Event Details
In the bombed-out ruins of London, a boy accidentally causes his friend’s death and is blackmailed by a criminal into aiding a robbery. This unflinching drama marked filmmaker J. Lee Thompson’s breakthrough, showcasing a bold, gritty imagination that would later be fully realized in his harrowing Cape Fear (1962). Slapped with the adults-only X certificate on its initial release—meaning lead actor Andrew Ray wasn’t allowed to see it—the film’s most disturbing scenes of childhood peril still resonate with the same tension and terror as they did more than 70 years ago.
Academy Museum film programming generously funded by the Richard Roth Foundation.
1953 | 79 min. | UK | Black-and-White. English | Not Rated | DCP
DIRECTED BY: J. Lee Thompson
WRITTEN BY: Anne Burnaby, J. Lee Thompson
WITH: Andrew Ray, Kenneth More, Kathleen Ryan, Bernard Lee