Woman on the Run

There's LOTS of snappy dialog in this film, all of it involving Ann Sheriden, & much of it involving Dennis O'Keefe as Danny Leggett or Robert Keith as Inspector Ferris. There are very few Film Noirs with a female lead, & this is one of them. Sheriden does a terrific job as the wife of a man on the run from the police & the mob. Is Ann faithful or faithless? Where's her husband? Does she care? These are some of the questions raised in the film. Lots of shadows, much of it filmed at night, but there are some sunny scenes. Look for #2 Son as one of the Chinese dancers. The dialog was so tart that it reminded me of `The Big Sleep,' & that's saying a lot. One big difference between that film & this, is that this film is a lot more easy to comprehend. I actually knew who they were talking about when they referred to `Susie' or `Ferris,' maybe because the number of characters in this movie were few, & their roles were very well defined. Exciting, suspenseful, good sense of humor, very well acted & directed. Too bad it's hard to find on video & it's never shown on TV. I rate it 9/10.

This neat little thriller from 1950 is all the more interesting since Ann Sheridan is the woman in the title. Miss Sheridan is most convincing as she searches for her husband who witnessed a gangland murder and must find him before the underworld does. There are many tense moments along the way especially when she ends up riding on a roller coaster. Good support from Dennis O'Keefe, Robert Keith and Ross Elliott plus a good screenplay help this film rise above B status.

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..

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.)

Woman on the Run has some wonderful scenes. Ann Sheridan plays a disenchanted wife whose husband was a witness to a gangland killing (while walking his little dog). Realising that he is in great danger the man goes into hiding (without the dog). Right from the beginning the noirish drama is mixed with hilarious humor. The police officers who come to the Sheridan character's house after the incident are cheeky and mean to the extreme. The woman who for some reason is treated like a suspect even has to open all her kitchen cupboards (I won't tell you what's in it, it's very telling and absolutely funny). Many aspects of the script do not stand up to logic. But, well, it is "only a movie" and therefore it does not matter at all – quite on the contrary in fact.

Alfred Hitchcock must have run this one in his screening room more than once. The finale in a funfair has a strong resemblance with the one in his Strangers on a Train, released one year later. It has an astonishingly well done nightly rollercoaster scene. Furthermore there is some very good location shooting on the streets of San Francisco. I can highly recommend this well fotographed and directed movie with good performances, especially by Ann Sheridan.