The Weapon (film)

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.

• Steve Cochran as Mark Andrews
• Lizabeth Scott as Elsa Jenner
• George Cole as Joshua Henry
• Herbert Marshall as Superintendent Mackenzie
• Nicole Maurey as Vivienne
• Jon Whiteley as Erik
• Laurence Naismith as Jamison
• Stanley Maxted as The Colonel
• Denis Shaw as Groggins
• John Horsley as Johnson
• Fred Johnson as Fitzsimmons
• Frazer Hines as Jimmy (uncredited)
• Peter Godsell as David (uncredited)
• Terry Cooke as Johnny (uncredited)

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]

• The Weapon on IMDb
• Turner Classic Movies overview
• New York Times review

• List of American films of 1956