To avoid the heat of a sweltering summer night a 9-year-old Manhattan boy decides to sleep on the fire escape and witnesses a murder, but no one will believe him.To avoid the heat of a sweltering summer night a 9-year-old Manhattan boy decides to sleep on the fire escape and witnesses a murder, but no one will believe him.To avoid the heat of a sweltering summer night a 9-year-old Manhattan boy decides to sleep on the fire escape and witnesses a murder, but no one will believe him.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 1 win & 3 nominations total
- Murdered Seaman
- (uncredited)
- Cop Carrying Stretcher
- (uncredited)
- Police Officer
- (uncredited)
- Police Officer
- (uncredited)
- Police Officer
- (uncredited)
- Police Officer
- (uncredited)
- Observer at Scene
- (uncredited)
- Police Officer
- (uncredited)
- Stranger on Street
- (uncredited)
- Police Officer
- (uncredited)
- Detective Ross
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThis film was shot in the latter part of 1947 but shelved by RKO boss Howard Hughes and released in 1949. When Bobby Driscoll got his Juvenile Oscar in 1950, he was 13 years old.
- Goofs(at around 4 mins) While running down the top flight of stairs to play with the neighbor boys, Tommy's breath is visible. His breath is visible again (at around 25 mins) while he is running to the police station, just after he runs past the canopy of 136th. This is due to shooting in the late Fall when the movie is set in the 94 degree heat of summer.
- Quotes
[last lines]
Tommy: [Tommy and his parents are in the back of a police car on the way to the police station] And that's all the truth.
Police Officer: That was some jump, son.
Tommy: Yeah, but I know one thing. I'm never gonna be a fireman. I don't like jumpin' in those nets.
Ed Woodry: I'm proud of you, Tommy. And from now on, I promise I'll believe you.
Tommy: I'm glad, Pop. And from now on, I promise I'll never make up another story.
Mary Woodry: That'll make us all happy.
Ed Woodry: I'll bet when we get down to the station, a lot of guys are going to point at me and say, "There goes Tommy Woodry's father."
[Tommy smiles and his father chuckles over a shot of his son's beaming face]
- Crazy creditsThe role of "Tommy" played by BOBBY DRISCOLL by special arrangement with WALT DISNEY
- ConnectionsFeatured in Crumb (1994)
9 year old Tommy Woodry (Bobby Driscoll) is a lying little git. Always telling lies and making up stories. It's gotten to the point where no-one believes a word he says anymore, not even his own parents.
Tommy's world is about to come crashing down around him after he is witness to a murder in the apartment above his one night. The problem is, Tommy knows the truth, no-one believe's him and to make matters worse the Kellerton family upstairs (the murderer's) find out that Tommy knows what happened and want him silenced.
I swear to god, this movie was so harsh. Harsh in the sense that for a movie thats well over 50 years old now - taken in it's original form without modern day conception - this is one violent movie. One guy gets beaten to near death then is finished off getting stabbed to death with a pair of scissors in front of a kid. The Kellerton's kidnap Tommy and in one scene Joe Kellerton (Paul Stewart) punches the little boy in the face about three times then drugs him with chlorophyl!! Another point to add, this movie is actually banned in Finland! This movie must have genuinely shocked it's original audience when it was first shown back in 1949.
This is a dark movie; very eerie and some scenes mount incredible depths of tension. The acting is superb and the camerawork doubly so.
If your a true movie fan and are happy to watch any movie no matter the age, you'll love this. It's a real treat and i'm glad i caught this one on tv. Special mention goes out to fellow IMDB user Bob The Moo, who supplied me with a VHS edition! Now to track down the DVD...
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- The Boy Cried Murder
- Filming locations
- New York City, New York, USA(abandoned tenements on 105th and 116th Streets)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $210,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 13 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1