Dans l'ombre de San Francisco

WOMAN ON THE RUN is an infinitely better and more rewarding movie experience now than when it was released in 1950. Saw it back then when I was a child and the only thing I remembered was the terrifically-exciting roller coaster sequence. Seeing it again on DVD makes me appreciate everything about it, a film noir classic. To make such a no-nonsense, concise and plausible crime thriller with a sensational finale today certainly seems to be asking for the impossible. Ann Sheridan, of a certain age, never sexier and looking like a million dollars, dominates the screen, as usual. She can do anything, but overact. She's the real thing. Scenes in this movie bear comparison to Orson Welles' TOUCH OF EVIL and Alfred Hitchcock'S STRANGERS ON A TRAIN. This is a gem - hard-boiled, splendidly-acted, written and photographed.

Considering that this film is in the public domain AND I've never heard of it, I naturally assumed it would be a pretty crappy example of Film Noir. However, I was very pleasantly surprised and recommend you give this film a try. It's very well written and gives Ann Sheridan perhaps her best film role as a very noir-like 'dame'! In addition to her lovely performance, you have ubiquitous Robert Keith (a face you'll recognize but a name you will not) and Dennis O'Keefe.

The film begins with some ordinary guy walking his dog late at night. He just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, as he accidentally sees a witness against a mobster in an upcoming court case being murdered...and the guy with the dog clearly sees the killer. However, this guy is no hero and as soon as he gets a chance, he escapes from police custody as he does NOT want to be a witness--figuring that he'll be killed if he does give evidence in court. Here is where it gets interesting: when the cops locate this missing witnesses wife, she is less than helpful but also seems to care little for the guy. Sheridan is wonderful as the snappy-talking wife--and there is much more to it--much more. But I really don't want to go further, as it would compromise your enjoying the film.

The bottom line is that the film is wonderfully written, gritty and very exciting film. In addition, the film works well well because it is well-acted and directed. It is not a famous noir film but is among the best--and amazingly enough, all you need to do is follow the link on IMDb to download it for free.

Norman Foster did a fine job of directing Ann Sheridan and Dennis O'Keefe in "Woman on the Run," a 1950 film, somewhat low budget. Sheridan by this time was around 34 years old, and the cutoff for women in those days was 30. Soon she would be turning to television.

In the story, Frank Johnson (Ross Elliott) is out walking his dog Rembrandt when he witnesses a gangland hit. He goes on the run as the police desperately look for him, since he's their sole witness.

They question his wife Eleanor (Sheridan) who has no idea where he is, and, since the marriage is on the rocks, she thinks he wants to get away from her as well. The police, headed by an Inspector Ferris (Robert Keith), starts following her, and she is bothered by a newspaperman, Danny (O'Keefe). She throws her hat in with him and the two work together to find Frank.

Frank has left Eleanor some clues, and it's in those clues that Eleanor realizes one thing - Frank loves her, and if she can find him, she will try to make the marriage work.

Very good noir, with the earthy Sheridan in fine form, with her dry delivery. O'Keefe was always a solid leading man, and he does a good job here. Always nice to see Victor Sen Yung, and you will recognize many television people who are in the film.

Eleanor and Danny go all over San Francisco, which is fun to see in its post-war state. And the roller-coaster scenes are fabulous and tense.

Good movie; see it if you can.

Lots of imaginative touches in this suspenseful noir. Catch the midget in the phone booth, the mannequins from heck, or the camera that pulls away from the climax. Director Foster sure didn't treat this as just another programmer. For that matter, neither did the producers who popped for atmospheric San Francisco locations plus an A-list cast. All in all, there would appear to be a backstory to this unusual production.

So who's going to help poor Sheridan now that a killer is searching for her estranged husband. Not the cops, since Keith is too ornery to sense her need. But then she comes across as a pretty tough cookie (as only Sheridan can) herself. And what about reporter O"Keefe. Is he really a help or just in it for himself. At first I thought the plot was a whodunit, but then it turns into a moody nail-biter, along the lines of urban classic DOA (1950). And what about those great SF locations that lend genuine atmosphere. Cameraman Hal Mohr does an expert job complementing the story with many of SF's exotic settings. In fact, the acting and production values manage to keep attention away from plot developments that at times are a stretch.

I guess my only real reservation is with the camera pull-away at the climax. It's imaginative and heightens suspense, but also dilutes the outcome that we never get to see. Still, however you take that, the movie itself remains an exotic slice of b&w, and a tribute especially to its director and cameraman.

(In passing-- why the title 'Woman' On The Run when it seems it's really a man.)

Shown for theatrically for the first time in 40 years at the 2003 San Francisco Noir Festival, this rediscovered gem has some of

the classic elements that make the genre so appealing; here an innocent bystander to a murder is on the run with a wife who is

desperately trying to find him before the cops or the killer can get to him.

A wisecracking Ann Sheridan careens around San Francisco with reporter Dennis OÕKeefe who may or may not be an ally.

One of the delights of this film is that the city is portrayed realistically with picturesque 1950 settings in North Beach,

Chinatown, Telegraph Hill and the long gone Playland at the Beach.

One interesting bit of trivia: Norman Foster later ditched the noir formula and became a successful director of Disney hits such as Zorro and Davy Crockett and eventually went on to direct episodes of the Batman and Green Hornet television series..