SpecialsTarget Disturbing yet enthralling

SparkMore n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Wyatt There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Spikeopath Eight O'Clock Walk is a solid piece of film making. Well directed (Lance Comfort), well acted (Richard Attenborough/Cathy O'Donnell/Derek Farr/Maurice Denham/Ian Hunter) and neatly photographed (Brendan J. Stafford). Unfortunately the writing, whilst not awful at all, asks some big leaps of faith of the audience. Plot finds Attenborough as a good guy sort who, through a series of circumstances, is accused of murdering a little girl. As the strain begins to tell on he and his loved ones, it's looking increasingly likely he could well be found guilty. Pic trundles along to the big courtroom finale with Attenborough superbly getting more stressed with each frame. For fans of court room dramas then this delivers good viewing, the law can often be mad and it's always good to see legal eagles going at each other and to see how they deal with those called to the dock - including a child here. If you can accept the outcome, which if truth be told is never in doubt, then this adds up to being better than a time waster. 6.5/10

Prismark10 A melodrama that looks at the legal system that suddenly adds dashes of Perry Mason into the mix. Richard Attenborough plays a local friendly cabbie who gets trick or treated by a gang of kids early in the morning. He goes after them more in jest and later helps one of the girl's looking for her lost doll in the streets of post war London which still was littered with bomb sitesWhen the young girl is found dead Attenborough turns out to be the wrong man in the wrong place but all the evidence, circumstantial it might be points to him being the murderer. Of course we know it's not him as we see a man in a bowler hat shown in silhouette who approached he girl after Attenborough left the girl and this shadowy man pops up later on. It really wants you to shout out 'its that man again' every time you see himAttenborough's wife has a hard time to get a criminal solicitor who believes in his innocent, only later a dogged barrister reluctantly turns detective in order to unmask the real culpritThe film has a very realistic location setting of the post war London with kids running about on their own. Even the reluctance of the lawyers to take the case on was very much on the mark. The latter part of the film based on some random circumstances allowing the Barrister to think it the murderer is someone else and nearby is rather convenient but the film just about gets away with it.

writers_reign This is something of a mish-mosh all round, not least with a title that leads a potential audience to believe it is about a condemned man waiting to take the eight o'clock walk to the gallows and whilst it is true that the protagonist is accused of and stands trial for murder he is in fact acquitted. Director Lance Comfort made a handful of interesting films like Hatter's Castle, Bedelia and such but laid a colossal egg when entrusted with Portrait of Clare and was somewhat persona non grata ever afterward, mostly making do with TV fodder and the odd title like this one. For some reason Dickie Attenborough had a penchant for importing US actresses to appear opposite him; in The Angry Silence it was Pier Angeli and here it is Cathy O'Donnell. In fact the cast is one of the most interesting aspects of this with appearances by Kynaston Reeves, Victor Maddern etc plus in-vogue Derek Farr improbably unmasking the real killer a la Perry Mason. Worth a look as a curio.

malcolmgsw At the time that this film was made there was a fierce debate about capital punishment.In the early fifties Timothy Evans was wrongly hung for murders committed by Christie.Then Derek Bentley was hung for a murder he did not commit,merely present when the actual murderer fired the weapon.The actual murderer went to jail as he was too young to hang.So this film sets up a perfect set of circumstances where an innocent man could be convicted of murder.It is only because of the theatrical contrivances that in fact Attenborough goes free.The trial in the film is fairly brief in that it appears to last a couple of days.frighteningly that is the way it was.At times it was all about "pour encourage les autres" rather than justice being seen to be done.A thoughtful film with sincere performances.