat of a sweltering summer night a 9-year-old Manhattan boy decides to sleep on the fire escape and witnesses a murder, but no one will believe him.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 1 win & 3 nominations total
- Murdered Seaman
- (uncredited)
- Cop Carrying Stretcher
- (uncredited)
- Police Officer
- (uncredited)
- Police Officer
- (uncredited)
- Police Officer
- (uncredited)
- Police Officer
- (uncredited)
- Observer at Scene
- (uncredited)
- Police Officer
- (uncredited)
- Stranger on Street
- (uncredited)
- Police Officer
- (uncredited)
- Detective Ross
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis film was shot in the latter part of 1947 but shelved by RKO boss Howard Hughes and released in 1949. When Bobby Driscoll got his Juvenile Oscar in 1950, he was 13 years old.
- Goofs(at around 4 mins) While running down the top flight of stairs to play with the neighbor boys, Tommy's breath is visible. His breath is visible again (at around 25 mins) while he is running to the police station, just after he runs past the canopy of 136th. This is due to shooting in the late Fall when the movie is set in the 94 degree heat of summer.
- Quotes
[last lines]
Tommy: [Tommy and his parents are in the back of a police car on the way to the police station] And that's all the truth.
Police Officer: That was some jump, son.
Tommy: Yeah, but I know one thing. I'm never gonna be a fireman. I don't like jumpin' in those nets.
Ed Woodry: I'm proud of you, Tommy. And from now on, I promise I'll believe you.
Tommy: I'm glad, Pop. And from now on, I promise I'll never make up another story.
Mary Woodry: That'll make us all happy.
Ed Woodry: I'll bet when we get down to the station, a lot of guys are going to point at me and say, "There goes Tommy Woodry's father."
[Tommy smiles and his father chuckles over a shot of his son's beaming face]
- Crazy creditsThe role of "Tommy" played by BOBBY DRISCOLL by special arrangement with WALT DISNEY
- ConnectionsFeatured in Crumb (1994)
It's a bit jarring to see Della Street as a gritty Manhattan housewife with a coarse blue-collar husband, but it's also a lot of fun and she looks terrific. Barbara Hale is still alive as I write this, amazingly, and will turn 91 in a few weeks. At the film festival, this film was introduced by someone who had telephoned Barbara Hale and asked her for her memories of making this movie. She said the movie was supposed to take place in the summer, so the actors dressed very lightly, but it was really filmed in a much colder time of year and she remembers freezing as they shot scene after scene. Could have fooled me, the movie comes across as summery and hot with lots of sweat.
Every detail fascinated me, especially of apartment life in the 1940s: tiny rooms, closet-sized bathrooms with dwarf sinks, and kitchens that looked like airplane galleys. Dark and sinister stairwells up to dingy apartments, fire escapes and alleys, cigarettes galore, and black telephones like my grandmother used to have. Every scene is richly textured, almost as if the director knew that audiences of the distant future would be watching his movie and be mesmerized by the detailed scenery, from the local police station to the pay phone at the corner drugstore.
Others have reviewed the plot and I have nothing much to add. But I will emphasize that the plot develops along paths that I would never have predicted, and the ending will rivet you to your seat. The conclusion was deeply satisfying and caused the audience to burst into whistles and applause. Hope this movie comes out on DVD quick... it's a treasure.
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- The Boy Cried Murder
- Filming locations
- New York City, New York, USA(abandoned tenements on 105th and 116th Streets)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $210,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 13 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1