A Killer Walks

A Killer Walks
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	October 1952 (1952-10) (UK)
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

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

• 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

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

1. Gifford, Denis (1 April 2016). British Film Catalogue: Two Volume Set - The Fiction Film/The Non-Fiction Film. Routledge. ISBN 9781317740636 – via Google Books.
2. "A Killer Walks". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 26 December 2024.
3. "A Killer Walks (1952)". Archived from the original on 14 January 2009.
4. "A Killer Walks". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 19 (216): 157. 1 January 1952 – via ProQuest.
5. "A Killer Walks". Kine Weekly. 2361 (426): 18. 25 September 1952 – via ProQuest.
6. "A Killer Walks". Picture Show. 60 (1562): 10. 7 March 1953 – via ProQuest.

External links

• A Killer Walks at IMDb