They Made Me A Fugitive

Star Review

There’s more than a dash of Hammett to this British crime thriller from celebrated director Alberto Cavalcanti (credited here simply but exotically as ‘Cavalcanti’). Trevor Howard is Morgan, a decent but desperate ex-RAF hero, drawn into the London underworld by the precarious stability and uncertainty of the immediate post-war years. Framed for the murder of a policeman, Morgan escapes prison to pursue the real killer (played with malevolent relish by Griffith Jones), but becomes entangled in further complications. Perhaps to compensate for the inescapable Englishness of Trevor Howard and Sally Gray (as the showgirl ‘moll’), you get a lot of noir for your money here: ‘wrong man’ plot, seedy hide-outs, bursts of brutality, platinum blondes, homicidal wives and a dose of sexual tension. But unlike later faux noir British efforts such as No Orchids for Miss Blandish and Joe MacBeth, They Made Me a Fugitive keeps its RP accent while serving the genre highly effectively with punchy dialogue, inventive visuals and Otto Heller’s moody photography.

Julian Upton on 6th May 2008

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Film Description

Gritty film noir in which a bored and cynical ex-RAF flyer Clem Morgan (Trevor Howard) joins a criminal gang led by Narcy (Griffith Jones). On his first job, the getaway car crashes after killing a policeman and Morgan is framed as the driver. After escaping jail, he heads to London seeking revenge and the chance to prove his innocence before the police close in on him.

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Cast

Trevor Howard

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