Escape Route

Another quota quickie British film of the fifties. This is one of literally hundreds of films that had an American actor in the leading role purely as a way of getting a release in the USA.

George Raft stars as an FBI agent sent over to Britain to find out how, why and where leading scientists are being abducted and taken East.

Raft, obviously at the twilight of his career, looks a little bored with the whole thing. Judging by his square shoulders, he seems to have left his coat hanger in his overcoat and his arms seem to be glued to his sides. His leading lady, quite a bit younger than him, also seems uneasy of smooching an older man!

Using schoolboy spy techniques they uncover the spy ring and Raft gets the girl. An undemanding film that passes the short running time.

This is being advertised as part of a film noir collection. Its is definitely not noir. It is a cheap B&W second run British post-war espionage mystery. It has some very good London exteriors showing WWII bombed out building, streets, and vintage cars but that's about it. George Raft is his usual upright, erect, suave self and the story is hokey, naturally there is a female romantic interest thrown in as usual formula but it is not objectionable or at all a waste of time, it's a good display of a has-been American actor on the cheap to a a thrifty British production and that's all. It is watchable, you don't want to turn it off, so see it for what it is without any high expectations.

In one of his Lippert Pictures George Raft shot this one in London where he plays an FBI agent on the trail of some scientists who've been kidnapped in various western countries and presumably taken to the Soviet Union to work for the other side. To accomplish his mission Raft has to team up with Sally Gray of British Intelligence who is both pretty and useful.

By that I mean anyone who could reverse a custody situation and get George Raft in a hammerlock has to be a girl you can get serious about when the mission is completed.

Even though the film isn't quite 80 minutes it moves along at a ponderous pace. Raft looked bored throughout the film, his paycheck must have cleared and he was going through the motions. His days as a top star were over and he was reduced to Poverty Row Lippert Pictures to get enough money to pay that huge tax bill Uncle Sam was smacking him with.

Clifford Evans as the mastermind of the kidnappings had some interesting moments. But the film is definitely mediocre.

Escape Route is a low budget quickie with ageing US star George Raft as Steve Rossi.

Rossi shows up in London, skipping the immigration queue and looking for an old friend called Grand.

Grand is elusive and wants to stay that way. Rossi is in fact a FBI agent who is investigating a gang kidnapping western scientists and taking them to Eastern Europe. Rossi teams up with the British secret service agent Joan Miller (Sally Gray) to apprehend Grand.

Raft looks a bit stiff and the romance with his younger star Sally Gray looks a bit ikky.

The film is ponderous, the title of the movie makes no sense. It is efficient but the plot seems all over the place with no tension or thrills.

Airplane engineers are being snatched off the street, so George Raft, an airplane designer, flies to London to take up Clifford Evans' job offer, only first he has to find him. This leads him to Sally Gray, who turns out to be working for British Intelligence. They start pursuing Evans together.

This is a rote movie and everyone seems to be putting in just enough energy to collect their paychecks. The script starts and stops for no clear reason, as bad guys try to kill Raft and then leave after the first attempt fails; a bad guy takes a swing at Raft, misses by several inches, and Raft falls down. The entire production is run in such a sloppy, uncaring manner that the viewer must be similarly unengaged.

There is some decent inadvertent documentary work in the site location; as Raft and Miss Gray wander about London, there are some nice views of still unrepaired war damage. However, given the generally low level of excellence, that made me think the film makers were ripping off shots from THE THIRD MAN and NAKED CITY.

This was Sally Gray's first movie since 1949 and her last. She would retire from the movies to become Baroness Oranmore and Browne, Baroness Mereworth in a fifty-year marriage and live to be 91. It's a happy ending that satisfies me.