Scotland Yard appelle F.B.I.

Post War British a decade past, hence the genuine bombed-out ruins where a pistol (THE WEAPON) is buried from an unsolved wartime murder, and local little boy Jon Whiteley finds it, accidentally shoots a bully, and runs like hell...

Morphing Val Guest's thriller from war to noir as Whiteley's Erik hits the dark shadowy streets while worried American widow/mom Lizabeth Scott, in her penultimate still-young big screen role, hitting the right emotional marks, is charmed by shady Brit George Cole while putting up with ultra-serious military investigator Steve Cochran...

And Cole, as the sole heavy, has the most fun here, getting to both sneakily and violently interact with side-characters (while charming Scott), including scene-stealing French starlet Nicole Maurey as a tough yet wispy showgirl just past her prime, who eventually shares an emotional turned sizzling/sexy scene with Cochran...

Meanwhile, in the thankless leading role, the handsome WHITE HEAT actor (who slowly warms up to Noir veteran Scott) plays THE WEAPON like a throwback gumshoe more than an MP, and for the sparse run-time, director Val Guest throws everything into the picture including sudden deaths, chases, rooftop fights and race-against-time suspense.

Always interesting to see a city in the 1950s in films most commonly London of course in UK films. The lack of traffic compared to now is amazing. Still plenty of bomb sites ten years on from the end of the war. An interesting plot with a ring of truth about it as many weapons kept after the war must have been around at this time. George Cole was great as the baddie as he played spivs a lot early in his career so had experience of this type of character. A time capsule of a film which is a very interesting watch and can be recommended but probably not for youngsters, ie those below 50 years old.

Whilst out playing with his friends, young Erik Jenner finds a gun and accidentally shoots another boy, believing he's killed the young lad, he goes on the run. Erik has inadvertently found a weapon, that's connected to another murder.

This was a very watchable and enjoyable 80 or so minutes, the opening ten minutes were terrific, very shocking, and whilst the rest of the film doesn't quite have the same, it's still very interesting.

The best element, the atmosphere, it looks fantastic, some really nice camera work too, Val Guest truly did elevate the film.

You think you know where the story is heading, but of course there's more going on than meets the eye, the presence of Mark Andrews, and his reason for being there changes the whole story.

The acting is a mixed bag, the young Jon Whiteley is excellent as Erik, considering his age he offered up a lot more than several of his seniors here, Herbert Marshall, Lizabeth Scott and George Cole were all good, if I'm totally honest I found Steve Cochran a little wooden.

6/10.

THE WEAPON is an unusually-plotted British crime film in which the bombed-out ruins of a post-war London play a large part in the proceedings. The tale is about a group of street urchins playing in said ruins who discover a loaded gun. One of them accidentally shoots a friend and goes on the run, which is when the plot kicks in for real.

The main problem with this film is the unbelievability of the plot. The villain character seems shoehorned into the storyline and never would have been in danger from the police had he simply kept out of things. In addition, the kid who goes on the run would have been out of danger had he simply handed himself in to the police early on. Thus credibility is strained throughout and the film sometimes feel mildly ridiculous as the plot plays out.

The further shoehorning into the story of an American military figure to act as detective is a blatant attempt to get an American lead into the thing, although Steve Cochran is saddled with a very dull character. The inexplicably American mother, Lizabeth Scott, is much better and somebody you end up warming to as the story progresses. George Cole is cast against type and should have stuck to the mild comedy he was far more convincing in. It was a pleasure to see old-timer Herbert Marshall (FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT) in support but he only appears in a couple of scenes.

The main actor is former Oscar winner Jon Whiteley as the precocious child who causes so much trouble. I quite liked him although others may find him a bit irritating. Whiteley has nowadays forgotten about his early acting career and become a museum curator. The exemplary direction is by Val Guest, who brings an atmospheric London to life, teeming with the working class, and the locations have never looked so authentic and lived-in.

The most interesting thing about this Val Guest directed thriller is its use of actual London locations, something of a rarity at the time, and which gives it that touch of realism missing in the script. Overall, "The Weapon" isn't a bad little B-Movie, about a boy, (Jon Whiteley, Britain's favourite child star until Haley Mills came along), who finds a gun in some ruins and accidently shoots another boy with it. Of course that means young Whitely takes off while said gun had been used in a murder ten years before and it's up to Steve Cochran, Herbert Marshall and seemingly not very concerned mother Lizabeth Scott to find the boy before the killer does as well as catch the killer at the same time. It's a decent enough plot and Guest handles it more than competently. Unfortunately the performances let it down making this more of a guilty pleasure rather than a contender but it's still a pleasure and worth seeing.