MAN ON THE RUN

UK, 1949, 80 minutes, Black and white.
Derek Farr, Joan Hopkins, Edward Chapman, Laurence Harvey, Howard Marion- Crawford, Alfie Bass, Edward Underdown, Kenneth More, Eleanor Summerfield.
Directed by Lawrence Huntington.

Man on the Run is an efficient British thriller from the late 1940s, capitalising on memories of the war, military service, and motivations for desertion and men going on the run to escape imprisonment. One such character is Peter Burton played by Derek Farr, working anonymously in a pub but suddenly recognised by a fellow soldier, played by Kenneth More, who threatens blackmail and exposure.

While Peter does go on the run, he has a great deal of bad luck, wanting to pawn his gun but drawing it just as thieves come in to rob the shop, a policeman being killed. Which means that Peter has to go on the run again, relying on an encounter with a war widow, a sympathetic performance by Joan Hopkins, who takes pity on him, hides him, shields him from the police, takes him down to the coast to a holiday house, recognises one of the criminals in a local cafe because he was missing several fingers, had an Australian accent (played by Edward Underdown).

Edward Chapman is the chief of police and Laurence Harvey players his main assistant.

The film builds up with the car chase to a confrontation in a pub in the wharf area, the police getting the criminals, Peter surviving but, interestingly, prepared to do a prison sentence for his desertion. And Joan Hopkins will wait for him.

Written and directed by Lawrence Huntington, director of a number of small-budget films (an exception, The Upturned Glass with James Mason) in the 1940s, a great deal of television directing the 1950s.

1. A British post-war thriller? Issues of the war and its impact? On civilian families? On the military, desertion, the consequences?

2. Atmospheric photography, country towns and bars, his city, streets, restaurants, police precincts? The coast and the beach and the holiday house? The wharf area and pubs? The musical score?

3. The introduction to Peter Burton, working in the bar, his hidden life, the encounter with Newman, memories of war days, Newman and his surprise, the suggestions for blackmail? Burton and his leaving? The background to his military career, family and difficulties, deserting, on the run?

4. Peter in the city, is going, going to the shop, pulling out the gun, coinciding with the masked figures and the robbery? The shooting of the policeman? Peter being identified? The escape, trying to hide?

5. The encounter with Jean, going to her flat, his not wanting to threaten, her response, the police arriving, her hiding him? The consequences? His staying at the flat, going to the shop to buy the cigarettes, the support of her friend at the shop? The information? Bringing things back to the flat, her own background, war widow? Her compassion for Peter?

6. The information about the thieves? The Australian accent? The man with the missing fingers? Locals?

7. The police, the information, the presumptions, interrogating Jean and the others in the street? Suspicions? The chief inspector, his associates?

8. Jean taking Peter to friends, the seaside, on the beach, relaxing, the attraction?

9. The police and their suspicions, Jean’s movements, the taxi driver and the interrogation (despite missing his meal)?

10. Jean, seeing the man with the missing fingers? Peter and his pursuit of the criminals? Jean explaining to the police?

11. The car, the disappearance, the police checking? The pub, the owner and his dealings with the criminals? Peter being taken, tied up, his getting away, going into the water?

12. The police, interrogations, the thieves pulling guns, the confrontations? Peter and the water, getting out, the vindication?

13. Peter and his going to court, accepting his punishment, Jean waiting for him?

14. A satisfying British drama, action, but low-key in style?