Norman Foster (director)
Arrow Academy (studio)
PG (certificate)
76min (length)
13 June 2016 (released)
11 June 2016
This fast-paced ‘on location’ thriller from 1950 was considered a lost gem of the ‘Film Noir’ genre but with a little magic and plenty of restoration we all can finally join the thrill ride that is WOMAN ON THE RUN.
Set in San Francisco, artist Frank Johnson (Ross Elliott) witnesses a gangland shooting while walking his dog Rembrandt at night. Just before the shooting some voices were exchanged, indicating Irish accents. Aware that Frank witnessed what happened, the killer then tries to shoot him but instead aims at Frank’s shadow before fleeing. When the cops arrive it emerges that the murdered man was about to testify against a certain gangster… but now the witness is dead and Inspector Ferris (Robert Keith) tries to persuade Frank to testify, even promising protective custody. At first Frank agrees to it but when Ferris gets momentarily side-tracked, he has a change of mind after weighing up the consequences and does a runner.
When Ferris and his cops arrive at Frank’s studio apartment they hope that his wife Eleanor (Ann Sheridan) will no doubt lead them to Frank and make it clear to her that they must find him quick before the mob does! Trouble is, Eleanor and Frank might be a couple on paper but really they are quite estranged from each other, with the acid-tongued Eleanor seemingly not giving a damn as to her husband’s whereabouts. Far from believing that he is hiding from the mob she believes he is in fact hiding from her, and that’s a frustrating situation for our inspector!
Aware that getting Eleanor to cooperate means hard work, Ferris and his men nonetheless remain hot on her heels in the hope she might contact Frank in secret, though Ferris is not the only one who hopes so: reporter Daniel Leggett (Dennis O’Keefe) also hopes to find Frank in search of a top story and thus befriends Eleanor, who receives cryptic messages from her husband on where to find him. At first, she isn’t that bothered but when the family doctor tells her of Frank’s heart condition it becomes only too evident just how far the couple have grown apart over the years, for she had no idea about his illness! Adamant to bring the life-saving medicine to him, Eleanor and Daniel even visit San Francisco’s famous ‘Chinatown’ district, where mutual friend Sammy Chung (Victor Sen Yung) delivers another cryptic message to her. Daniel promises to pay Frank a proud sum if he can get the exclusive on the gangland shooting story – at least that’s the reason he gives Eleanor as to why he is interested in finding Frank. The penny drops when, during a phone conversation, the reporter gives his name as ‘Danny Boy’ and the Irish connection becomes all too clear. Suddenly we, the viewers, know that Daniel aka Danny is not really interested in getting that top story from Frank though unfortunately Eleanor hasn’t got the foggiest.
At the film’s nail-biting finale, Eleanor and Danny arrive at a beachside amusement park where Frank is waiting for them. Having briefly spoken with Frank, she returns to Danny to bring him along to the secret meeting place. Coaxing Eleanor into believing that he needs to speak to Frank alone regarding the money offer for his ‘top story’, Danny puts her on a rollercoaster. During the ride, Eleanor suddenly realises that Danny is not who he claims to be after he inadvertently drops a ‘clanger’, but she is stuck on the rollercoaster and can’t get to Frank to warn him…
If the phrase ‘Love is a rollercoaster ride’ was ever used to maximum effect then it’s in this taut thriller, in which Ann Sheridan utterly convinces as the acerbic wife seemingly looking for her husband but in fact looking for the fragments of her broken marriage with the intend of fixing things. The film was adapted from a short story by Sylvia Tate called ‘Man on the Run’ but here, we have a female heroine which makes this Film Noir all the more intriguing! Last but not least it should be mentioned that the atmospheric visuals are strongly enhanced courtesy of award-winning cinematographer Hal Mohr.
Arrow Academy is excited to present this world-premiere restored by UCLA Film & Television Archive, and passionately championed by the Film Noir Foundation, with special thanks to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. One of the great missing films of the classic noir era has now been restored and contains the following SPECIAL FEATURES:
Brand new restoration of original 35mm vault elements by UCLA Film & Television Archive
· Presented in High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD
· Original mono audio (uncompressed PCM on the Blu-ray)
· Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
· Audio Commentary by author, historian, and “noirchaeologist” Eddie Muller
· Love is a Rollercoaster: Woman on the Run Revisited – a new featurette on the making of the film, from script to noir classic, produced by Steven Smith and the Film Noir Foundation
· A Wild Ride: Restoring Woman on the Run – a stranger-than-fiction document of the film’s restoration, produced by Steven Smith and the Film Noir Foundation
· Noir City – a short documentary directed by Joe Talbot about the annual Noir City Film Festival presented by the Film Noir Foundation at San Francisco’s historic Castro Theatre
· Gallery featuring rare photographs, poster art and original lobby cards
· Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matt Griffin
· Booklet featuring new writing by Eddie Muller