Eight O'Clock Walk

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.

A melodrama that looks at the legal system that suddenly adds dashes of Perry Mason into the mix. Richard Attenborough plays a local friendly cabbie who gets trick or treated by a gang of kids early in the morning. He goes after them more in jest and later helps one of the girl's looking for her lost doll in the streets of post war London which still was littered with bomb sites

When the young girl is found dead Attenborough turns out to be the wrong man in the wrong place but all the evidence, circumstantial it might be points to him being the murderer. Of course we know it's not him as we see a man in a bowler hat shown in silhouette who approached he girl after Attenborough left the girl and this shadowy man pops up later on. It really wants you to shout out 'its that man again' every time you see him

Attenborough's wife has a hard time to get a criminal solicitor who believes in his innocent, only later a dogged barrister reluctantly turns detective in order to unmask the real culprit

The film has a very realistic location setting of the post war London with kids running about on their own. Even the reluctance of the lawyers to take the case on was very much on the mark. The latter part of the film based on some random circumstances allowing the Barrister to think it the murderer is someone else and nearby is rather convenient but the film just about gets away with it.

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.

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).

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.