Man on the Run

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source: Man on the Run

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

"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.