Boy with a Knife (1956)

★★★★★ · Excellent · longfade · 2010-07-09

A lot happens in this short 19 minutes. Beautifully done. The acting is great, as is Richard Widmark's narration. It handles a delicate situation with a lot of heart and seems to understand the process of trying to get on the kids' side so as to ultimately help them. The morons below who can't come up with anything better to comment upon than some (completely non-existent) sexual undertones are just like the kids in this film - cracking jokes and clowning around as an alternative to using their heads. 5 stars for this one; loved it.

★★★★ · Boy with a Knife · Christine Hennig · 2003-08-31

Chuck Connors plays a social worker who helps a group of troubled, potentially delinquent boys by forming them into a club at a youth center. The "boy with a knife" is Jerry, a kid with a bitchy stepmother and a wimpy father who won't stand up to her verbal diatribes against him. Jerry takes out his rage by periodically threatening other kids with a knife, when he's not using it to carve up other people's property. When he finds out through the grapevine that his stepmother is planning to send him away to live with his grandmother, he takes out his rage by carving up all the sofa cushions…

★★★★ · Meanwhile, back on planet Earth... · donwert · 2010-03-03

This naive little drama stars Chuck Connors as "The Rifleman"...oh, no, that's not right...It's Chuck Connors as "The Social Worker"! He works to win the trust of teenage boys who are on the cusp of becoming hoodlums, especially "Jerry" whose Dad is a milquetoast, pushed around by his shrew of a wife, Jerry's step-mother, who thinks Jerry's a hopeless creep. Oh, and Jerry has an ominous knife fetish. Gradually, Chuck Connors constant attention gets the job done, the boys form a club and elect officers!. Jerry's Dad develops a backbone and we're led to believe the boys are on their way to…

★★★★ · Simplistic, but a try. · ERD · 2006-04-10

Well acted and directed, viewers must remember this was the 1956 generation, before drugs and a more cynical time. Perhaps the script was a bit too simplistic, but it brought out some good points.

★★★★ · Reading 5 year old reviews · Meatpies · 2008-09-25

Makes me glad that Spuzz isn't around now... or if he is, he's not reviewing much anymore. What a child. Grow up. This was a well done educational film from the 50s. I've always enjoyed Chuck Connors, and it's refreshing to know he did something for the community.

★★★ · Boy with a knife, an annoying Stepmom, a aloof Dad, etc.. · Spuzz · 2003-02-11

Boy with A Knife tells the story of Jerry, punk-ass kid who is growing up with the most ANNOYING mother imaginable, and a meek father. He then start hanging around other mean kids, and swinging a knife around when the time seems fit. Soon, Chuck Conners (Woo!) arrives on the scene asking the boys to join his 'club' to play games, watch movies and get off the street. Okay acting all around, the stepmom actress just chews the scenery though. Finally, am I wrong, or is this film subtly homo-erotic? Especially the end (watch Chuck Connors in the car (was he really wanting the knife?)