The acting of the main characters - Harrison, Cummins and Hartnell - are convincing but generally lack a great deal of passion. Everyone behaves pretty much as one would expect. There are many twists and turns in the plot but these are often fairly predictable; one is rarely surprised. The settings - prison, village, moor, country cottage, are just what they're supposed to be, no more, no less. The dialogue is convincing, and also just what you might expect. There is variety of tone and many moments of humour, darker points, philosophical themes regarding justice, honour and life. Generally, the film takes its time making its points, just so you don't miss them. So it rolls along in an amiable manner and is enjoyable to watch; however, it does lack some of the sparkle of the 1930 version.
13 Reviews
Sexy Rexy Flees Prison
boblipton28 July 2019
Rex Harrison is walking in the park after a losing day at the track. He falls into conversation with a young woman sitting on a bench. She hands him a card for her business and Harrison begins to walk off, when a police detective comes up to arrest her for solicitation. Harrison protests. The detective tells him to scarper off. Harrison protests some more and the 'tec takes a swing at him. They tussle and the policeman splatters his head on the bench's ironmongery.
Found guilty of manslaughter, Harrison is sent to Dartmoor. He escapes, is pursued by the police in the form of Inspector William Hartnell, and succored by Peggy Cummins.
It's a remake of the 1930 movie that was the first production of what became Ealing Studios, directed by Joseph Mankiewicz, with John Galsworthy's original script updated by Philip Dunne -- lots more sexual tension between Harrison and Cummins than in the original script. It's certainly a competent remake, and purists will be pleased that the outdoor scenes were shot in Dartmoor; the original used Northamptonshire. Yet I am always confronted by the question of how it is that it's always the good-looking people who are morally superior, and who are believed to be honest. Frederick Piper, who plays the convict to whom Harrison confides his intention to escape.... had he been the one who did so, would Miss Cummins have helped him?
Found guilty of manslaughter, Harrison is sent to Dartmoor. He escapes, is pursued by the police in the form of Inspector William Hartnell, and succored by Peggy Cummins.
It's a remake of the 1930 movie that was the first production of what became Ealing Studios, directed by Joseph Mankiewicz, with John Galsworthy's original script updated by Philip Dunne -- lots more sexual tension between Harrison and Cummins than in the original script. It's certainly a competent remake, and purists will be pleased that the outdoor scenes were shot in Dartmoor; the original used Northamptonshire. Yet I am always confronted by the question of how it is that it's always the good-looking people who are morally superior, and who are believed to be honest. Frederick Piper, who plays the convict to whom Harrison confides his intention to escape.... had he been the one who did so, would Miss Cummins have helped him?
Original sin.
brogmiller29 June 2021
Rex Harrison was primarily a stage actor and indeed a first rate one. His films however are very much a mixed bag but he had a very good working relationship with director Joseph L. Mankiewicz for whom he gave excellent performances. This is the second of their four films together, following on from 'The Ghost and Mrs. Muir.'
Harrison is not the first to play the character of former RAF pilot Matt Denant who has escaped from prison after being wrongfully convicted of murder. Notable among previous personifications were Leslie Howard on Broadway, Orson Welles on Radio and Gerald du Maurier in a typically stodgy British film from 1930.
Harrison's polished persona perfectly suits playwright John Galsworthy's concept that a gentleman never ceases to be a gentleman even when he's down. Whilst on the run he is aided by the free-spirited Nora of Peggy Cummins who is herself wanting to escape a life of poverty by marrying a man she does not love. Romance blossoms of course and when Denant finishes his sentence he will very likely marry her, thereby exchanging one kind of servitude for another!
Good support here from a cast of stalwarts, notably William Hartnell as a kind hearted policeman, a wonderfully twitchy Cyril Cusack as a man who cannot back a winner and Norman Wooland as a parson who persuades Denant to do the right thing.
Although the weakest of their four collaborations, with Mankiewicz at the helm there are some effective moments whilst having Freddie Young behind the camera and William Alwyn as composer can only constitute a plus.
This film is also an interesting piece of social history as Galsworthy had a strong belief in English justice and the class system, both of which have since taken a hell of a battering!
Harrison is not the first to play the character of former RAF pilot Matt Denant who has escaped from prison after being wrongfully convicted of murder. Notable among previous personifications were Leslie Howard on Broadway, Orson Welles on Radio and Gerald du Maurier in a typically stodgy British film from 1930.
Harrison's polished persona perfectly suits playwright John Galsworthy's concept that a gentleman never ceases to be a gentleman even when he's down. Whilst on the run he is aided by the free-spirited Nora of Peggy Cummins who is herself wanting to escape a life of poverty by marrying a man she does not love. Romance blossoms of course and when Denant finishes his sentence he will very likely marry her, thereby exchanging one kind of servitude for another!
Good support here from a cast of stalwarts, notably William Hartnell as a kind hearted policeman, a wonderfully twitchy Cyril Cusack as a man who cannot back a winner and Norman Wooland as a parson who persuades Denant to do the right thing.
Although the weakest of their four collaborations, with Mankiewicz at the helm there are some effective moments whilst having Freddie Young behind the camera and William Alwyn as composer can only constitute a plus.
This film is also an interesting piece of social history as Galsworthy had a strong belief in English justice and the class system, both of which have since taken a hell of a battering!
Outrageous Fortune
Vinny3724 August 2016
An ex-RAF gentleman pilot (Denant) has casual speech with a girl in a park, a girl of the night. As he leaves, a heavy handed police detective attempts to roughly arrest the girl, and Denant turns back to politely intervene, a "there's no need for that". The detective is a petty tyrant, out to make his bust of a poor working girl, though she had only been on the bench, not on the game. The two men tussle—the long arm of the law and the stronger arm of the righteous gentleman. The law falls, Denant stays righteous and is sent down for his pains.
Soon he breaks out and goes on the run, as a righteous matter of principle. He falls in with Dora, a daughter of a well respected family, whose family has fallen financially, and she is engaged for lucre not love. Stretching credulity, she very readily casts in her lot with him, defying the injustice of the law, and committing ever more until she's dropped her intended, exchanging lucre for love.
For Denant's part, he comes to accept that human justice is imperfect, and if you don't like it it might be better to lump it. Some reviewer has strangely suggested that God's direct voice features. That misses a big point: at most, it's God's indirect voice through a church leader, who philosophises that hearing God's voice is often difficult, even for Christians, in a fallen world. In short, moral decisions aren't always perfect—even as in chess several different moves according to objective rules can be good, and a seeming good move might be ill-judged. Should the church leader, as a law-abider, turn Denant in, or as a God-abider should he conceal Denant who has claimed sanctuary? What sanctuary remains in the world? Should Denant willingly suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune? The film is explorative.
Its conclusion is clear about some decisions, but not clear about some conclusions, such as whether recapture will lead to extended jail time, or possibly a retrial, especially if a missing witness were to come forward. The imperfection of human justice, the futility of opposing it, the individual's freedom of choice even under Big Brother (sorry David & Teresa, lol), what it means to be human, all are looked at in this play.
Soon he breaks out and goes on the run, as a righteous matter of principle. He falls in with Dora, a daughter of a well respected family, whose family has fallen financially, and she is engaged for lucre not love. Stretching credulity, she very readily casts in her lot with him, defying the injustice of the law, and committing ever more until she's dropped her intended, exchanging lucre for love.
For Denant's part, he comes to accept that human justice is imperfect, and if you don't like it it might be better to lump it. Some reviewer has strangely suggested that God's direct voice features. That misses a big point: at most, it's God's indirect voice through a church leader, who philosophises that hearing God's voice is often difficult, even for Christians, in a fallen world. In short, moral decisions aren't always perfect—even as in chess several different moves according to objective rules can be good, and a seeming good move might be ill-judged. Should the church leader, as a law-abider, turn Denant in, or as a God-abider should he conceal Denant who has claimed sanctuary? What sanctuary remains in the world? Should Denant willingly suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune? The film is explorative.
Its conclusion is clear about some decisions, but not clear about some conclusions, such as whether recapture will lead to extended jail time, or possibly a retrial, especially if a missing witness were to come forward. The imperfection of human justice, the futility of opposing it, the individual's freedom of choice even under Big Brother (sorry David & Teresa, lol), what it means to be human, all are looked at in this play.
No way out
dbdumonteil6 May 2011
Although based on a play,unlike many Mankiewicz' s movies,this one is no "filmed stage production" style .It even sometimes recall Hitchcock's 'the thirty-nine steps " for the bulk of the action is a chase .
A strong performance by Rex Harrison (who would be the star of three other Mankiewicz works :" the ghost and Mrs Muir" " the overlooked "honey pot" and the largely underrated "Cleopatra " in which he was the best Julius Ceasar in the history of cinema),who is sentenced to jail (three years!)for what he considers a just act.Actually what happened to him could happen to anyone .That's why it's so easy to identify with him and to feel he had been treated unfairly.
"Escape" has two meanings :escape from jail for the convict ,escape from a world she does not fit in for Dora:she's going to make a money match ,because "she's tired of being poor" ,but she realizes ,after meeting the fugitive that she would live in a prison too.
This is an offbeat story ;the conclusion is not what the audience is expecting and may be off-putting for some viewers.God himself intervenes ,and ,as the priest says ,only Him can judge man,only his justice is infallible.Besides ,one of the hero's friends betrays him to get Judas' thirty pieces of silver.
A strong performance by Rex Harrison (who would be the star of three other Mankiewicz works :" the ghost and Mrs Muir" " the overlooked "honey pot" and the largely underrated "Cleopatra " in which he was the best Julius Ceasar in the history of cinema),who is sentenced to jail (three years!)for what he considers a just act.Actually what happened to him could happen to anyone .That's why it's so easy to identify with him and to feel he had been treated unfairly.
"Escape" has two meanings :escape from jail for the convict ,escape from a world she does not fit in for Dora:she's going to make a money match ,because "she's tired of being poor" ,but she realizes ,after meeting the fugitive that she would live in a prison too.
This is an offbeat story ;the conclusion is not what the audience is expecting and may be off-putting for some viewers.God himself intervenes ,and ,as the priest says ,only Him can judge man,only his justice is infallible.Besides ,one of the hero's friends betrays him to get Judas' thirty pieces of silver.
Gun Crazy Peggy Cummins in a different kind of role
blanche-219 April 2017
Peggy Cummins (92 at this writing) is probably best known for her portrayal of a gun-happy gal in the classic noir "Gun Crazy" from 1950. After winning the lead in 1947's Forever Amber over 200 auditioners, she was replaced by Linda Darnell because the producers decided she wasn't famous enough.
Here she is in a programmer, "Escape" from 1948, alongside Rex Harrison. Harrison plays Matt DEnant, convicted of manslaughter after an accident involving a policeman. It was a just act, defending a woman talking with him in the park; he punched the police officer, who hit his head on the bench and died as a result.
Matt is sentenced to three years in prison which he doesn't want to spend for something he doesn't feel responsible for. He escapes during a thick fog and is caught by a young upper class woman, Dora Winton, as he's stealing her breakfast in her bedroom. She feels sorry for him and gives him a coat and hat, and he takes off as the police search her family's house.
Matt runs into Dora again when a car he stole breaks down, and again, she helps him. Unfortunately, while she helps him, another friend does not, and he nearly walks into a trap.
He learns that she's engaged to a man she doesn't love, strictly for money as her family has fallen on hard times. She doesn't think three years is all that long to serve, and points out that if Matt has to run and hide the rest of his life, isn't that prison too?
Good story with good performances. There are a couple of messages here - there are different kinds of prisons, and different kinds of laws. As a priest tells Matt, God's law is infallible. Man's is not.
The end is unexpected, at least it was by me.
Here she is in a programmer, "Escape" from 1948, alongside Rex Harrison. Harrison plays Matt DEnant, convicted of manslaughter after an accident involving a policeman. It was a just act, defending a woman talking with him in the park; he punched the police officer, who hit his head on the bench and died as a result.
Matt is sentenced to three years in prison which he doesn't want to spend for something he doesn't feel responsible for. He escapes during a thick fog and is caught by a young upper class woman, Dora Winton, as he's stealing her breakfast in her bedroom. She feels sorry for him and gives him a coat and hat, and he takes off as the police search her family's house.
Matt runs into Dora again when a car he stole breaks down, and again, she helps him. Unfortunately, while she helps him, another friend does not, and he nearly walks into a trap.
He learns that she's engaged to a man she doesn't love, strictly for money as her family has fallen on hard times. She doesn't think three years is all that long to serve, and points out that if Matt has to run and hide the rest of his life, isn't that prison too?
Good story with good performances. There are a couple of messages here - there are different kinds of prisons, and different kinds of laws. As a priest tells Matt, God's law is infallible. Man's is not.
The end is unexpected, at least it was by me.
Past Its Cell-By Date
writers_reign8 December 2007
Warning: Spoilers
This is a fairly elusive early film by Mank and it's nice to get the chance to catch up with it in the Mank season at the NFT - where, bizarrely, they're showing 19 out of the 20 movies he directed and inexplicably omitting Somewhere In The Night which is freely available on DVD. The original work was by John Galsworthy no less but brought up to date by Phillip Dunn in his third and last screenplay for Mank. The whole thing takes place in an England located not so much off the coast of France as on the shady side of Neptune and one that only viewers over sixty have even a ghost of a chance of recognizing. Rex Harrison plays the sort of man who, in the post-war austerity of 1948, thinks nothing of piloting a private plane, spending a day at the races and happily laying out £50 (a fortune in those days) on behalf of a mechanic at the aerodrome, who picks a horse that comes in last. Later, strolling through the park he falls into conversation with a prostitute and when she is apprehended by a detective Harrison, ever the gallant, lays him out. Alas, his head comes into contact with a park bench and he winds up with a tag on his toe. Harrison, ever the gentleman, stays around til the police arrive and winds up doing three years on Dartmoor. Naturally he is incensed and escapes at the first opportunity, runs across Peggy Cummins riding to hounds, who then becomes the friendly female helping a fugitive mandatory in such films. It's all good fun and Mank wraps it up in 78 minutes. For Mank completists it is, of course, a must, but others will probably enjoy it if they're fairly undemanding.
Escape
CinemaSerf5 January 2023
Poor old Rex Harrison ("Denant") is taking a stroll though a foggy park when he gets involved in a tragic contretemps with a prostitute and an undercover police officer. The ensuing fracas sees the officer fall to the ground where he bangs his head on the leg of a bench and dies. "Denant" stays put, owns up and throws himself on the mercy of the court - and a sentence of three years is his reward. He manages to escape, though, and with the help of a young girl "Dora" (Peggy Cummins) manages to lead the pursuing police - led by William Hartnell - a merry dance. I've got to say, though, that aside from the obvious criticism of the demonstrably inflexible justice system that penalised a man for an accident, I struggled to quite see the point of the rest of it. It has gently religious - or, perhaps more specifically Christian - undertones, and maybe that serves to illustrate that a system with some flaws is better than no system at all, but it doesn't resonate in a fashion that concludes in anything substantial. Perhaps that's the point - maybe we are too prone to look for definites where there are none to be had. It's decently paced - much of it takes place on the run - and there is the odd comic scene, too. Harrison and Hartnell do their jobs well enough without either really having to tax their resources, nor for that matter must we, watching.
A superb film noir!
JohnHowardReid16 October 2017
Warning: Spoilers
"Escape" (1948) is an important film noir that is not yet available on DVD, despite its sterling cast (Rex Harrison, Peggy Cummins, Cyril Cusack, William Hartnell) and its high-grade production values.
Philip Dunne and Donald Ogden Stewart worked on the script from the 1927 stage play by John Galsworthy. The movie also boasts music by William Alwyn, camera-work by Freddie Young, and it was brilliantly directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz.
For once in a Mankiewicz movie, the script is not top-heavy with dialogue (as are just abut all of Joseph L. Mankiewicx's other movies). In fact, at a neat 78 minutes, this film is at least 20 minutes shorter than any other Mankiewicz productions.
Rex Harrison is perfectly cast as the unlucky hero, while William Hartnell interprets a cynical police inspector in fine style (one of the best roles he was ever handed).
Peggy Cummins is effective too, although none too flatteringly costumed and photographed. (At this time, the movie does not seem to be available on DVD, but you may find it on VHS if you're lucky).
Philip Dunne and Donald Ogden Stewart worked on the script from the 1927 stage play by John Galsworthy. The movie also boasts music by William Alwyn, camera-work by Freddie Young, and it was brilliantly directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz.
For once in a Mankiewicz movie, the script is not top-heavy with dialogue (as are just abut all of Joseph L. Mankiewicx's other movies). In fact, at a neat 78 minutes, this film is at least 20 minutes shorter than any other Mankiewicz productions.
Rex Harrison is perfectly cast as the unlucky hero, while William Hartnell interprets a cynical police inspector in fine style (one of the best roles he was ever handed).
Peggy Cummins is effective too, although none too flatteringly costumed and photographed. (At this time, the movie does not seem to be available on DVD, but you may find it on VHS if you're lucky).
"Plod" Slow & Witless
howardmorley11 December 2016
In the 1940s British country police were often portrayed in the visual media as slow & witless and "Escape"(1948) is no exception, what we in Britain called "Plod".They were portrayed as "yokels" working for underfunded constabularies by central government, when local police could only give chase on bicycles to criminals driving stolen cars.They made illogical assumptions that a man & woman in a vehicle "must be Americans" without checking the facts.The heroine Peggy Cummings' character comes over as too naive and too ready to believe Rex Harrison's (RH) story even suggesting to her sister they should let him use their car to escape!There is a pathetic shot of RH trying to fly off in a monoplane which then crashes and which only causes RH a sprained shoulder!In one scene he causes criminal damage by setting the monoplane alight.In another scene RH compounds the offence by assaulting George Woodbridge (who plays an armed farmer) as he attempts to evade justice.
However, we viewers do have some sympathy for RH's character for being found guilty of manslaughter and being sentenced to 3 years in Dartmoor prison.Towards the end of his escape he tries to obtain medieval sanctuary meeting Derick de Marney who plays a priest (and who played a similar role as RH in Hitchcocks 1933 "Young & Innocent).Derick proceeds to talk theology and philosophy to RH in the hope RH will surrender to the police.Peggy Cummings enters the church having previously unbidden told RH of her love & belief in him.With the police threatening to obtain a search warrant and before the priest can comment on RH's whereabouts, RH volunteers to surrender to law & order and is promptly driven back to Dartmoor, presumably to finish his sentence with I presume greater length added for all his further misdemeanors committed.The producers therefore leave moral questions in the air, just posing them.My rating just 6/10
However, we viewers do have some sympathy for RH's character for being found guilty of manslaughter and being sentenced to 3 years in Dartmoor prison.Towards the end of his escape he tries to obtain medieval sanctuary meeting Derick de Marney who plays a priest (and who played a similar role as RH in Hitchcocks 1933 "Young & Innocent).Derick proceeds to talk theology and philosophy to RH in the hope RH will surrender to the police.Peggy Cummings enters the church having previously unbidden told RH of her love & belief in him.With the police threatening to obtain a search warrant and before the priest can comment on RH's whereabouts, RH volunteers to surrender to law & order and is promptly driven back to Dartmoor, presumably to finish his sentence with I presume greater length added for all his further misdemeanors committed.The producers therefore leave moral questions in the air, just posing them.My rating just 6/10
Fugitive with nowhere to go
malcolmgsw7 May 2015
This is of course a remake of the 1930 film starring Gordon Harker.This was the second film made by Associated Talking Pictures at Ealing.It is therefore rather primitive when compared to this film which gives it a Holluywood makeover,notwithstanding the fact that it was made in the UK by Fox.Given the use of the quotation from Galsworthy at the end one can only assume that this film is somehow supposed to teach a moral lesson and inspire faith in the workings of the machinery of Justice.Ironic when you think of the miscarriage of justice that was going on at the time with the infamous Christie case just one example of the way justice was not working.The problem with this story is that since it would appear that the crime was committed ,the protestations of wrongful conviction rather fall on deaf ears.
Rex Harrison as war hero and martyr to injustice but not without some recompense
clanciai30 July 2017
A dark story of injustice, charting the hopelessness of a fugitive not from justice but from the law, which has failed in giving justice. Rex Harrison is a former war hero who defends a defenseless girl in a park and accidentally gets into more trouble than he bargained for, with fatal consequences, for a villain who deserved it, and for himself, who has to survive it. It's a great story by John Galsworthy with many instructive insights on the way. It's kind of an exploration of the problems of injustice. Anyway, risking his life and prolonged sentence by escaping, he does win something on the way, which he wouldn't if he hadn't risked everything for freedom.
Joseph Mankiewicz' direction displays all the literary deserts of the story and communicates it well with clarity and detached poignancy. It's a small film but the greater for its spartan concentration, containing much more than what any film can show.
Joseph Mankiewicz' direction displays all the literary deserts of the story and communicates it well with clarity and detached poignancy. It's a small film but the greater for its spartan concentration, containing much more than what any film can show.
Feels like a 30s prison flick
HotToastyRag4 February 2023
Rex Harrison as an escaped convict? I couldn't picture it either, so I put on the old forgotten drama Escape. But folks, it's forgotten for a reason. When I wasn't falling asleep, I was bored to tears. It felt like a 1931 cheap flick, not a 1948 drama with an actor fresh off Anna and the King of Siam.
Rex's character was pretty impossible to root for. He's walking in a park and gets approached by a hooker. When a policeman tells her to move along or he'll run her in, Rex defends her "honor" and gets involved in a fistfight - then accidentally kills the cop with a fatal blow! How stupid can you get? So, since he gets the death penalty, he thinks it's not fair and plans an escape. If you absolutely love Rex Harrison and want to see him in this type of role, you can rent it, but just don't feel forced to stick with it all the way through. You're better off with The Long Dark Hall, which has a similar premise.
Rex's character was pretty impossible to root for. He's walking in a park and gets approached by a hooker. When a policeman tells her to move along or he'll run her in, Rex defends her "honor" and gets involved in a fistfight - then accidentally kills the cop with a fatal blow! How stupid can you get? So, since he gets the death penalty, he thinks it's not fair and plans an escape. If you absolutely love Rex Harrison and want to see him in this type of role, you can rent it, but just don't feel forced to stick with it all the way through. You're better off with The Long Dark Hall, which has a similar premise.
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