Man on the Run

Man on the Run

Company type	Film
Industry	Film
Founded	1949
Founder	Lawrence Huntington
Products	Film noir

Man on the Run is a 1949 British film noir directed, written, and produced by Lawrence Huntington. The cast features Derek Farr, Joan Hopkins, Edward Chapman, Kenneth More, and Laurence Harvey.

Plot

Set in post-war Britain, the story follows an army deserter who becomes wrongly accused of murder following a pawn shop robbery. While fleeing from the authorities, he attempts to clear his name with assistance from a war widow, all the while evading the police and trying to track down the actual perpetrators.

Cast

• Derek Farr as Sergeant Peter Burden, also known as Brown
• Joan Hopkins as Jean Adams
• Edward Chapman as Chief Inspector Mitchell
• Laurence Harvey as Detective Sergeant Lawson
• Howard Marion-Crawford as First Paratrooper
• Alfie Bass as Bert, the barge mate
• John Bailey as Dan Underwood, a burglar
• John Stuart as Detective Inspector Jim McBane
• Edward Underdown as Slim Elfey, a burglar missing fingers
• Leslie Perrins as Charlie, the fence
• Kenneth More as Corporal Newman, a blackmailer
• Martin Miller as Tony, owner of the café
• Cameron Hall as Reg Hawkins
• Eleanor Summerfield as May Baker of the Anchor Hotel
• Anthony Nicholls as Station Inspector at Wapping
• Valentine Dyall as Army Judge Advocate
• Howard Douglas as Sweeny, the bargee
• Laurence Ray as Andy
• Bruce Belfrage as BBC Announcer
• Robert Adair as Morgan
• Charles Paton as Proprietor of the Second Hand Clothes Shop
• Basil Cunard as Second Pub Patron (Soho Pub)
• Jack McNaughton as First Pub Patron (Soho Pub)
• Virginia Winter as First Barmaid (Soho Pub)
• Margaret Goodman as Rosa
• La lage Lewis as Lily
• Patrick Barr as Plain Clothes Officer (Cab Scene)
• Gerald Case as Policeman at Waterloo Bridge
• John Boxer as Radio Control Officer
• Roy Russell as Mobile Police Sergeant
• R Stuart Lindsell as Elliott

• Arthur Mullard appears uncredited as a man standing at the bar

Box office

By April 1, 1950, UK distributor gross receipts for the film reached £64,453, with £35,947 returned to the producer. Nevertheless, it ultimately recorded a loss amounting to £74,142.

Critical

The Monthly Film Bulletin praised the film’s authentic depiction of Soho but criticized its lack of originality and failure to maintain tension. The review pointed out excessive moralizing regarding clemency for deserters and unnecessary exposition of the protagonist’s motives, which weakened the film’s effectiveness. The inclusion of a court-martial scene after the climax was described as an anticlimax.

In British Sound Films: The Studio Years 1928–1959, critic David Quinlan gave it an "average" rating, acknowledging its energetic thrills but noting its limited believability.