A Killer Walks (1952) User Reviews

Tries for Creepy, Comes Out Muted

[boblipton · 5/10 · 23 October 2017]

Didn't anyone in the movies notice how marginally sane Laurence Harvey was in many of his roles? He certainly is here, where he and his brother, Trader Faulkner, work on the farm of their grandmother, Ethel Edwards, who never seems to realize what a tyrant she is. Faulkner is happy enough, but he is, to put it kindly, not too bright. Harvey, however, wants so much more, especially mercenary town girl Susan Shaw, so he decides that if he kills Granny with a knife and frames Faulkner, he'll be happy.

One-time screenwriter and director Ronald Drake seems to have the visuals well covered by his more experienced collaborators, but the actors don't seem up to snuff. I guess Drake knew he had to tone down the histrionics in the translation from stage to screen and muted them too far.

Another family with its ups and downs.

[mark.waltz · 5/10 · 22 May 2019]

A very young Laurence Harvey gives a mesmerizing performance in this mediocre melodrama about two brothers raised by a domineering grandmother, one of whom is truly beloved by her and the other one who becomes a psychopathic killer. Guess who is the killer.

Probably too violent for early British television, this crime drama, less than an hour long, is amazing in its psychological undertones but sadly needs more detail. Trader Faulkner is the other brother who, seemingly half-witted and gentle, is protected, while grandmother Ethel Edwards is seemingly always suspicious of his brother Harvey. For that, someone in the family pays, especially after grandma Edwards rejects Harvey's choice of a bride, Susan Shaw.

There could have been another 15 minutes to this cheaply made film that would have padded out the film with necessary detail about the family's history and what led to the violent twist that happens.it is not one of the better British psychological melodramas that I have seen, and they made some that are simply magnificent. Still, Harvey is a star in the making, so this is an interesting look at a great screen actor before his time.

The young and evil Lawrence Harvey

[searchanddestroy-1 · 31 March 2013]

Another little gem from the other side of the Channel.

I don't know the director, nor the actors, except of course Lawrence Harvey, at the beginning of his career. A little suspense not bad at all that takes place in the British country side. Very well photographed and acted, this feature shows us a Lawrence Harvey giving here a rather brilliant performance, if you consider how tiny this production is. Only 54 minutes. A taut little crime flick about murder, as you can guess. I won't spoil this movie any further, but if you can get it, don't miss this one. And keep in mind that there are hundreds like this one still "sleeping" in some vaults, somewhere.

British "farm" noir

[Mbakkel2 · 9/10 · 26 September 2015]

The story of a good and a bad brother has long traditions in Western culture, ever since the story of Kain and Abel in the Bible.

Ned is the bad brother and Frankie is the good brother. They both live with their grandma on a farm.

Ned despises working as a farm laborer, while Frankie loves it. We mostly see Ned with a suit and tie, thus alienating himself from his brother, who we mostly see with an open shirt.

Ned has got a girlfriend from the city. She does not like a life on a farm either and dreams of having her own hair saloon.

A premise about a city femme fatal destroying the soul of a "decent" farmer was used in F.W. Murnaus silent 1927 masterpiece, "Sunrise". Ned is not decent.

Frankie is an somnambulist, and one night he shot a bull to death with his gun.

This gives Ned a diabolical idea: What about killing their granny with a knife and accuse Frankie for it. He will thus be the owner of the farm and buy a hair saloon to his beloved lady.

I have previously seen Harvey in "A Room at the Top", and I see that persona in the Ned character too.

He was really a gifted actor. His speech about "old People and death" is frightening.

He shows so much evil with his facial gestures that you get an uncanny feeling inside you.

The scene, in which he carries a knife to kill his grandma, is uncannily filmed.

Many scenes take place in the evening or at night.

I recommend this one for all lovers of British high quality crime films.

Two brothers at a loss for their predicaments

[clanciai · 8/10 · 13 April 2020]

This is a complicated drama of relationships, where the knot of complications is Laurence Harvey, who is compelled to endure a life he hates, confined to a farm where he has to live with his younger brother, a helpless somnambulist, and their grandmother, who only reads the Bible. Laurence has a girl friend who is not tolerated by the grandmother, who commands Laurence to send her back to where she came from, while he insists on going out to party with her in a pub. A doctor is involved who has a taste for whisky, a good friend of the grandmother, and it is ultimately he who resolves the knot of complications. It's a tense and terse drama with rather abrupt scenes, but the psychology is very interesting and engaging, especially as the tragedy of the younger brother's helplessness in his somnambulism grows in importance to outweigh the elder brother's frustrations - who is more tragic? More could have been done of such a drama, as it is it is cut short in less than an hour, while for instance John Schlesinger could have made something great of it. As it is, it is no more than something of a sketched documentary, but with vibrant life and great acting.