The Weapon (film)

The Weapon is a 1956 British thriller film directed by Val Guest and starring Steve Cochran, Lizabeth Scott, Herbert Marshall, and Nicole Maurey. It was made by Republic Pictures.[1] Its themes were originally explored in the 1951 British film, The Yellow Balloon.[2]

The Weapon
Directed byVal Guest
Hal E. Chester (uncredited)
Produced byFrank Bevis
Hal E. Chester
Written byHal E. Chester
Fred Freiberger
StarringSteve Cochran
Lizabeth Scott
Herbert Marshall
Nicole Maurey
Music byJames Stevens
CinematographyReginald H. Wyer
Edited byPeter Rolfe Johnson
Production
company
Republic Pictures
Periclean Productions
Distributed byEros Films (UK)
Release date
September 1956
Running time
77 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

It was shot at Walton Studios, with sets despigned by the art director John Stoll.

Plot

Lizabeth Scott plays Elsa Jenner, widowed mother to her young son Erik. Whilst playing with friends in an abandoned and deteriorated old building, Erik finds a small handgun stuck in a lump of concrete. As all the boys try and pull it free, it accidentally fires a shot from Erik's hands, hitting another boy. Believing he has killed his friend, Erik immediately runs away.

Locating Erik becomes the mission of Captain Mark Andrews (Steve Cochran), who soon discovers the gun Erik found has a past that may have caused a dangerous criminal to pursue the young boy. As he inches closer to finding Erik, Andrews comes across Vivienne (Nicole Maurey), a dance hall hostess with a connection to the gun's original owner. But she has all but lost her faith in all things good, declaring to Andrews "I am dead".

As Andrews continues his investigation into the whereabouts of the gun, Erik's mother Elsa finally locates her son, with the assistance of helpful though relative stranger Joshua Henry. Erik had apparently stolen a bottle of milk from Henry, though Erik has no memory of this. It soon becomes clear that Henry is the one with ill intentions, prompting Elsa to demand Erik run away for help. Henry runs after the boy, leaving Elsa in the passenger side of a speeding car.

After crashing into a ditch, members of the public come to Elsa's aid. Among them is Captain Andrews, with whom she pleads not to worry about her, and save her son instead. Andrews immediately enters the old building where Henry was seen running, where shots are fired. But after both parties exhaust their weapons, a long fall to death awaits.

Cast

Critical reception

Britmovie called the film "a well-crafted, energetic suspense thriller",[2] while Leonard Maltin called it a "minor but trim story of youngster who accidentally shoots his pal and runs away."[3]

gollark: Could that go wrong?
gollark: Hook them all to one monitor & play tron on each.
gollark: (When combined with llamas with chests on them)
gollark: Is the best item transportation.
gollark: PotatOS.

See also

References
  1. "The Weapon". BFI. Archived from the original on 13 July 2012.
  2. "The Weapon".
  3. "The Weapon (1957) - Overview - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies.
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