On the Run (1963) Poster

(1963)

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5/10
"He's on his way to London in a red van"
hwg1957-102-2657045 May 2021
Warning: Spoilers
A man in prison Frank Stewart escapes one month away from release to retrieve the swag he concealed previously but the police and some villains are on his trail. He is helped by a sympathetic friend of his daughter. A routine effort in the Edgar Wallace series from Merton Park studios that only livens up near the end. It is not helped by Emrys Jones as Stewart being so dull and boring. That women have been attracted to him including two wives and the main female lead played by Sarah Lawson is frankly unbelievable.

Interest is only held by the good location cinematography in London, Kevin Stoney and Delphi Lawrence as the devious couple and a few familiar character actors that pop up now and then.
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5/10
Murkily plotted
Leofwine_draca4 June 2018
Warning: Spoilers
ON THE RUN is another of the 'Edgar Wallace Theatre' B-movies made in Britain in the early 1960s. These were second-rate features that lasted an hour each, and unfortunately 'second rate' is how I'd class this. The film has a surfeit of plotting that makes it a murky and confused watch, with myriad characters serving as little addition to the story. The pace is spot on and the story interesting enough, about escaped convicts being hunted by fellow members of a criminal gang, but the dialogue feels stodgy and full of exposition rather than true to life. There's fun to be had from spotting famous faces in support (Patrick Barr, Brian Wilde, and Katy Wild all show up) but it's not enough.
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5/10
On the run
coltras3517 March 2023
Stewart was forced into the robbery of bonds by Green, a bookie to whom his wife is in debt. He breaks out of prison helped by Mackay on Green's instructions in order to lead them to the hidden bonds. Stewart, with the police on his trail, finds out his wife is plotting with Green, who forces him to talk to protect Helen, a sympathetic friend. Stewart finds the bonds first and then gives himself up to the police.

Passable crime thriller, but it's just really average on the whole. It has some gritty fistfights and a lively fight in an underground canal. The cinematography is crisp - the double decker buses, clean streets and alleyways belong in a bygone era.
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A very effective crime flick from UK
searchanddestroy-11 May 2011
Warning: Spoilers
I am very pleased to have all these Edgard Wallace Mystery episodes, or are they really TV stuff? Anyway, they are very surprising about suspense, they provide good stories to the audiences, topics that are nearly equal to major productions. This one is no exception. It is thrilling, exciting, the tale of an ex con who escapes from jail to clear himself about a robbery charge. A very effective yarn from UK, far more interesting than many US films of the same period. The climax in the sewers of London is unexpected and so good to watch. The score is typical to British features of this time. I could recognize this kind of music among thousand of others themes.
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6/10
starts off well but soon becomes dialogue-heavy
simondeeley1225 May 2022
Gets off to a good start, but soon bogs down like so many of this series does and becomes too much like a dialogue-laden studio-based melodrama. Brian Wilde and Garfield Morgan appear in roles in which they would later become familiar to the viewing public in well-known television series in the 1970's.
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8/10
You hid the loot where?
lucyrfisher27 May 2022
Warning: Spoilers
If you hide the loot in a sewer, its ultimate fate is obvious to the viewer.

Emrys Jones isn't bad as the man on the run, but I wish he'd do up his shirt buttons - or could Sarah Lawson lend him a tie? And that fake grey hair looks awful in close-up.

Sarah Lawson is always worth watching, but here she is burdened with a bouffant hairstyle that looks like an extra head. And she drops her voice for dramatic emphasis, and doesn't move her face much, and subtitles aren't available... No wonder actors of this vintage were often dubbed.

In this series, single women often live on the ground floor or in basements, with semi-glass doors that open directly onto their living/bedrooms.

The nosy Irish neighbour is effective. There's some resentful banter between the cops that doesn't come off.
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