No Escape (1953 film)

No Escape
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Charles Bennett
Produced by Matt Freed
Hugh Mackenzie
Screenplay by Charles Bennett
Starring Lew Ayres
Sonny Tufts
Marjorie Steele
Music by Bert Shefter
Cinematography Benjamin H. Kline
Edited by Roy V. Livingston
Production
company
Matthugh Productions
Distributed by United Artists
Release date
  • July 31, 1953 (1953-07-31) (United States)
Running time
 76 minutes
Country United States
Language English

No Escape is a 1953 American film noir crime film directed by Charles Bennett starring Lew Ayres, Sonny Tufts and Marjorie Steele.[1]

Plot

The action is set in San Francisco where the film opens in a documentary style. When the evidence in a murder case points to a young woman as the main suspect, both her boyfriend (a police detective) and a struggling songwriter who plays piano in a bar, decide to withhold evidence from the police. Both of them ostensibly act to protect the woman, who believes that she accidentally killed the victim after an attempted sexual assault.

Later, the girl, knowing that the songwriter did not commit the murder, helps him to escape from a police dragnet when he becomes the main suspect. She and the songwriter fall in love and eventually compare notes about the events surrounding the murder, leading them to realize that someone else must be the culprit. The boyfriend is revealed as the actual murderer, and is arrested after he attempts to kill them to hide his guilt.

Cast

Reception

Critical response

TV Guide gave the film a lukewarm review. The editors wrote, "The plot seems suspenseful but the lackluster direction has no feel for thriller pacing. Things move too slowly with overwritten dialog mouthed in only average performances by the ensemble. However, the music captures the film's potential mood nicely. It's a pity the film does not live up to the score."[2]

References

  1. ↑ No Escape at the American Film Institute Catalog.
  2. ↑ TV Guide. Editors, film review. Accessed: July 18, 2013.
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