''Escape Route'' is a 1952 British black-and-white
thriller film
Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...
, directed by
Seymour Friedman
Seymour Friedman (August 17, 1917 – April 2, 2003) was an American film director. He later worked as a production manager in television. Friedman began his career as an assistant director, before enlisting for military service following America' ...
and
Peter Graham Scott
Peter Graham Scott (27 October 1923 – 5 August 2007) was an English television and film producer, television director, film director, film editor and screenwriter. He was one of the producers and directors who shaped British television drama i ...
, and starring George Raft, Sally Gray and Clifford Evans.
The film was known in the US as ''I'll Get You'' (not to be confused with an earlier Raft film, ''
I'll Get You for This
''I'll Get You for This'' (released in the US as ''Lucky Nick Cain'') is a 1951 British thriller film by Joseph M. Newman starring George Raft, Coleen Gray, and Enzo Staiola. It was made from an adaptation by George Callahan and William Ro ...
'').
The film is largely filmed in the streets of London.
Plot
An American, Steve Rossi, enters Britain by slipping past immigration at Heathrow Airport, leading to a national
manhunt
Manhunt may refer to:
Search processes
* Manhunt (law enforcement), a search for a dangerous fugitive
* Manhunt (military), a search for a high-value target by special operations forces or intelligence agencies
Social organisations
* Manhun ...
by the police led by Scotland Yard.
Rossi heads into London where he tracks down Bailey, a barman in a cocktail bar, and asks him about Michael Grand. The barman passes him a note with an address which leads him to a woman, who says she does not know Grand. She agrees to change his US currency and buy him a coat while he waits in her flat. For money, she gives him another address: Kingston House, a swanky block of flats on Kingston Road. He takes a taxi there.
Their he meets Joan Miller who says yes it is Grand's flat but she is his secretary and he is not there. She claims that Grand is not going to return, but calls Grand who agrees to meet. Rossi wants to stay put in Grand's flat but Joan pulls a gun on him and together they drive to an old terraced house where Rossi meets Wilkes who starts quizzing Rossi.
Rossi says that Grand offered him a job, working on aircraft design. Joan is asked to accommodate Rossi in her own flat.
Meanwhile the police post Rossi's picture in all the newspapers and quiz various underworld figures to try to locate him. The taxi driver recognises the picture.
Joan Miller is revealed to be an
MI5
The Security Service, also known as MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), G ...
agent. Rossi reveals himself to be an
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...
agent posing as a nuclear scientist in an attempt to infiltrate a gang kidnapping western scientists and taking them across the Iron Curtain. Grand has recently arranged the kidnap of an American. With MI5's assistance, Rossi monitors Grand and arranges a meeting with him. Growing increasingly suspicious of Rossi, Grand and his organisation make several attempts to kill him.
Rossi and Joan follow Irma Brookes, Grand's female assistant in an attempt to find him. Irma Brookes and a body with some of Grand's ID is found in a burned out car.
Rossi is caught and taken to Hammersmith Police Station. It is explained that Rossi wanted to get into the papers so that Grand would be aware of his presence.
Rossi cannot identify the body in the mortuary as Grand as he is unsure of his appearance.
The viewer finally sees Grand when Max, another taxi driver, informs him of what he has seen both at the burning car and near the mortuary.
Rossi dons a naval uniform and tails Grand on foot through empty streets in the city, leaving a chalk trail of markers for Joan to follow. Grand goes to the
River Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
where the low tide allows him to walk along the edge. They end at the Old Swan Pier near London Bridge. Grand pulls a gun and a scuffle begins. Grand escapes to a rooftop of a grain elevator close to
The Monument
The Monument to the Great Fire of London, more commonly known simply as the Monument, is a fluted Doric column in London, England, situated near the northern end of London Bridge. Commemorating the Great Fire of London, it stands at the j ...
. They end up fighting on an external freight lift heading back to the ground. Rossi wins and the police arrive.
Frederick Piper
Frederick Piper (23 September 1902 – 22 September 1979) was an English actor of stage and screen who appeared in over 80 films and many television productions in a career spanning over 40 years. Piper studied drama under Elsie Fogerty at th ...
as Inspector Reid
*
Reginald Tate
Reginald Tate (13 December 1896 – 23 August 1955) was an English actor, veteran of many roles on stage, in films and on television. He is remembered best as the first actor to play the television science-fiction character Professor Ber ...
as Colonel Wilkes
*
Patricia Laffan
Patricia Alice Laffan (19 March 1919 – 10 March 2014) was an English stage, film, television and radio actress, and also, after her retirement from acting, an international fashion impresario. She was five-feet-six-inches tall, with dark red ...
as Irma Brookes
* June Ashley as Beauty Shop Attendant
* John Warwick as Security Chief Brice
*
Roddy Hughes
Rhodri Henry Hughes (19 June 1891 – 22 February 1970) was a Welsh theatre, film and television actor, who appeared in over 80 films between 1932 and 1961.
Selected filmography
* ''Mr. Bill the Conqueror'' (1932)
* '' Reunion'' (1932)
* '' Say ...
as Porter
*
Grace Arnold
Grace Arnold (19 September 1894 – 26 February 1979) was an English actress.
Selected filmography
* ''Guilt'' (1931)
* '' Men Without Honour'' (1939) - Mrs. Hardy
* ''Crimes at the Dark House'' (1940) - Maid (uncredited)
* ''Spare a Copper'' ...
as Neighbour
*
Cyril Chamberlain
Cyril Chamberlain (8 March 1909 – 5 December 1974) was an English film and television actor. He appeared in a number of the early '' Carry On'', ''Doctor'' and '' St. Trinian's'' films.
Chamberlain was born on 8 March 1909 in London and die ...
as Bailey
* Howard Douglas as Taxi Driver
*
Arthur Lovegrove
Arthur Lovegrove (15 July 1913 – 7 November 1981) was a British actor and playwright. His comedy ''Goodnight Mrs Puffin'' starring Irene Handl, ran for 3 years in London's West End, from 1961.
Filmography
* '' Noose'' (1948) - Drummer ...
as Phillips
* Anthony Pendrell as Rees
*
Norman Pierce
Norman Pierce (5 September 1900 – 22 March 1968) was a British actor. He was born in Southport, Lancashire. He died in Helions Bumpstead, Essex, England on 22 March 1968 at the age of 67. He played pub landlords and barmen in a number of ...
as Inspector Hobbs
*
Harry Towb
Harry Towb (27 July 1925 – 24 July 2009) was an actor from Northern Ireland.
Early life and career
Towb was born in Larne, County Antrim, to a Russian-Jewish father and an Irish-Jewish mother; he once claimed he was the only Jew ever born ...
as Immigration Officer
Production
It was made at
Walton Studios
Walton Studios, previously named Hepworth Studios and Nettlefold Studios, was a film production studio in Walton-on-Thames in Surrey, England.on location around London, mostly in the
City of London
The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...
, at a time when there was still much bomb damage from the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
. American actress
Coleen Gray
Coleen Gray (born Doris Bernice Jensen; October 23, 1922 – August 3, 2015) was an American actress. She was best known for her roles in the films '' Nightmare Alley'' (1947), '' Red River'' (1948), and Stanley Kubrick's '' The Killing'' ...
was reported to have been cast opposite Raft, but the role was eventually played by the English star Sally Gray. It was one of several films made by British companies in connection with the low-budget American outfit
Lippert Pictures Lippert Pictures was an American film production and distribution company controlled by Robert L. Lippert.
History
Robert L. Lippert (1909-1976) was a successful exhibitor, owning a chain of movie theaters in California and Oregon. He was frustrate ...
, which distributed the film in the United States. It was made on a larger budget than most Lippert releases.
Reception
The ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'' said the film was "so mysterious" the filmmakers "almost succeeded in keeping the story to themselves."
References
Bibliography
* Aaker, Everett. ''George Raft: The Films''. McFarland, 2013.