They Made Me a Fugitive (1947)

Director:

Alberto Cavalcanti

Writers:

Jackson Budd (novel)
Noel Langley (screenplay)

Release Date:

6 March 1948 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir

Plot:

In this gritty film noir, cynical ex-RAF flyer Morgan, bored with civilian life, joins a break-in gang led by Narcy...

Plot Keywords:

Revenge | Policeman | Warehouse | Ex Pilot | Black Market

Cast

Sally Gray	...	Sally Connor
Trevor Howard	...	George Clement 'Clem' Morgan
Griffith Jones	...	Narcy
René Ray	...	Cora (as Rene Ray)
Mary Merrall	...	Aggie
Charles Farrell	...	Curley
Michael Brennan	...	Jim
Jack McNaughton	...	Soapy
Cyril Smith	...	Bert
John Penrose	...	Shawney
Eve Ashley	...	Ellen
Phyllis Robins	...	Olga
Bill O'Connor	...	Bill
Maurice Denham	...	Mr. Fenshaw
Vida Hope	...	Mrs. Fenshaw
Ballard Berkeley	...	Det. Insp. Rockliffe
Derek Birch	...	Police Constable Murray
Peter Bull	...	Fidgity Phil
Gordon Court	...	Sergeant
Lyn Evans	...	Lorry driver
Enid Cruickshank	...	Club hostess
Sebastian Cabot	...	Club Proprietor
Ida Patlanski	...	Soho girl
Howard Douglas	...	Chief warder
Charles Doe	...	Electrician
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Diana Graves	...	May (uncredited)
Sam Kydd	...	Eddie (uncredited)
Beatrice Varley	...	Farmer's Wife (uncredited)

Directed by
Alberto Cavalcanti		(as Cavalcanti)

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Jackson Budd		novel "A Convict Has Escaped"
Noel Langley		screenplay

Produced by
Nat A. Bronstein	....	producer (as N.A. Bronsten)
Nat A. Bronsten	....	producer
James A. Carter	....	executive producer (as James Carter)
Noel Langley	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Marius-François Gaillard		(as Marius Francois Gaillard)

Cinematography by
Otto Heller		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Margery Saunders

Art Direction by
Andrew Mazzei		(as A. Mazzei)

Makeup Department
Jean Bear	....	hair stylist
Natalie Taylor	....	makeup artist
Nell Taylor	....	makeup artist (as Natalie Taylor)
Ida Mills	....	hair stylist (uncredited)
George Turner	....	assistant makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Fraser Foulsham	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Dicky Leeman	....	assistant director
Guy Hamilton	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Pat Kelly	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Peter Dukelow	....	head carpenter (uncredited)
Thomas Goswell	....	draughtsman (uncredited)

Sound Department
George Burgess	....	sound director
John W. Mitchell	....	sound recordist (as John Mitchell)
Jack Slade	....	dubbing editor (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Robert Day	....	camera operator (as Bob Day)
Gus Drisse	....	camera operator
Gerry Fisher	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Walter Lassally	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Bert Mason	....	lighting camera operator: second unit (uncredited)
Cyril Stanborough	....	still photographer (uncredited)
John Winbolt	....	camera operator: second unit (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Dorothy Sinclair	....	wardrobe supervisor
Amy C. Binney	....	wardrobe mistress (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Anne Barker	....	cutter
Reginald Beck	....	editorial supervisor (uncredited)

Music Department
John Hollingsworth	....	conductor

Other crew
Shirley Barnes	....	continuity
Jean Dyball	....	assistant continuity (uncredited)
Kenneth Horne	....	location manager (uncredited)

Production Companies

• A.R. Shipman Productions
• Alliance Films Corporation (as Gloria-Alliance)

Distributors

• Warner Bros. (1947) (UK) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. Pictures (1948) (USA) (theatrical)
• Lloyd-Film Johann Eberhardt (1950) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Kino Video (2000) (USA) (VHS)
• Kino Video (2003) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

I Became a Criminal (USA)

Runtime:

99 min | USA:78 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:16 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:(Banned) | UK:A

Filming Locations:

Riverside Studios, Hammersmith, London, England, UK

Company:

A.R. Shipman Productions

Trivia:

The first feature film of Michael Brennan.

Soundtrack:

Caress Me

THEY MADE ME A FUGITIVE (Alberto Cavalcanti, 1947) ***1/2

This is a relatively rare example of a British film noir, but one which can hold its own alongside the more celebrated American variety. Director Cavalcanti's background in documentaries certainly served him in good stead here, bringing complete authenticity to the situations and settings. Still, thanks to Otto Heller's outstanding camera-work and lighting, he manages a number of strikingly cinematic visuals (for instance, the scene where heroine Sally Gray is beaten up by chief villain Griffith Jones).

It features a splendid cast, all of whom deliver excellent performances: Trevor Howard is an unusual hero-type but totally credible; lovely leading lady Sally Gray may come off a bit too good to be true (she initially commits herself to the framed Howard merely because her gangster boyfriend has jilted her for the latter's own fiancée!) but she elicits all the petite sex appeal of a Veronica Lake (meanwhile her love/hate banter with Howard evokes memories of the Robert Donat/Madeleine Carroll pairing from Hitchcock's THE 39 STEPS [1935]); Griffith Jones is a suave yet ruthless leader of a black-market ring (but who gets his just desserts in particularly gruesome fashion); Mary Merrall is Jones' elderly associate, whose level-headedness and experience keeps the violent gangster in check; a young Ballard Berkeley is a sympathetic Scotland Yard man, but who doesn't think twice about using Howard as bait to capture the entire gang; Peter Bull turns up for a bit as a police informer.

The general gloominess (a mainstay of thrillers emanating from the post-war era) is leavened somewhat by its constant flurry of hard-boiled dialogue courtesy of screenwriter Noel Langley. The terrific climax is set inside the gang's 'business' office - a funeral parlor, amusingly named "The Valhalla Undertaking Co.". Still, perhaps my favorite scene in the entire film is Howard's surreal encounter with the zombie-like Vida Hope - in whose household he stumbles while on the run; she turns out to be deranged, and even tries to talk our hero into murdering her alcoholic husband (Maurice Denham)!

As is typical of old films released on DVD by Kino, the quality of the print and transfer leave a lot to be desired - but one has to be grateful still, because otherwise gems such as this one would remain unavailable indefinitely...