Although I saw this on a very poor DVD transfer it held my attention from beginning to end. Yes, as other reviewers have pointed out, there's nothing new here, but it's expertly done, and it's interesting to know that there were apparently 20,000 deserters on the run in the UK in 1949, and one imagines that many of them were as hard-done-by as our hero, but I won't spoil anything by revealing why he deserted. The film is certainly sympathetic to those 20,000 men who get the blame, by several representative members of the cast, for everything that's wrong with post-war Britain. Derek Farr is excellent in the main role as the deserter who has to raise some money when Kenneth More, who had served in the same outfit, happens into the pub where he's working under an alias and decides to blackmail him. While he's trying to pawn a gun the pawnshop is robbed and a policeman killed making him one of the suspects. Joan Hopkins is the sympathetic woman who helps him. Edward Chapman is the inspector investigating the case with ever-increasing impatience. Laurence Harvey, although billed fourth, has little to do as a sergeant with a soft spot for Hopkins. Plenty of noir atmosphere. Recommended.
19 Reviews
A great watch and makes one wonder how many other gems there might be of this period.
christopher-underwood17 April 2020
Most enjoyable and fast moving film from Lawrence Huntington in an amazingly crisp and clear Blu-ray print. Not incredibly original story as the title may suggest but the twist here is the background of some 20,000 deserters in the UK desperately trying to evade capture and survive on the fringe of society. Wonderful location shooting on the edge of Soho, Seven Dials and Mayfair plus some unbelievably effective set design and not forgetting the village of Corfe Castle at the start. When we shift to Wapping the pub interior is so authentic I am trying to work out just which one it is but its all done in the studio, fantastic job. Performances are fine, some of us groan when we see Kenneth More at the start, in one of his earlier films, but he is only a bit part as is Alfie Bass who we see for about two seconds. It is Derek Farr and Joan Hopkins who play the leads, perfectly adequately and more to the point convincingly and fortunatley a young Laurence Harvey doesn't have too much to do. A great watch and makes one wonder how many other gems there might be of this period.
Solid Britnoir with great sets
XhcnoirX27 July 2016
Warning: Spoilers
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
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
A Falsely-Accused-and-on-the-Run Movie.
boblipton13 November 2018
Derek Farr deserted from the British Army after four years of service and went underground. Now he is at the end of his rope, so he takes his service revolver to a pawn shop.... to pawn it. While he's standing there, two other men enter, knock out the owner and flee, killing a bobby as they go. Now Farr is really being pursued and he randomly stops Joan Hopkins... who agrees to help him.
There are definite noir elements in this movie, with discussion the estimated 20,000 deserters and some grimy cinematography by DP Wilkie Cooper, but that's about the limits of it. Otherwise, writer-director Lawrence Huntington has turned out a reasonably taut man-accused movie. Despite a decent story, the movie itself is curiously inert, with a lot of talk and not much movement.
Farr is clearly not wearing his hairpiece for this movie, an odd choice for a romantic lead type, but that, I suppose, it part of the noir aspect of it. Watch out for Laurence Harvey in his second screen appearance, playing a detective. He's only mildly creepy in this one.
There are definite noir elements in this movie, with discussion the estimated 20,000 deserters and some grimy cinematography by DP Wilkie Cooper, but that's about the limits of it. Otherwise, writer-director Lawrence Huntington has turned out a reasonably taut man-accused movie. Despite a decent story, the movie itself is curiously inert, with a lot of talk and not much movement.
Farr is clearly not wearing his hairpiece for this movie, an odd choice for a romantic lead type, but that, I suppose, it part of the noir aspect of it. Watch out for Laurence Harvey in his second screen appearance, playing a detective. He's only mildly creepy in this one.
A Gun in His Hand
richardchatten30 May 2020
An astringent little drama painting a vivid picture as shot by Wilkie Cooper of a seething postwar London rife with deserters, blackmailers and other lowlifes.
Top-billed Joan Hopkins is rather stiff as the heroine, but this actually renders her more more rather than less appealing - not being conventional leading lady material - and as usual the supporting case is full of entertaining surprises, including early appearances by Kenneth More and a moustached Laurence Harvey in only his second film role as a detective.
Top-billed Joan Hopkins is rather stiff as the heroine, but this actually renders her more more rather than less appealing - not being conventional leading lady material - and as usual the supporting case is full of entertaining surprises, including early appearances by Kenneth More and a moustached Laurence Harvey in only his second film role as a detective.
Barman wanted!
AAdaSC3 May 2013
Warning: Spoilers
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.
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.
Terrific Old British Thriller
djfjflsflscv20 December 2021
Peter Burden (Derek Farr) is an army deserter, one of twenty thousand British men who live in fear of imprisonment even after the war has ended. Having served four years, the authorities denied his request for compassionate leave in order to attend his mother's deathbed and he absconded in disgust. He is now working as a landlord of a country pub and is pulling pints when an old army acquaintance (Kenneth More) walks in and recognizes him. Corporal Newman is newly demobbed and, having found only low-paid work in the area, opportunistically blackmails Burden. Terrified, Burden flees again, this time returning to London, where a lack of funds and the late rent on a ragged bedsit force him to try and pawn his old service revolver. At the jeweller's, however, two armed robbers arrive and promptly kill a copper, with Burdon believed to be part of the gang.
His attempts to elude the police become more perilous than ever and a desperate escape sees him bounding breathlessly into the house of young widow Jean Adams (Joan Hopkins). Jean takes pity on the ex-soldier and agrees to help. The pair become determined to find the robbers, knowing only that one of them (Edward Underdown) is missing two fingers on his left hand. All the while, they must avoid the grimly persistent Chief Inspector Mitchell (Edward Chapman) and Detective Sergeant Lawson (a young Laurence Harvey), who prove to be quite able pursuers...
Lawrence Huntington directed, produced and wrote this foray into near-noir which was presumably inspired by the many deserters still at large long after V. E. Day. His script carefully positions Burdon as a sympathetic figure (the name is well-chosen).
The sad circumstances surrounding his desertion and the fact he had spent most of the war in combat is repeated at least once. To steer clear from presenting him as a coward or a chancer was undoubtedly important as everyone in the audience would have known soldiers or might even have been one themselves. Huntington also has his protagonist plea for a more constructive solution to the problem, particularly when so many such people inevitably turn to crime to survive. This situation, often forgotten today, makes Man on the Run interesting and slightly more nuanced than other chase thrillers, though it so solidly sides with Burdon that a more minute exploration of similar issues facing other such soldiers - for example, post-traumatic stress or the frustrating futility of war itself - is avoided altogether. There's a sense that each man would have his own story, though nobody describes what those might be.
Derek Farr is excellent as Burdon: pained, thoughtful, and reluctant to enlist anyone else's help. It's a shame he didn't have more of a career as he could easily have become a Kenneth More. More himself pops up early on, well before his middle-class every-man persona, like an English James Stewart in tweeds and a pipe, would lead him to become one of Britain's biggest film stars.
The police investigation, meanwhile, is headed by the sort of dogged, pipe-smoking detective familiar to pictures of this period, with Chapman's chief inspector wry and astute enough to elicit tension.
It's this quietly humming, will-they-catch-him? Element which carries the film, particularly in the excellent first half, though a thrilling set-piece of the sort included in The 39 Steps (which also had a bad guy deprived of a digit) or North By Northwest is unfortunately even more elusive than Burdon himself.
Particularly interesting for its glimpses of post-war life (from genuine London locations to a reference to radio's proto-James Bond Dick Barton), plus some gently amusing moments, Man on the Run makes for an entertaining and compelling thriller which is much recommended.
His attempts to elude the police become more perilous than ever and a desperate escape sees him bounding breathlessly into the house of young widow Jean Adams (Joan Hopkins). Jean takes pity on the ex-soldier and agrees to help. The pair become determined to find the robbers, knowing only that one of them (Edward Underdown) is missing two fingers on his left hand. All the while, they must avoid the grimly persistent Chief Inspector Mitchell (Edward Chapman) and Detective Sergeant Lawson (a young Laurence Harvey), who prove to be quite able pursuers...
Lawrence Huntington directed, produced and wrote this foray into near-noir which was presumably inspired by the many deserters still at large long after V. E. Day. His script carefully positions Burdon as a sympathetic figure (the name is well-chosen).
The sad circumstances surrounding his desertion and the fact he had spent most of the war in combat is repeated at least once. To steer clear from presenting him as a coward or a chancer was undoubtedly important as everyone in the audience would have known soldiers or might even have been one themselves. Huntington also has his protagonist plea for a more constructive solution to the problem, particularly when so many such people inevitably turn to crime to survive. This situation, often forgotten today, makes Man on the Run interesting and slightly more nuanced than other chase thrillers, though it so solidly sides with Burdon that a more minute exploration of similar issues facing other such soldiers - for example, post-traumatic stress or the frustrating futility of war itself - is avoided altogether. There's a sense that each man would have his own story, though nobody describes what those might be.
Derek Farr is excellent as Burdon: pained, thoughtful, and reluctant to enlist anyone else's help. It's a shame he didn't have more of a career as he could easily have become a Kenneth More. More himself pops up early on, well before his middle-class every-man persona, like an English James Stewart in tweeds and a pipe, would lead him to become one of Britain's biggest film stars.
The police investigation, meanwhile, is headed by the sort of dogged, pipe-smoking detective familiar to pictures of this period, with Chapman's chief inspector wry and astute enough to elicit tension.
It's this quietly humming, will-they-catch-him? Element which carries the film, particularly in the excellent first half, though a thrilling set-piece of the sort included in The 39 Steps (which also had a bad guy deprived of a digit) or North By Northwest is unfortunately even more elusive than Burdon himself.
Particularly interesting for its glimpses of post-war life (from genuine London locations to a reference to radio's proto-James Bond Dick Barton), plus some gently amusing moments, Man on the Run makes for an entertaining and compelling thriller which is much recommended.
famous people in small roles at the beginning of their careers
blanche-223 April 2021
"Man on the Run" is interesting for several reasons.
One is the postwar atmosphere in England and the problem they had with deserters, many of whom were on the run and resorting to crime. Here in the U. S., 21,000 people were charged and sentenced for desertion during World War II - 49 were sentenced to death, but only one sentence was carried out.
Although over 21,000 American soldiers were given varying sentences for desertion during World War II, including 49 death sentences, Slovik's death sentence was the only one that was carried out.
The main character in this is Peter Burden (Derek Farrar). After four years in the service, he needed extra time on his leave because his sister was dying. He was refused and stayed with her anyway.
Peter is in hiding when approached by someone who knew him, a Corp. Newman (Kenneth More, in a small part). Newman wants blackmail money; instead, Peter takes off.
When Peter tries to pawn his gun, the pawnshop is robbed at the same time by two men. The police think it's three. He is being chased through the streets when he runs into an apartment building. There he meets a widow, Jean Adams (Joan Hopkins) who agrees to help him. She hides him and lets him stay at her place.
Peter knows certain distinguishing features of one of the men and feels if he could just find him, the police would learn of his innocence. By a series of circumstances, the police zero in on Jean, so she and Peter take off to a friend's place out of London.
The chase continues, and it's Jean who actually sees someone in a cafe that she thinks is one of the robbers.
Too many coincidences in the story, but the actors are likeable, and you do pull for both of them.
Not only did More appear, but all during the film, I kept thinking one of the police detectives looked like Laurence Harvey. That's probably because it was Laurence Harvey.
One is the postwar atmosphere in England and the problem they had with deserters, many of whom were on the run and resorting to crime. Here in the U. S., 21,000 people were charged and sentenced for desertion during World War II - 49 were sentenced to death, but only one sentence was carried out.
Although over 21,000 American soldiers were given varying sentences for desertion during World War II, including 49 death sentences, Slovik's death sentence was the only one that was carried out.
The main character in this is Peter Burden (Derek Farrar). After four years in the service, he needed extra time on his leave because his sister was dying. He was refused and stayed with her anyway.
Peter is in hiding when approached by someone who knew him, a Corp. Newman (Kenneth More, in a small part). Newman wants blackmail money; instead, Peter takes off.
When Peter tries to pawn his gun, the pawnshop is robbed at the same time by two men. The police think it's three. He is being chased through the streets when he runs into an apartment building. There he meets a widow, Jean Adams (Joan Hopkins) who agrees to help him. She hides him and lets him stay at her place.
Peter knows certain distinguishing features of one of the men and feels if he could just find him, the police would learn of his innocence. By a series of circumstances, the police zero in on Jean, so she and Peter take off to a friend's place out of London.
The chase continues, and it's Jean who actually sees someone in a cafe that she thinks is one of the robbers.
Too many coincidences in the story, but the actors are likeable, and you do pull for both of them.
Not only did More appear, but all during the film, I kept thinking one of the police detectives looked like Laurence Harvey. That's probably because it was Laurence Harvey.
London after the war with the social problem of 20,ooo loose deserters, many of them criminal and on the run
clanciai23 November 2018
What you will remember of this film is the local atmosphere from the post war London with its rather weary aspect both in people and their minds and the shaggy streets, ultimately leading you down to old Wapping with one of the most genuine pub atmospheres found in any film, but there is a long way to go before that.
You will also remember the difficult case of 20,000 deserters after the war, many of them turning to criminality for having no other choice. That's the clinch in which our hero finds himself, when a burglary takes place the moment he is trying to pawn his old gun without bullets, the two robbers in desperation shooting both the clerk and, when on the run, a policeman fatally - the first casualty in the film. The clerk recovers and gives a description of our hero, whom he saw, while the two burglars were masked. So our hero finds himself wanted for murder. Could you get into any deeper sea of trouble?
It's also memorable for the fine performance by Joan Hopkins, who plays a widow who believes in our hero's innocence, Kenneth More has a small part in the beginning, which turns out fatal for our hero on a constant run, and Laurence Harvey is a policeman - neither is sympathetic. Derek Farr plays our hero convincingly enough, a completely ordinary man with an inordinate amount of bad luck, having lost practically all his family in the war. It's a sad story but well made, and the beautiful music adds some extra romantic and melancholy charm to it. In spite of the poor technical quality, I must give it almost a full score for its interesting story of an eloquent script, fluent tempo and excellent cinematography.
You will also remember the difficult case of 20,000 deserters after the war, many of them turning to criminality for having no other choice. That's the clinch in which our hero finds himself, when a burglary takes place the moment he is trying to pawn his old gun without bullets, the two robbers in desperation shooting both the clerk and, when on the run, a policeman fatally - the first casualty in the film. The clerk recovers and gives a description of our hero, whom he saw, while the two burglars were masked. So our hero finds himself wanted for murder. Could you get into any deeper sea of trouble?
It's also memorable for the fine performance by Joan Hopkins, who plays a widow who believes in our hero's innocence, Kenneth More has a small part in the beginning, which turns out fatal for our hero on a constant run, and Laurence Harvey is a policeman - neither is sympathetic. Derek Farr plays our hero convincingly enough, a completely ordinary man with an inordinate amount of bad luck, having lost practically all his family in the war. It's a sad story but well made, and the beautiful music adds some extra romantic and melancholy charm to it. In spite of the poor technical quality, I must give it almost a full score for its interesting story of an eloquent script, fluent tempo and excellent cinematography.
And the audience too !!
searchanddestroy-123 October 2011
Warning: Spoilers
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.
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.
I liked it but it is not a forgotten classic.
ib011f9545i7 July 2020
The blu ray cover says this is a key post war British noir unseen since the first release.
I don't think it is a key film compared to It Always Rains On Sunday or The Blue Lamp.
I like the film,it looks good.
The pub sets look great,I want to eat in that cafe,is it Fitzrovia maybe?
But the tone of the film is stiff and dated compared to Waterloo Road or It Always Rains on Sunday.
Don't get me wrong,it is not a bad film but it is not daring compared with It Always Rain.
Indeed They Made Me A Fugitive is similar in theme to this and a better film in my opinion.
Great British noir gives glimpse of postwar Britain
lucyrf30 May 2020
Warning: Spoilers
I remember that world!
Derek Farr is always watchable, and the underrated actor gives a good portrayal of the deserter who gets mixed up in a fatal shooting. Rather fortuitously, he is taken in by a well-spoken widow.
Jean Adams sells hats in a department store (which sadly we never see inside), and has a flat in Soho, just the location for a naice young girl like her. Her flat seems rather large and palatial for a shop assistant - she could probably afford half a room. Oh, but perhaps she has her husband's pension - fortunate that they never got divorced after all before he died. She conveys her moral rectitude with a literally stiff neck - she appears unable to look over her shoulder. The spot light that gives her a spiritual look and a semi-halo helps too.
Jean wears "New Look" fashions throughout. They are rather frumpy, and not nearly as attractive as the more dated dresses worn by the rest of the female cast. Apart from Eleanor Summerfield, they are waitresses or ladies of the night. Unlike Jean's Tardis-like apartment, the rest of the interiors we see haven't been revamped for about 50 years. Their entire contents were about to be thrown in the skip as "Victorian monstrosities". Oh, if I'd been around then with a large van!
Yes, you can poke fun at this film - but I really enjoyed it. I wonder if Eleanor's hotel in Selsey is still open for visitors.
Derek Farr is always watchable, and the underrated actor gives a good portrayal of the deserter who gets mixed up in a fatal shooting. Rather fortuitously, he is taken in by a well-spoken widow.
Jean Adams sells hats in a department store (which sadly we never see inside), and has a flat in Soho, just the location for a naice young girl like her. Her flat seems rather large and palatial for a shop assistant - she could probably afford half a room. Oh, but perhaps she has her husband's pension - fortunate that they never got divorced after all before he died. She conveys her moral rectitude with a literally stiff neck - she appears unable to look over her shoulder. The spot light that gives her a spiritual look and a semi-halo helps too.
Jean wears "New Look" fashions throughout. They are rather frumpy, and not nearly as attractive as the more dated dresses worn by the rest of the female cast. Apart from Eleanor Summerfield, they are waitresses or ladies of the night. Unlike Jean's Tardis-like apartment, the rest of the interiors we see haven't been revamped for about 50 years. Their entire contents were about to be thrown in the skip as "Victorian monstrosities". Oh, if I'd been around then with a large van!
Yes, you can poke fun at this film - but I really enjoyed it. I wonder if Eleanor's hotel in Selsey is still open for visitors.
Deserters
dierregi26 April 2022
This is the one and only movie I saw (and I saw many) tackling the theme of deserters. Main character Peter is one of them, a guy who used to be a good soldier but felt compelled to run AWOL after four years of war because his father died in a raid and his mother and sister needed his presence.
Peter is working as a bartender in a remote corner of England when an ex-comrade happens to pass by and tries to blackmail him. Peter moves to London, where life is difficult and expensive, and while trying to pawn his weapon he gets involved in an attempted robbery. He's only a witness but the police are chasing him.
Attractive widow Jean comes to his help and the plot develops nicely, albeit in a slightly forced way towards a suitable ending. The interesting part is the perspective of deserters, considered both from a negative and less negative point of view and just for that, the movie deserves some extra points.
Peter is working as a bartender in a remote corner of England when an ex-comrade happens to pass by and tries to blackmail him. Peter moves to London, where life is difficult and expensive, and while trying to pawn his weapon he gets involved in an attempted robbery. He's only a witness but the police are chasing him.
Attractive widow Jean comes to his help and the plot develops nicely, albeit in a slightly forced way towards a suitable ending. The interesting part is the perspective of deserters, considered both from a negative and less negative point of view and just for that, the movie deserves some extra points.
British drama with a Hitchcockian plot
Leofwine_draca14 July 2020
Warning: Spoilers
MAN ON THE RUN is a British spin on the popular 'wronged man' premise, a little more genteel and laid back than most. Derek Farr essays the role of an army deserter now living a quiet life, who is visited by old army chum Kenneth Moore in a small exposition role. Soon after he finds himself caught up in a violent robbery in one of those densely-written dilemma stories with a good hook. It's all a little Hitchcockian, although never particularly suspenseful; as is the case with many films of this era, a decent cast (including Laurence Harvey) elevates the material somewhat.
Just deserts for the deserters.
mark.waltz23 May 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Because there were tens of thousands of deserters roaming around Great Britain after World War Two, there was lots of crime because they could not find legitimate work. Even though they were allegedly promised immunity, that didn't stop the government from sentencing them to hard labor. Such as the fear of deserter Derek Farr cool being recognized by people he knew as being a deserter ends up being forced into becoming involved with the robbery which leads to someone being killed. Because the other ones who were responsible were wearing masks, Farr is fingered and ends up on the run, hidden by Joan Hopkins who risks her reputation by tossing the gun over a bridge when Farr ends up with it on his person. When she is exposed as an accomplice, this brings Farr out into the open to expose the real killers.
A complex B crime drama, this features Lawrence Harvey in a supporting role as well as some great location footage of parts of London that were rarely photographed. It's gritty and raw and real, a look back at a slice of post World War II life where a lot of internal wars were still going on as people were having a hard time readjusting, both civilians and former fighters. A good script, often a bit complex, but featuring realistic performances and a dire situation for the two leads where there seems to be no easy way out of trouble.
A complex B crime drama, this features Lawrence Harvey in a supporting role as well as some great location footage of parts of London that were rarely photographed. It's gritty and raw and real, a look back at a slice of post World War II life where a lot of internal wars were still going on as people were having a hard time readjusting, both civilians and former fighters. A good script, often a bit complex, but featuring realistic performances and a dire situation for the two leads where there seems to be no easy way out of trouble.
Not film noir or Brit noir, more film grey. But good nevertheless!
j_paul_murdock31 July 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Recently demobbed Kenneth More has just enough screen time to stumble across deserter Derek Farr now posing as the barman at a pub in a sleepy coastal village. (Don't worry, there's no salmon poaching, bell ringing or escaping spies and stolen documents involved in this film...) More threatens to blackmail Farr, who flees to London. Jumping forward 4 weeks, Farr is behind on his rent and decides to sell his service revolver. Unfortunately, just as he pulls the (empty) gun to sell it at the jeweller's, two gunmen (one with an Australian accent and without the tops to his middle two fingers on his left hand) burst in on a raid. The jeweller sets off the alarm which hails a policeman who gets killed by one of the robbers. Farr flees the scene and goes on the run.
Later that day, Farr is in a pub and gets involved in a fight after being falsely accused of pickpocketing. Unfortunately, the gun is seen, so Farr escapes and forces himself on a woman who lives round the corner. She, played by Joan Hopkins, hears Farr's story. He served 4 years and deserted because the army wouldn't extend his compassionate leave as his family fell apart. Feeling sorry for Farr and, missing her own late husband, Joan decides to help him. She tries to get rid of Farr's gun but, instead of dropping it in the river, it lands on a barge for the bargee to take into the police. A policeman stops her and asks to see her identity card thinking she is trying to commit suicide.
Joan smuggles Farr out to her friend's B&B in Suffolk and they spend time together falling in love. The police are soon on to Joan when they put the gun and the sighting of her on the bridge together. Back in London and just before they call her in, she spots a man answering the description of the tall, thin guy with the missing fingers and the Australian accent. She follows him to a flat and manages to get the information to Farr who goes out there to confront them. They, deserters too, manage to steal a car and get Farr out to a pub on the river to get rid of him just as Joan is taken in for questioning where she eventually tells all. Missing the men at the flat, the police manage to trace the stolen car to the pub where there is a shootout. The robbers are arrested.
Farr is court marshalled for desertion and is sentenced to a year in prison. Joan promises to wait for him.
With quite a similar premise to Troubleshooters, this film is allowed to breathe a bit more, although there are still a few leaps of faith as far as the storyline is concerned. Farr's reason for desertion is, of course, more honourable, but it does seem to be a film to highlight the plight of apparently 20,000 deserters after WWII. Again, the police help out our antihero in the end.
Despite Kenneth More's fleeting appearance and a very young Lawrence Harvey trying to be smouldering as a police constable, the redeeming feature of Farr and Joan as the leads is that they still steal the film despite their ordinainess. They could indeed be you or I. The moral of the film is redemption. Not only that, but that each person's story is different and individual, and that, even with a little help from friends, it is ultimately up to us to get ourselves out of trouble and to do the right thing.
Later that day, Farr is in a pub and gets involved in a fight after being falsely accused of pickpocketing. Unfortunately, the gun is seen, so Farr escapes and forces himself on a woman who lives round the corner. She, played by Joan Hopkins, hears Farr's story. He served 4 years and deserted because the army wouldn't extend his compassionate leave as his family fell apart. Feeling sorry for Farr and, missing her own late husband, Joan decides to help him. She tries to get rid of Farr's gun but, instead of dropping it in the river, it lands on a barge for the bargee to take into the police. A policeman stops her and asks to see her identity card thinking she is trying to commit suicide.
Joan smuggles Farr out to her friend's B&B in Suffolk and they spend time together falling in love. The police are soon on to Joan when they put the gun and the sighting of her on the bridge together. Back in London and just before they call her in, she spots a man answering the description of the tall, thin guy with the missing fingers and the Australian accent. She follows him to a flat and manages to get the information to Farr who goes out there to confront them. They, deserters too, manage to steal a car and get Farr out to a pub on the river to get rid of him just as Joan is taken in for questioning where she eventually tells all. Missing the men at the flat, the police manage to trace the stolen car to the pub where there is a shootout. The robbers are arrested.
Farr is court marshalled for desertion and is sentenced to a year in prison. Joan promises to wait for him.
With quite a similar premise to Troubleshooters, this film is allowed to breathe a bit more, although there are still a few leaps of faith as far as the storyline is concerned. Farr's reason for desertion is, of course, more honourable, but it does seem to be a film to highlight the plight of apparently 20,000 deserters after WWII. Again, the police help out our antihero in the end.
Despite Kenneth More's fleeting appearance and a very young Lawrence Harvey trying to be smouldering as a police constable, the redeeming feature of Farr and Joan as the leads is that they still steal the film despite their ordinainess. They could indeed be you or I. The moral of the film is redemption. Not only that, but that each person's story is different and individual, and that, even with a little help from friends, it is ultimately up to us to get ourselves out of trouble and to do the right thing.
Joan Hopkins is excellent
jromanbaker18 October 2021
The great shame of unused female actors in British cinema is far too long; Joan Greenwood was an example, and rarely given roles that were truly worthy of her. Joan Hopkins is another and even less well known than Greenwood or many others. A pity because she had a statuesque beauty, and a quiet charm and in some shots her beauty almost rivals Greta Garbo. Opposite Derek Farr there is good chemistry, and for once she is pivotal to the film and not only decoration. Farr is a deserter from WW2 and on the run not only for that, but for a murder he is suspected of committing. Hopkins takes him into her flat and the two fall in love. I liked too the atmosphere of the UK after the war, with its turmoil at getting back to a previous life that will never come again. A fluctuating chaos that lasted through the late 1940's and the mid to late 1950's. The film is rich on detail, and there is Kenneth More as a war veteran in a small but significant role. Well directed,, and in the main well acted, it is worthy of hunting down for all those interested in this period of history, and the run down houses peeling with damp and cold bear no resemblance to the wealth there today. These films are essential to UK history and the passing of times, and the poverty and wealth that goes with it. And Joan Hopkins is quite simply excellent.
A very superior British postwar drama
robert-temple-120 May 2023
This is an excellent drama, with a complex story and a good script, well directed by Lawrence Huntington. It stars Derek Farr as a deserter from the Army who is hoping not to be discovered, and works as a publican under the false name of Peter Brown (his real name being Peter Burden). His pub is in a fishing village on the Cornish coast. But by bizarre coincidence, a former corporal from his regiment turns up for a beer, played by Kenneth More. He is hard up and lets Farr know that he won't report him if he gives him some money and pays him monthly after that. Farr cannot afford it, so he flees to London. As he cannot pay the rent on his attic flat in London, he takes the only thing of value which he has with him to sell, namely a .32 Enfield service revolver. Just as he is holding it to show to the shop owner, two masked men burst in and rob the shop, knocking out the proprietor. A policeman chases them and they shoot him dead. Farr is then caught up in the crime, since the proprietor assumes he was a third gunman of the robbery. But this is only the beginning of the complications. The police are on the case, with Edward Chapman, with his authoritative air, playing a Chief Inspector, and the young Lawrence Harvey as his detective sergeant. This was only Harvey's second film, but he already seems assured and does an excellent job. As the tense story progresses, Farr finds himself being chased by a policeman in Soho and dashes into an open door which is just closing. He shuts the door and puts his band over the mouth of a young woman so she won't scream, apologizing all the while for his rudeness. This is Joan Hopkins, an excellent actress who retired from the screen in the fifties after only a handful of films. She is just right for the part and has a strong screen presence. One thing leads to another and another and another and another. The story turns endless corners, and there is always a new threat. Farr and Hopkins find they cannot part yet because of the area being under observation, and her flat has already been searched once. Hopkins is a widow, her husband having been killed as an airman in the War. She comes to realize that Farr is not a baddie, and they slowly come closer and closer together in the typically restrained way of English people at that time (just recall Celia Johnson). But trouble keeps happening. Farr remembers that one of the real robbers had the tops of his two middle fingers missing. That is their only clue as to what really happened. It seems hopeless. Britain is full of wartime deserters, in fact 20,000 of them. Farr himself had a sad story to excuse his desertion. He and Hopkins flee to another distant coastal town, but they have to flee from there. Harried and hunted, and now bonded together, they struggle to evade the police. But the story goes on getting more complicated still. The reviewer's Code of Honour forbids me to tell more about the twists and turns that ensue. And certainly, the ending cannot even be hinted at. (Nor, frankly, can the resolution even be guessed.) The film is really directed superbly by Huntington, who three years earlier had directed NIGHT BOAT TO DUBLIN (1946, see my review). There were so many British movies of this period which are worthwhile, and one must hope that somehow people will continue to watch them.
Too Contrived
malcolmgsw18 January 2014
Warning: Spoilers
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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