Andrew Ray (Frankie), Kathleen Ryan (Em), Kenneth More (Ted), Bernard Lee (Constable Chapman), Stephen Fenemore (Ron), William Sylvester (Len), Marjorie Rhodes (Mrs Stokes), Peter Jones (spiv), Elliot Makeham (pawnbroker), Sidney James (barrow boy), Veronica Hurst (Sunday school teacher), Sandra Dorne (Iris), Campbell Singer (Potter), Laurie Main (bibulous customer), Hy Hazell (Mary).
Directed by J. LEE THOMPSON. Screenplay by Anne Burnaby and J. Lee Thompson. Original story: Anne Burnaby. Director of photography: Gilbert Taylor. Art director: Robert Jones. Film editor: Richard Best. Music: Philip Green. Produced by Victor Skutezky.
A Marble Arch Production. Released through Allied Artists: 4 October 1953. U.K. release: 20 April 1953. Australian release through 20th Century-Fox: 24 June 1954. 6,777 feet. 75 minutes.
COMMENT: A young boy is killed while at play with his friend in a bombed-out house. This potentially dramatic situation is treated here as a dime-store melodrama.
It's impossible to believe in the character played by Sylvester who arrives so providentially on the site (what he was doing there, the script never bothers to explain), but the picaresque structure of the yarn enables a number of excellent performers (including Bernard Lee's policeman, Sid James' barrow-man — and Brenda DaBanzie as his customer — and Hy Hazell's good Samaritan) the opportunity to do their stuff.
The director has also made marvelously atmospheric use of the script's natural backgrounds.
Production values rate as first-rate, with Gilbert Taylor's cinematography deserving a special pat on the back.
Directed by J. LEE THOMPSON. Screenplay by Anne Burnaby and J. Lee Thompson. Original story: Anne Burnaby. Director of photography: Gilbert Taylor. Art director: Robert Jones. Film editor: Richard Best. Music: Philip Green. Produced by Victor Skutezky.
A Marble Arch Production. Released through Allied Artists: 4 October 1953. U.K. release: 20 April 1953. Australian release through 20th Century-Fox: 24 June 1954. 6,777 feet. 75 minutes.
COMMENT: A young boy is killed while at play with his friend in a bombed-out house. This potentially dramatic situation is treated here as a dime-store melodrama.
It's impossible to believe in the character played by Sylvester who arrives so providentially on the site (what he was doing there, the script never bothers to explain), but the picaresque structure of the yarn enables a number of excellent performers (including Bernard Lee's policeman, Sid James' barrow-man — and Brenda DaBanzie as his customer — and Hy Hazell's good Samaritan) the opportunity to do their stuff.
The director has also made marvelously atmospheric use of the script's natural backgrounds.
Production values rate as first-rate, with Gilbert Taylor's cinematography deserving a special pat on the back.