Man on the Run

May. 20,1949      
Rating:
6.7
Trailer Synopsis Cast

An Army deserter, still a fugitive in Post-War Britain, wanders into a pawn-shop robbery and finds himself wanted for murder. He meets a war widow who helps him elude the police while he looks for the real criminals.

Joan Hopkins as  Jean Adams
Derek Farr as  Sgt. Peter Burden
Edward Chapman as  Chief Inspector Mitchell
Laurence Harvey as  Detective Sergeant Lawson
Howard Marion-Crawford as  1st Paratrooper
Alfie Bass as  Bert the Barge Mate
John Bailey as  Dan Underwood, Burglar
John Stuart as  Det. Inspector Jim McBane
Edward Underdown as  Slim Elfey
Leslie Perrins as  Charlie

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Reviews

Exoticalot
1949/05/20

People are voting emotionally.

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JinRoz
1949/05/21

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

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Frances Chung
1949/05/22

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

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Philippa
1949/05/23

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

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XhcnoirX
1949/05/24

Army-deserter Derek Farr is living in a small town under a new name. When a former army-mate accidentally spots him and tries to blackmail him, he moves to London. There he tries to sell his army gun in a pawn shop, but at that same time the shop gets robbed, and a cop is shot as a result. He hides out in the home of widow Joan Hopkins, who believes his story, and tries to help him clear his name. But his description is in all the newspapers, and because a cop has died, police inspector Edward Chapman and his assistant Laurence Harvey are under extra pressure to find the men who did it.A classic 'innocent man on the run' story, where Farr initially cannot go to the police because he is an army-deserter, and then becomes a suspected cop killer. Farr ('Murder Without Crime') and Hopkins ('Double Confession') are great and have good chemistry together. It's a shame Hopkins appeared in only a handful of movies, she's talented with good screen presence. This was one of Laurence Harvey's ('The Good Die Young', 'The Manchurian Candidate') first movies, he doesn't have to do much here except tower head and shoulders above the much smaller Chapman ('It Always rains On Sunday'), who is good as the smart and determined police detective.While the acting and story are good, but nothing remarkable, this movie has a beautiful noir look. The sets, especially the interiors, are exceptionally well-made, made to look as decrepit and dingy as possible. The rooms, pubs and hallways have a ton of details and items stuffed all over the place, to also make them look small and claustrophobic. The camera work by Wilkie Cooper (Hitchcock's 'Stage Fright', 'Green For Danger') is also excellent, with very moody lighting and stark shadows where necessary. Director and screenplay writer Lawrence Huntington ('The Upturned Glass') keeps things moving at a fast pace and keeps things focused on Farr and Chapman, making this a tense and thrilling movie. Farr's motives for deserting the army could be seen as a form of social commentary, but after they're mentioned nothing's done with it, leaving a slightly bitter end to the 'redemptive' ending. All in all tho, this is a good and thrilling Britnoir that doesn't break any new grounds but delivers on its premise and looks great. 7+/10

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malcolmgsw
1949/05/25

My pet hate in thrillers is contrivances.For example when Derek Farr is on the run he dashes in to a door and admits to the lady of the house that he is on the run.What does she do,scream,no she takes him in and makes him comfortable.Then later on she goes into a café and there is a man having lunch with part of his finger missing.The film does go on like this.I tend to find that it represents a lack of imagination on the part of the writer and director,in that they cannot find anything original to cover these situations.The second half of this film develops a faster pace and there are a number of eyecatching performances.A very young Laurence Harvey at the start of his career.Also Eleanor Summerfield also at the early stages of her acting career.Competently made but nothing startling or original

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Alex da Silva
1949/05/26

Derek Farr (Peter Burden) is an army deserter who is blackmailed by Kenneth More when More wanders into a pub on a coastal town and recognizes him serving drinks behind the bar. Farr goes on the run again and ends up owing rent to his landlord in London, who threatens him with eviction. Farr then goes into a pawnshop with a gun at the exact same time as an armed robbery is taking place. A policeman is killed and the assistant falsely thinks that Farr is one of the armed gang. Once again he's on the run, this time for his implication in the robbery and the killing of a policeman. He teams up with Joan Hopkins (Jean) and sets out to prove his innocence in this latter crime. Chief Inspector Edward Chapman and detective Laurence Harvey are the police trying to solve the case.This is a quick moving film that unfortunately suffers from a poor quality print. However, the story involves the audience despite some of the sliminess of Laurence Harvey and how he speaks. Joan Hopkins also effects a ridiculous Englishness when she talks, eg, the word "actually" becomes "ectually" – that kind of over-pronunciation nonsense.I tend to think that Derek Farr was a pretty lucky chap. Everyone seems to buy his story about being in the pawnshop as a victim. This is never made clear. From what we see, he pulls a gun out which is pointing at the assistant at the time that the burglars burst in. He was about to rob the place himself! Still, the film holds your interest till the conclusion, which has a fair British outcome.

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GUENOT PHILIPPE
1949/05/27

Well, I think very hard about it, but I can't find anything very interesting in this a billion times told story of an innocent bystander on the run about a crime he did not commit. I am sick of it. I only say a simple word: PREDICTABLE. The poooor man who tries to save himself and prove his innocence, and of course who finds a girl to help him. I only comment it because this feature has no lines about it. And every film deserves to be talked about. Every one. Larry Huntington made better flicks, for instance UPTURNED GLASS, starring James mason, as far as I can remember. But most of his, I did not see them. The atmosphere is quite effective, a real noir in the film making it self. But the topic, hmmmmmmmmm....Nothing special for my own taste. But a gem although, for many film buffs.

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