Flucht ohne Ausweg (1948)

Flucht ohne Ausweg: Directed by Anthony Mann. With Dennis O’Keefe, Claire Trevor, Marsha Hunt, John Ireland. Joe Sullivan has taken the rap for Rick who double-crosses him with a flawed escape plan and other means intended to get rid of him.

“Claire Trevor providing voice-over narration to the accompaniment of a Theramin! What an indelible effect this makes! In a way, it is not the usual sort of narration we find in film noir: Trevor is usually shown as her voice, with that spooky electronic instrument providing harmony, come through on the soundtrack. The standard for this was to have the protagonist (almost always a male) do this but without appearing as he spoke.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eTrevor not only appears but indeed appears in a hat with a veil covering her face. This will stick in your memory for years after youu0026#39;ve seen it! Trevor helps boyfriend Dennis Ou0026#39;Keefe break out of prison. But a good girl, Marsha Hunt, has also visited and shown interest in them. Which one will he chose: bad but loyal Trevor or goody-goody Hunt? These are both excellent actresses. Marsha Hunt underplays a little bit here. But she is superb.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe movie has a very solid, if somewhat standard plot. But all kinds of things are tossed into the mix — all to the movieu0026#39;s benefit.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eFor example, when Ou0026#39;Keefe has settled into his first hide-out, a wife-murderer appears and demands to be given shelter. Heu0026#39;s there for a few minutes of screen time but after that his story is dropped.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eJohn Altonu0026#39;s cinematography is superb. Anthony Mann directed this Eagle Lion feature with expert hands. Some of the characters may be losers but the movie is a true winner.”