''Eight O'Clock Walk'' is a 1954 British

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

directed by

Lance Comfort Lance Comfort (11 August 1908 – 25 August 1966) was an English film director. In a career spanning over 25 years, he became one of the most prolific film directors in Britain, though he never gained critical attention and remained on the ...

and starring

Richard Attenborough Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough, (; 29 August 192324 August 2014) was an English actor, filmmaker, and entrepreneur. He was the president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and the British Academy of Film and Televisi ...

Cathy O'Donnell Cathy O'Donnell (born Ann Steely, July 6, 1923 – April 11, 1970) was an American actor who appeared in '' The Best Years of Our Lives,'' '' Ben-Hur,'' and films noir such as ''Detective Story'' and '' They Live by Night''. Early life O' ...

, Derek Farr and

Maurice Denham William Maurice Denham OBE (23 December 1909 – 24 July 2002) was an English character actor who appeared in over 100 films and television programmes in his long career. Family Denham was born on 23 December 1909 in Beckenham, Kent, the son ...

. Its plot involves a

taxi driver ''Taxi Driver'' is a 1976 American film directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Paul Schrader, and starring Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Harvey Keitel, Peter Boyle, Leonard Harris, and Albert Brooks. Set in a decaying ...

who is

tried In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, ...

for the murder of a young girl on a bomb-site. Based on a true story, ''Eight O'Clock Walk'' is an anti-capital punishment film (the title refers to the hour at which executions were traditionally carried out) that points out the danger of circumstantial evidence resulting in the death of a mistakenly accused prisoner. It is only by good fortune that the film's innocent protagonist is cleared in this case – and the message is that not everyone might be so lucky. It was shot at

Shepperton Studios Shepperton Studios is a film studio located in Shepperton, Surrey, England, with a history dating back to 1931. It is now part of the Pinewood Studios Group. During its early existence, the studio was branded as Sound City (not to be confused ...

and on location in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. The film's sets were designed by the

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the vis ...

Norman G. Arnold Norman G. Arnold (19 September 1892 – 7 December 1963) was a British art director who designed the sets for over a hundred and twenty films. Early life and World War I Arnold studied architecture, interior decoration & design. During the First ...

. It was the final film of the

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

producer

George King George King may refer to: Politics * George King (Australian politician) (1814–1894), New South Wales and Queensland politician * George King, 3rd Earl of Kingston (1771–1839), Irish nobleman and MP for County Roscommon * George Clift King (184 ...

and was distributed by British Lion.

Plot

Just-married

Tom Manning is led to an abandoned

bombsite A bombsite is the wreckage that remains after a bomb has destroyed a building or other structure. World War II bombsites After World War II many European cities remained severely damaged from bombing. London and other British cities which had ...

by an eight-year-old girl (Irene), who says that she has lost her dog. The kind-hearted Manning gives her his handkerchief to dry her tears. She then runs off, taunting Manning as an April-fool prank. He stumbles and raises a fist at her in exasperation at her behaviour; this is witnessed by Mrs Zunz, a local resident. The girl is later found murdered on the bomb-site, strangled as she sang " Oranges and Lemons" while feeding the ducks. Manning is picked up by

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...

for questioning and is later arrested and charged with murder, with circumstantial evidence including his handkerchief (found under the body of the girl), a fibre from his coat under the dead girl’s fingernail and the testimony of Mrs Zunz. A wartime pilot who suffered a head-wound, even Manning himself starts to doubt his mind, and wonders if he had suffered from a "blackout". Manning's wife, Jill, convinced he is innocent, contacts lawyers, but the defending barrister refuses to see her and her husband, because he wants to preserve an "objective view" on the case. She later wins the sympathy of the junior counsel Peter Tanner, who visits Manning in prison, believes in his protestation of innocence and makes the case his own. The trial begins at London's Old Bailey, where Tanner is opposed by his father, prosecuting counsel Geoffrey Tanner. The trial is presided over by Justice Harrington, whose wife is in the hospital undergoing a serious operation. It soon becomes evident that things are going badly for Manning. Jurors are seen expressing their belief in Manning’s guilt even before the trial was over. Irene's mother offers hearsay evidence that Manning had given the victim sweets, breaking down in tears and accusing Manning of murder. Following the testimony of prosecution witness Horace Clifford, all the evidence seems to point to Manning's guilt. During a recess Peter Tanner sees Clifford outside the courthouse, giving a sweet to a young girl. He identifies the sweet as having been the same as the sweet found on the murdered girl. When the trial resumes Tanner recalls Clifford for cross-examination, confronting him with the similarity of the sweets, and instructing a street musician to play "Oranges and Lemons" - the same song that was played when Clifford gave the sweet to the child in front of the restaurant, and the song that the child had sung to the ducks when she was murdered. Clifford breaks down, and Manning is cleared. The film ends with Tanner Senior and Tanner Junior walking away from the camera to share a drink - their camaraderie intact despite the bitter arguments that have gone before. This father and son have been able to fight fiercely and to carry out their legal responsibilities on opposite sides of the case, despite their friendship.

Cast

as Tom Manning *

as Jill Manning * Derek Farr as Peter Tanner * Ian Hunter as Geoffrey Tanner *

as Horace Clifford *

Bruce Seton Sir Bruce Lovat Seton, 11th Baronet (29 May 1909 – 28 September 1969) was a British actor and soldier. He is best remembered for his eponymous lead role in ''Fabian of the Yard''. Early life Bruce Lovat Seton was born in Simla, British Ind ...

as Detective Chief Inspector * Lily Kann as Mrs. Adeline Zunz *

Harry Welchman Harry Welchman (24 February 1886 – 3 January 1966) was an English star of musical theatre. He made several appearances in non-musical plays, but was remembered as, in the words of ''The Times'', "perhaps the most popular musical comedy hero on th ...

as Justice Harrington *

Kynaston Reeves Philip Arthur Reeves (29 May 18935 December 1971), known professionally as Kynaston Reeves, was an English character actor who appeared in numerous films and many television plays and series. Early life Reeves was born in London on 29 May 1893 ...

as Munro *

Eithne Dunne Eithne Dunne (30 October 1919 – 21 December 1988) was an Irish stage and screen actress. Career She was born in Belfast, Ireland. She first started acting in Dublin and made her first appearances at the Abbey Theatre in 1939. She remain ...

as Mrs. Evans * Cheryl Molineaux as Irene Evans *

Totti Truman Taylor Totti Truman Taylor, born Dorothy Leah Truman (7 September 1915 – 5 March 1981), was a British actress. Her mother’s 2nd husband’s surname was Taylor, and this is where her stage name came from. In 1953, she played Aunt Sally in the BBC tele ...

as Miss Ribden-White * Robert Adair as Albert Pettigrew *

Grace Arnold Grace Arnold (19 September 1894 – 26 February 1979) was an English actress. Selected filmography * ''Guilt'' (1931) * '' Men Without Honour'' (1939) - Mrs. Hardy * ''Crimes at the Dark House'' (1940) - Maid (uncredited) * ''Spare a Copper'' ...

as Mrs. Higgs * David Hannaford as Ernie Higgs * Sally Stephens as Edith Higgs * Vernon Kelso as Superintendent * Robert Sydney as Ted Lane, dispatcher *

Max Brimmell Max Brimmell (25 June 1920 in London – 17 February 1997 in Sussex) was a British actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre o ...

as Joe, displaced cabbie * Humphrey Morton as P.C. Tamplin *

Arthur Hewlett Arthur Hewlett (12 March 1907 in Southampton, Hampshire – 25 February 1997 in London) was a British actor. Hewlett made his stage debut in 1930 at Plymouth Rep, and his theatre work included the original British production of Bernard Shaw ...

as Reynolds * Philip King as Prison Doctor * Jean St. Clair as Mrs. Gurney * Enid Hewitt as Grace * Noel Dyson as Gallery Regular * Dorothy Darke as Charwoman *

Bartlett Mullins Bartlett Mullins (13 August 1904 – 15 May 1992) was a British actor. Career He is best remembered by British TV viewers as Mr Clough ''"Cloughie"'', Bob and Terry's workmate in the sitcom ''The Likely Lads''. He also appeared on episodes of ' ...

as Hargreaves * Sue Thackeray as Girl *

Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer who is best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., an ...

as Jury Member * Henry B. Longhurst as Clerk of Court * Elsie Wagstaff as Mrs Peskitt *

Patrick Jordan Albert Patrick Jordan (10 October 1923 – 10 January 2020) was a British stage, film and television actor. Biography He was born and raised in Harrow, Middlesex, the son of Margaret, a cook, and Albert Jordan, a regimental sergeant major. An ...

as Prison Guard

References

External links

* * {{Lance Comfort 1954 films 1954 drama films Films directed by Lance Comfort British drama films Films about capital punishment Films set in London Films shot in London British Lion Films films Films shot at Shepperton Studios Courtroom films 1950s English-language films British black-and-white films 1950s British films