Eight O'Clock Walk

A great movie showing the dangers of circumstantial evidence. Being a 1954 movie, I liked seeing all the old cars. The taxi cabs are old now but they looked new in the movie. I don't understand why at least two of those cabs were missing a passenger front door! I like the Wolseley police car. I also like the piece of comedy about the lady who witnessed Tom chasing the girl. She told a lady she was looking for long pants for her husband. I'm sure she was supposed to be talking to the judge about her witnessing Tom chasing the girl, but she picked the wrong topic and talked about the long pants!

Dirty old men with sweeties stuffed into their coat pockets to secure the trust of young children seem to have been a regular feature of London life back in the law-abiding fifties.

We already know from the start that nice young Richard Attenborough isn't the guilty party, but with the recent hanging of Derek Bentley still fresh in people's minds it was a hot enough topic for the title to overtly (if archaically) refer to the fate that awaits the hero if he isn't exonerated before the conclusion.

As in 'The Angry Silence' the beleaguered Attenborough has to face the music with a sad-eyed, short-lived young actress from abroad by his side. Six years later it was Pier Angeli, on this occasion it's the waif-like Cathy O'Donnell.

By the numbers murder mystery drama starring Richard Attenborough as a London cab driver who is on trial on a murder charge accused of murdering a young girl.

The time the film was made in 1953 which meant the potential consequences of a guilty verdict was execution by hanging which adds even more suspense to a courtroom sequence and provides the title for the film as all UK executions were carried out at eight o' clock apparently.

The court scenes are quite flimsy by modern standards, hardly A Few Good Men (1988) standard!

Attenborough is good in his part as the innocent man facing a guilty verdict under a tonne of prosecution circumstantial evidence.

I can't help feel that I have seen this kind of story loads of times. It brings nothing new except the relationship between the prosecuting barrister and his son as the junior defence barrister who is trusted to defend Attenborough due to the senior defence lead being called away.

The wife of the accused (Cathy O'Donnell) plays the usual concerned damsel in distress.

An average British production from the 1950s that I only watched for Attenborough's appearance really.

Eight O'Clock Walk is a solid piece of film making. Well directed (Lance Comfort), well acted (Richard Attenborough/Cathy O'Donnell/Derek Farr/Maurice Denham/Ian Hunter) and neatly photographed (Brendan J. Stafford). Unfortunately the writing, whilst not awful at all, asks some big leaps of faith of the audience.

Plot finds Attenborough as a good guy sort who, through a series of circumstances, is accused of murdering a little girl. As the strain begins to tell on he and his loved ones, it's looking increasingly likely he could well be found guilty.

Pic trundles along to the big courtroom finale with Attenborough superbly getting more stressed with each frame. For fans of court room dramas then this delivers good viewing, the law can often be mad and it's always good to see legal eagles going at each other and to see how they deal with those called to the dock - including a child here. If you can accept the outcome, which if truth be told is never in doubt, then this adds up to being better than a time waster. 6.5/10

I'm in agreement with most other people here that this is an excellent British post-war melodrama (based on a true story). I just wanted to add that the title "Eight O'Clock Walk" refers to the time (8.00 am) when executions used to be carried out in England. It basically alludes to a condemned man's walk to the gallows (or the electric chair).