The opening and closing sequences of this film have haunted me all my life with their beauty and power, and are one of the main reasons why I have loved films all my life. The long, complicated adventure in the main body of the film is a good, very worthwhile one, but does not have quite the same legendary status as the beginning and ending.
A young boy cons a younger boy out of a huge magnet, by swapping it for an "invisible clock" that says "tick, tick" in an unmistakably boyish voice when it is held up to the younger boy's ear. The ruse is successful, and the older boy immediately begins feeling guilty, and it is the dramatic portrayal of his guilt that sky-rockets the film to the legendary heights it deserves and the film still remains vivid in my memory even after almost fifty years!
Did the director know just how powerful a film he was making? I wonder! It's the boy's guilt that starts him on his odyssey; he runs away because he thinks he's in serious trouble, and at the end, the boy gets a chance to make it right again. (Here comes a spoiler, so you could stop reading now if you're going to see the film, though I can assure you that knowing the ending of this film will not diminish your enjoyment of it.)
*
At the end of the adventure the boy wins a medal for bravery, and it is the greatest prize that he could ever have, because it signifies a noble achievement, and shows him that he's not a bad boy after all. But he sees the younger boy again, and swaps it for the invisible clock!!! What a great, and thoroughly satisfying film! I saw the film again just recently, on late-night TV, and it has lost none of its power and impact. On a scale of 1 to 10, this film thoroughly deserves a 15!
A young boy cons a younger boy out of a huge magnet, by swapping it for an "invisible clock" that says "tick, tick" in an unmistakably boyish voice when it is held up to the younger boy's ear. The ruse is successful, and the older boy immediately begins feeling guilty, and it is the dramatic portrayal of his guilt that sky-rockets the film to the legendary heights it deserves and the film still remains vivid in my memory even after almost fifty years!
Did the director know just how powerful a film he was making? I wonder! It's the boy's guilt that starts him on his odyssey; he runs away because he thinks he's in serious trouble, and at the end, the boy gets a chance to make it right again. (Here comes a spoiler, so you could stop reading now if you're going to see the film, though I can assure you that knowing the ending of this film will not diminish your enjoyment of it.)
*
At the end of the adventure the boy wins a medal for bravery, and it is the greatest prize that he could ever have, because it signifies a noble achievement, and shows him that he's not a bad boy after all. But he sees the younger boy again, and swaps it for the invisible clock!!! What a great, and thoroughly satisfying film! I saw the film again just recently, on late-night TV, and it has lost none of its power and impact. On a scale of 1 to 10, this film thoroughly deserves a 15!