They Made Me a Fugitive (1947)
(I Became a Criminal)
Country: GB
Technical: bw 99m
Director: Alberto Cavalcanti
Cast: Sally Gray, Trevor Howard, Griffith Jones, René Ray
Synopsis:
A demobbed RAF pilot falls in with a gang of blackmarketeers, but he is set up on a job and does time for manslaughter. Escaping, and on the run from both sides of the law, he strikes out for revenge.
Review:
A fine example of the post-war spiv cycle of British crime drama/film noir, this bears comparison with the following year's Brighton Rock. Indeed, with its predominantly nocturnal action, fondness for rainsoaked alley ways and not-so-loyal blonde, it is more 'noir' than that film. Howard is wonderfully seedy, embittered, and yet wistfully romantic, as the doomed hero (cf. Detour, made in the US at about the same time) and Jones's psychotic woman-beater ranks alongside the likes of Kirk Douglas in Out of the Past as a portrayal of unredeemed villainy. Also impressive is Sally Gray's reformed moll and the hardbitten script by Noel Langley. Cavalcanti marshals proceedings with a flair for low-angle shots, Hitchcockian situations and despicable violence to women (Gray kicked in the face as the camera spins with horror). Warner Brothers distributed this Alliance film, shaving a few minutes off for US release.
(I Became a Criminal)
Country: GB
Technical: bw 99m
Director: Alberto Cavalcanti
Cast: Sally Gray, Trevor Howard, Griffith Jones, René Ray
Synopsis:
A demobbed RAF pilot falls in with a gang of blackmarketeers, but he is set up on a job and does time for manslaughter. Escaping, and on the run from both sides of the law, he strikes out for revenge.
Review:
A fine example of the post-war spiv cycle of British crime drama/film noir, this bears comparison with the following year's Brighton Rock. Indeed, with its predominantly nocturnal action, fondness for rainsoaked alley ways and not-so-loyal blonde, it is more 'noir' than that film. Howard is wonderfully seedy, embittered, and yet wistfully romantic, as the doomed hero (cf. Detour, made in the US at about the same time) and Jones's psychotic woman-beater ranks alongside the likes of Kirk Douglas in Out of the Past as a portrayal of unredeemed villainy. Also impressive is Sally Gray's reformed moll and the hardbitten script by Noel Langley. Cavalcanti marshals proceedings with a flair for low-angle shots, Hitchcockian situations and despicable violence to women (Gray kicked in the face as the camera spins with horror). Warner Brothers distributed this Alliance film, shaving a few minutes off for US release.
(I Became a Criminal)
Country: GB
Technical: bw 99m
Director: Alberto Cavalcanti
Cast: Sally Gray, Trevor Howard, Griffith Jones, René Ray
Synopsis:
A demobbed RAF pilot falls in with a gang of blackmarketeers, but he is set up on a job and does time for manslaughter. Escaping, and on the run from both sides of the law, he strikes out for revenge.
Review:
A fine example of the post-war spiv cycle of British crime drama/film noir, this bears comparison with the following year's Brighton Rock. Indeed, with its predominantly nocturnal action, fondness for rainsoaked alley ways and not-so-loyal blonde, it is more 'noir' than that film. Howard is wonderfully seedy, embittered, and yet wistfully romantic, as the doomed hero (cf. Detour, made in the US at about the same time) and Jones's psychotic woman-beater ranks alongside the likes of Kirk Douglas in Out of the Past as a portrayal of unredeemed villainy. Also impressive is Sally Gray's reformed moll and the hardbitten script by Noel Langley. Cavalcanti marshals proceedings with a flair for low-angle shots, Hitchcockian situations and despicable violence to women (Gray kicked in the face as the camera spins with horror). Warner Brothers distributed this Alliance film, shaving a few minutes off for US release.