It's not just the law that wants him, it's his mother Lizabeth Scott, and a killer searching for a gun utilized from an unsolved murder found by young Jon Whiteley to accidentally shoot another boy during a street game in the sight of buildings being prepared to be demolished. Police investigator Mark Stevens aides Scott in trying to find her little boy, and when a mysterious man, George Cole calls them to indicate an encounter with the kid, it's obvious that he's hiding something. This leads to a hunt for Whiteley who finds out that everybody is looking for him, and he thinks he's in big trouble even though the kid he accidentally shot is going to recover. When Scott finally locates her son, she takes Cole with her, but that leads to further danger for everyone involved and a return to the site of the shooting, up into the depths of the ramshackled buildings for a showdown between Stevens and the killer.
A very intense thriller is aided by terrific London location footage obviously filmed in the surrounding area of buildings being torn down. The film keeps you gripped from the very beginning, and is certainly a warning to parents to warn their kids never to play with a gun, especially one that they found that may or may not be a toy. A disturbing element is the fact that Scott promises her son or replacement gun, as well as a twist concerning her that is never fully resolved in the conclusion. That twist was so sudden and came out of nowhere that it left me shocked, but an open-end and concerning it was perplexing. Still a very good movie, reminding me of the 1949 film "The Window" as well as other thrillers of the area that happened to be set in other construction sites or buildings to be torn down. Veteran actor Herbert Marshall is very good as the British officer involved, while French actress Nicole Maurey has a mesmerizing small role as a woman questioned who obviously suffers from grave depression, claiming that she's the walking dead and then makes a play for Stevens out of sympathy which leads to another shocking occurrence. Definitely a unique 50's thriller.
A very intense thriller is aided by terrific London location footage obviously filmed in the surrounding area of buildings being torn down. The film keeps you gripped from the very beginning, and is certainly a warning to parents to warn their kids never to play with a gun, especially one that they found that may or may not be a toy. A disturbing element is the fact that Scott promises her son or replacement gun, as well as a twist concerning her that is never fully resolved in the conclusion. That twist was so sudden and came out of nowhere that it left me shocked, but an open-end and concerning it was perplexing. Still a very good movie, reminding me of the 1949 film "The Window" as well as other thrillers of the area that happened to be set in other construction sites or buildings to be torn down. Veteran actor Herbert Marshall is very good as the British officer involved, while French actress Nicole Maurey has a mesmerizing small role as a woman questioned who obviously suffers from grave depression, claiming that she's the walking dead and then makes a play for Stevens out of sympathy which leads to another shocking occurrence. Definitely a unique 50's thriller.