O Seu Primeiro Crime

Steve Cochran 's investigation is never that much exciting ;his wooden acting does not help. On the other hand ,Lizabeth Scott ,one of the film noir most glamorous girls ,second only to Bacall and Grahame in this field, cast against type ,is excellent in her role of an English widow housewife (whose husband died with his weapon in his hand) .She's deeply moving ,after the visit to the morgue when she burst into tears, feeling for this mom whose child is there ,lying on cold stone; and forgetting ,even if just for a while ,that her own brat is still in jeopardy .

It echoes to Vivienne's pessimistic view of life ; it's very rare that a supporting character is given the opportunity to express such despair .French Nicole Maurey ,who worked with Robert Bresson but never really became a star in her native country , as an user has already pointed out ,plays the part which was tailor made for Scott , and she pulls it off efficiently .

Much more than Cochran's investigation , the boy's wandering in the streets of london remains credible at least till the time where all the walls are covered with posters .John Whiteley's questioning look works wonder here,even if "the weapon" does not equal previous great efforts such as Lang's "moonfleet " and the extraordinary "hunted " (which paired him with Dirk Bogarde whom he met again in a watered down version of Cronin's "the Spanish gardener").His playing always rings true ;like in "hunted" he flees from the adult world :after all , his crime would never have happened if man had not invented war; it's no coincidence if his mates choose to play war to grab the famous weapon.

There are plot holes (mainly concerning the villain)but there's never a dull moment in this short thriller.Besides,there's a welcome sense of humor : the brat asleep under a pile of newspapers on which his photograph hits the headlines.

While playing, Erik (Jon Whiteley) finds a gun at a bomb site and accidentally shoots a friend. He immediately runs away.

Once ballistics are compared, the police learn it was used in an unsolved murder ten years earlier.

Since the victim was in the army, a hard-nosed MP (Steve Cochran) becomes involved in the case. He has no interest in finding the boy, just the gun.

His attitude changes when he meets Erik's distraught mother Elsa (Lisabeth Scott).

Just one problem. The murderer knows Erik has the gun and is looking for him as well.

Holes the size of Buicks in this one. First of all, what a bunch of lousy shots. During a relentless shootout, no one is even grazed.

Cochran is beaten in the head, and it really looks as though his head is being bashed in. However, it is only a "small concussion" and he's back to work with nothing wrong the next minute.

Also, Erik, with his face on page 1 of the paper and his face plastered on every building, races around town with ease.

Cast against type, Lizabeth Scott delivers a heartfelt performance, and George Cole is an effective villain. The handsome Cochran is able to show some softness, where he is usually a tough guy.

Okay B movie. The actors deserved better.

THE WEAPON is an unusually-plotted British crime film in which the bombed-out ruins of a post-war London play a large part in the proceedings. The tale is about a group of street urchins playing in said ruins who discover a loaded gun. One of them accidentally shoots a friend and goes on the run, which is when the plot kicks in for real.

The main problem with this film is the unbelievability of the plot. The villain character seems shoehorned into the storyline and never would have been in danger from the police had he simply kept out of things. In addition, the kid who goes on the run would have been out of danger had he simply handed himself in to the police early on. Thus credibility is strained throughout and the film sometimes feel mildly ridiculous as the plot plays out.

The further shoehorning into the story of an American military figure to act as detective is a blatant attempt to get an American lead into the thing, although Steve Cochran is saddled with a very dull character. The inexplicably American mother, Lizabeth Scott, is much better and somebody you end up warming to as the story progresses. George Cole is cast against type and should have stuck to the mild comedy he was far more convincing in. It was a pleasure to see old-timer Herbert Marshall (FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT) in support but he only appears in a couple of scenes.

The main actor is former Oscar winner Jon Whiteley as the precocious child who causes so much trouble. I quite liked him although others may find him a bit irritating. Whiteley has nowadays forgotten about his early acting career and become a museum curator. The exemplary direction is by Val Guest, who brings an atmospheric London to life, teeming with the working class, and the locations have never looked so authentic and lived-in.

The most interesting thing about this Val Guest directed thriller is its use of actual London locations, something of a rarity at the time, and which gives it that touch of realism missing in the script. Overall, "The Weapon" isn't a bad little B-Movie, about a boy, (Jon Whiteley, Britain's favourite child star until Haley Mills came along), who finds a gun in some ruins and accidently shoots another boy with it. Of course that means young Whitely takes off while said gun had been used in a murder ten years before and it's up to Steve Cochran, Herbert Marshall and seemingly not very concerned mother Lizabeth Scott to find the boy before the killer does as well as catch the killer at the same time. It's a decent enough plot and Guest handles it more than competently. Unfortunately the performances let it down making this more of a guilty pleasure rather than a contender but it's still a pleasure and worth seeing.

Some children are playing in one of the old bombed out sites around London when 10-year old John Whiteley discovers a gun. The other children want to see it, but he holds onto it, and shoots another of the children. Terrified, he runs away. Soon, Scotland Yard inspector Herbert Marshall has called in US Army officer Steve Cochran to see if this has anything to do with a war time murder. Whiteley's mother, Lizabeth Scott, is worried. So is the man who used to gun to kill a man.

It's a nicely timed story that gradually grows in speed and tension under the direction of directors Val Guest and Hal E. Chester. Never more than a programmer, it offers a nice portrait of a youngster who thinks that he is in a lot of trouble.