Woman on the Run (1950)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Woman on the Run (1950) – N. Foster

Above average noir, recently restored with the assistance of Eddie Muller’s Film Noir Foundation and streaming everywhere (it seems). We open as Frank Johnson is walking his dog in San Francisco late at night. He hears loud voices from a car parked on a road on the hill above and then a man falls out of the car and shots ring out. The killer sees Frank and fires two shots at him which miss.  The killer flees in his car and Frank rushes up to find the dead man and shouts to his neighbours at their windows to call the police.  When the police arrive, they tell Frank that he must identify the killer in a line-up and then testify to a grand jury investigating the mob about what he saw (the victim was about to give state’s evidence). Frank doesn’t much like this and at the first opportunity he high-tails it out of there.  So, the police turn to his wife, Eleanor (Ann Sheridan), who it seems doesn’t much like Frank, for assistance to find him.  When he does call, she warns him off.  However, she is convinced by money offered by an eager but cynical newspaperman, Legget (Dennis O’Keefe), to search for Frank. The rest of the movie involves the hunt for Frank with both the police, the gang, and Eleanor all chasing up clues that he’s left behind. Along the way, there is some great location shooting in SF, she learns that she’s still in love, and the film concludes at the beach with some scary rollercoaster scenes. There’s a twist or two and both O’Keefe and Sheridan sparkle.