Eight O'Clock Walk (1954)

Taxicab driver Tom Banning is led to an abandoned bomb-site by an eight-year-old girl as an April-fool prank. The girl is later found murdered and Manning is picked up by Scotland Yard for ... See full summary »

Director:

Lance Comfort

Writers:

Jack Roffey (from an original story), Gordon Harboard (from an original story) (as Gordon Harbord)

Stars:

Richard Attenborough, Cathy O'Donnell, Derek Farr

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Richard Attenborough	...	Tom Manning
Cathy O'Donnell	...	Jill Manning
Derek Farr	...	Peter Tanner
Ian Hunter	...	Geoffrey Tanner, Q.C.
Maurice Denham	...	Horace Clifford
Bruce Seton	...	D.C.I.
Harry Welchman	...	Mr. Justice Harrington
Kynaston Reeves	...	Mr. Munro
Lily Kann	...	Mrs. Zunz (as Lilly Kann)
Eithne Dunne	...	Mrs. Evans
Cheryl Molineaux	...	Irene Evans
Totti Truman Taylor	...	Miss Ribden-White
Robert Adair	...	Mr. Pettigrew
Grace Arnold	...	Mrs. Higgs
David Hannaford	...	Ernie Higgs

Storyline

Taxicab driver Tom Banning is led to an abandoned bomb-site by an eight-year-old girl as an April-fool prank. The girl is later found murdered and Manning is picked up by Scotland Yard for questioning and is later arrested and charged with murder. The trial is scheduled for London's Old Bailey. Manning's wife, Jill, convinced he is innocent, fights for and wins the sympathy of Council-for-the-Defense Peter Tanner, and he is opposed at the trial by his father, prosecuting-attorney Geoffrey Tanner. The trail is presided over by Justice Harrington, whose wife is in the hospital undergoing an operation. It soon becomes evident, following the testimony of prosecution-witness Horace Clifford, that the evidence points to Manning's guilt. During a recess, Peter Tanner sees Clifford outside the courthouse, giving candy to a young girl. Farr identifies the candy as being the same brand as that found on the murdered girl. The judge's wife has died, but the trial resumes with Tanner recalling ...

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Plot Keywords:

scotland yard | cross examination | british noir | murder of a child | wrong man | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 May 1954 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Aprilmordet

Filming Locations:

British Lion Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Lion Film Corporation, British Aviation Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

Actors playing members of the jury differ in separate shots.

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Soundtracks

Oranges and Lemons
(uncredited)
Traditional
Arranged by George Melachrino

User Reviews

Dickie Attenborough on Song

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.