A Killer Walks
| A Killer Walks | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | Ronald Drake |
| Written by | Ronald Drake |
| Based on | novel Envy My Simplicity by Rayner Barton play Gathering Storm by Gordon Glennon[1] |
| Produced by | John Ainsworth Ronald Drake |
| Starring | Laurence Harvey Trader Faulkner Susan Shaw Laurence Naismith |
| Cinematography | Jack Asher Phil Grindrod |
| Edited by | John Dunsford |
| Music by | Eric Spear |
Production company | Leontine Entertainments |
Release date |
|
Running time | 57 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
A Killer Walks is a 1952 British film noir directed and written by Ronald Drake and starring Laurence Harvey, Trader Faulkner and Susan Shaw.[2][3]
Plot
[edit]Two brothers, Ned and Frankie, live on a farm with their elderly grandmother. Ned despises being a farm labourer and falls in love a girl from the city. She does not like farm life either and dreams of having her own hair salon.
Frankie is a somnambulist and one night he kills a bull with his gun. He also has many knives. This gives Ned an idea: what if he stabs his grandmother and blames Frankie for the murder? Then he will inherit the farm and buy a hair salon for his beloved.
Cast
[edit]- Susan Shaw as Joan Gray
- Laurence Harvey as Ned Harsten
- Trader Faulkner as Frankie Harsten
- Laurence Naismith as Doctor James
- Sheila Shand Gibbs as Brenda
- Ethel Edwards as Gran Elizabeth
- Valentine Dunn as Brenda's mother
- Madge Brindley as Mrs. Ramble
- John Ainsworth as Tony
Reception
[edit]The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "An ineptly made, strenuously over-acted, melodrama of violent goings-on in the Cold Comfort Farm territory."[4]
Kine Weekly wrote: "Turgid tabloid crime melodrama, with drab farm background. ...The picture, cut-price Grand Guignol, is incredibly unsubtle, and the longer it goes on the more miserable and apparent it becomes."[5]
Picture Show wrote: "Murder drama which at times becomes somewhat luridly melodramatic."[6]
References
[edit]- ^ Gifford, Denis (1 April 2016). British Film Catalogue: Two Volume Set - The Fiction Film/The Non-Fiction Film. Routledge. ISBN 9781317740636 – via Google Books.
- ^ "A Killer Walks". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
- ^ "A Killer Walks (1952)". Archived from the original on 14 January 2009.
- ^ "A Killer Walks". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 19 (216): 157. 1 January 1952 – via ProQuest.
- ^ "A Killer Walks". Kine Weekly. 2361 (426): 18. 25 September 1952 – via ProQuest.
- ^ "A Killer Walks". Picture Show. 60 (1562): 10. 7 March 1953 – via ProQuest.