Nice effects though.

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

***SPOILERS*** While walking his dog Rembrandt one evening out of work artist Frank Johnson,Ross Elliott,witness the gangland murder of star witness for the prosecution Joe Gordon, Tom Dillon, who's to testify against the mob the very next day. With Gordon's killer mistakenly taking a number of pot shots at Johnson's shadow who in the dark thinks is Johnson in the flesh he now has to knock the fleeing Johnson off to keep him from identifying against him as Gordon's murderer! It's Johnson's wife Eleanor, Ann Sheridan, who's at first very uncooperative with the police in finding her husband would be killer in her feeling, in Eleanor almost being estranged from him, that he had it coming. But still she feels he should be found since he has a serious heart condition and could drop dead at any given moment if he doesn't get his heart medication that he left, and can't get without a doctor's prescription, in the couples apartment.Elenore or better yet her on the lamb husband Frank gets a lifeline in reporter Dan Leggett, Dennis O'Keefe, taking a personal interest-as well as promising to pay Elenore $1,000.00- for an exclusive story about her husband's plight in running from the mob. Searching out all the dives and flop house as well as waterfront gin-mills in the San Francisco area that Frank may have visited it's discovered that he was seen at Sammy's, played by former Charlie Chan #2 son Victor Sen Yung, dance studios checking out and sketching the young girls in their skimpy outfits doing their dance routines! One of those girls who knew more, about Gordon's killer, then she was willing to admit to the police Suzie,Rako Soto, ended up killed thrown from a 4th floor window before she could, from a drawing of him that she made, identify him.****SPOILERS*** Not quite the smart cookie as we all watching the movie thought she was Eleanor totally misread reporter Leggett's real intentions in trying to find her husband Frank. And it had nothing to do in saving his life from the mob in that he's in fact no reporter at all! He's the mob hit-man who did in Joe Gordon and now is determined to whack Frank Johnson to keep he from identifying him to the SFPD as well as FBI! If Elenore had no idea, until it was almost too late, to just who this kind teddy bear like and understanding reporter Dan Leggett was police inspector Ferris, Robert Keith, who checked the big phony out did! And by getting to Johnson just minutes before "Danny Boy" Leggett tried to induce, by strangling him, Johnson to suffer a fatal heart-attack he, with a blast from his .38, prevented him from doing it!

Woman on the Run is directed by Norman Foster who also co-adapts the screenplay with Alan Campbell from a story by Sylvia Tate. It stars Ann Sheridan, Dennis O'Keefe, Robert Keith and Ross Elliott. Music is by Arthur Lange and Emil Newman and cinematography by Hal Mohr.When Frank Johnson (Elliott) witnesses a man being shot and he himself is shot at by the killer, he decides to go on the run rather than trust police protective custody. The police turn to Frank's wife, Eleanor (Sheridan) to help track him down, but she thinks he has other reasons to runaway. Aided by newspaperman Danny Leggett (O'Keefe), who is after the exclusive story, Eleanor follows the trail left by her husband; but nothing is as it first seems...Compact at under 80 minutes, Woman on the Run is something of a little seen film noir offering. Basically a man hunt in essence, picture boasts strong atmosphere around the San Francisco locations and a last 15 minutes of noir excellence. In the narrative is a failing relationship that gets expanded upon as the story moves forward, and of course there's a twist, which thankfully is a genuine surprise. It's also very well performed, especially by the excellent Sheridan. The problem is that for the first hour it is exposition heavy, while the musical score is often too chirpy, a hindrance to the visual atmospherics. However, once we reach the last quarter and the story unfolds at an amusement park (Pacific Ocean Park), the picture hits its stride. Here is where the shadowy photography takes on a sinister edge, the action seemingly in a drug induced state. It's a terrific finale that lifts the film from being ordinary into must see status for the film noir faithful. 7/10

A man witnesses a gang hit and goes on the lam, and it's up to his wife to find him. A bit low-key and Ann Sheridan's motivations in avoiding the police are too cloudy to be an effective plot device. But this movie has a lot going for it. Sheridan gives a terrific, brassy performance and her character transformation is wholly believable. I also really enjoyed Robert Keith as the crusty, frustrated cop. The dialogue is witty as heck, some very amusing banter going on. The tension is sparse, but it all pays off in an amazing, frenzied climax set in an amusement park. Comedy and noir don't often blend together well, but Foster pulls it off nicely.

I no longer know what makes a film "noir". I mean, it can't be simply a black-and-white detective movie or murder mystery with lots of shadows and a duplicitous woman, because then we're talking Charlie Chan. Literally, "noir" means black or, sometimes, "dark." The French broadened the meaning of "noir" to include American movies with an oppressive atmosphere, odd camera angles, and weird lighting set ups. I guess, if we stretch the semantics a little more, "Woman On The Run" may be called a "noir," though not a "noir d'ebene." I'd add the accents but can't find them.Okay, boys and girls, this is the story of an innocent but rather dumb man, Ross Elliott, who witnesses a murder in San Francisco. The murderer, whom we've heard called "Danny Boy", has witnessed the witness and takes a few shots at him. Elliott calls the cops who want to put him in protective custody. The idea doesn't appeal to Elliott. He takes a powder and we don't see him again until the end of the movie.The cops want Elliott badly. As it turns out, they want him rather more than his wife, Ann Sheridan. They're married but distant from one another. Sheridan doesn't even know he has a serious heart condition. When she finds out, she sets about trying to track Elliott down in the city in order to bring him the medicine he needs. She's accompanied by Dennis O'Keefe, a reporter for a tabloid newspaper who wants the story. And she's pursued by the police, who expect her to lead them to Elliott.It's her investigation of her husband's activities, of which she seems largely ignorant, that lifts this story above the routine. Sheridan visits Elliott's place of work, his bar, and so forth, and bit by bit realizes that her husband loves her, that he's too reserved to throw himself at her, and that she herself has been a demanding wife and a cold fish. Without that element of discovery, it's a more ordinary murder mystery shot on a modest budget.Nobody thinks of director Norman Foster as an "auteur" -- here come the French again -- but he does a good, craftsmanlike job here. The performances are okay. No one stands out. Everyone is reliable. There is a young Japanese girl who plays a Chinese dancer and she's quite memorable although she has only a few lines before she's thrown off a balcony. The guy who tosses her -- a guy we know but we don't know we know, y'know? -- ought to be brutally spanked. Instead he just winds up floating in the bay with a bullet in him.The climax is very well done for its type. The killer stalks Elliott among the cross-crossing shadows under a roller coaster while Sheridan, who has just learned the murderer's identity, tries to shout a warning from the rocketing amusement park ride.The filming locations put that amusement park in Carmel, but it can't be the Carmel that now exists. Nobody in Carmel would allow a roller coaster to perturb the tranquil artistry of the place. I suspect the real location was in Santa Cruz. The midway we see looks a lot like the place where back-lighted Dirty Harry fondled his .357 automag and muttered "Make my day".It's interesting to see the city's locations in 1950. Some have evolved, some not. I expect most of the indoor scenes were shot at Universal Studios. The outdoor scenes lack dialog except that which was dubbed in later. Yet, the city itself is pleasing to look at, on screen or in life. It's the most Mediterranean-looking city in the US because of the pastel houses and the multiple elevations. Everywhere you look, the earth is tossed and tumbled into mountains and hills. The rooftops are magnificent places to stage foot chases on, not to mention the views.