Claudio Carvalho In San Francisco, Frank Johnson (Ross Elliott) witnesses a murder while walking with his dog. Inspector Ferris (Robert Keith) is in charge of the investigation and offers protection to Johnson to identify the killer and testify in court. Johnson flees from the police and Ferris brings his wife Eleanor Johnson (Ann Sheridan) to help him to find Johnson and convince him to testify in court. However, he finds that they have an unhappy marriage and Eleanor does not want to help him. Meanwhile the journalist Dan "Danny Boy" Legget (Dennis O'Keefe) offers a large amount for an exclusive interview with Johnson for his tabloid. While seeking Johnson out with Legget, Eleanor rekindles her love for her husband. What she does not know is that Danny Boy is the killer Johnson is trying to escape."Woman on the Run" is a great film-noir where the wife is not evil or the femme fatale. The title is strange since it should be "Man on the Run". Although having a predictable plot point with the identity of the killer being disclosed, the film is highly attractive. It is great to see Eleanor Johnson falling in love again for her husband with magnificent performance of Ann Sheridan. The roller-coaster scene is tense when Eleanor realizes who Legget is. My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): "Na Noite do Crime" ("In the Night of the Crime")

seymourblack-1 This low-budget gem is well-written, well-directed and full of surprises. Its story about a murder witness who goes on the run and then gets pursued by the police, his estranged wife and the killer is exciting, tense and sometimes humorous. The action's delivered at an exhilarating pace that's perfectly complemented by some sparkling dialogue that ranges from fast-talking wittiness to scathing sarcasm and there's also a few neat plot twists to enjoy.Frank Johnson (Ross Elliott) is walking his dog one night at the entrance to a San Francisco park when he witnesses a gangland killing and gets shot at by the murderer. He escapes injury and when the police arrive on the scene, is informed by Inspector Martin Ferris (Robert Keith) that the victim was due to be a witness at an upcoming mob-related trial. After Frank admits that he could identify the killer if necessary, Inspector Ferris decides to take him into custody for his own protection. Horrified at this suggestion and nervous about the obvious danger he's in, Frank immediately disappears and goes on the run.Inspector Ferris turns to Frank's wife Eleanor (Ann Sheridan) for assistance but she's totally unconcerned about her husband and isn't inclined to provide any help, so the Inspector simply decides to put a tail on her. Later, when Eleanor learns that her husband has a heart condition and needs his medication to avoid a potentially fatal attack, she decides to track him down and is helped in doing this by newspaper reporter Danny Leggett (Dennis O'Keefe) who offers to pay the couple handsomely for an exclusive interview with Frank. Danny's friendly, charming and just as accomplished as Eleanor when it comes to exchanging witty repartee.Eleanor and Danny mostly manage to keep a few steps ahead of the police during their search and Eleanor gains an insight into some aspects of Frank's life that she wasn't aware of before. After receiving a letter from her husband in which he provides her with a mystifying clue to his whereabouts, Eleanor, together with Danny eventually goes to a beach-side amusement park where their search reaches its very eventful and violent conclusion.One of the pleasures of watching this movie is enjoying the ways in which the plot neatly avoids taking the course that seems most obvious from the set-up. For example, manhunt movies are normally seen from the point-of-view of either the police or the person being pursued. This movie avoids both options. Similarly, the romantic dimension of the story doesn't develop in the expected way and there's a superb twist, part of the way through which increases the tension brilliantly.There are also a number of minor incidents which provide amusing surprises such as the sequence during which Eleanor decides to escape from her apartment by the skylight and is helped out by Danny who then goes on to help her cross from the top of her own building to the adjoining one using a plank. After completing this tricky manoeuvre, her action in simply removing the plank before Danny can also cross is both bizarre and funny.Ann Sheridan's great ability to deliver cutting remarks is fully exploited in this movie but she also shows considerable subtlety in the way that she portrays the transition that her character makes from being an unpleasant woman who's become embittered by the apparent failure of her marriage. Dennis O'Keefe and Robert Keith are also good in their supporting roles.Scenes shot on location in San Francisco are used extensively and together with the film's exceptional cinematography do so much to give "Woman On The Run" its tremendous vibrancy, atmosphere and sense of place.

utgard14 A man who witnessed a mob killing takes it on the run rather than testifying. Aided by a reporter, his wife searches for him while the police try to trail her. As she searches she discovers her husband's life is in danger in more ways than one.Excellent low-budget film noir with a stand-out performance from Ann Sheridan. This wasn't the last movie she made but it was the last notable one. She's great here with the snappy sarcasm she was so good at it but minus the 'oomph' from her earlier roles. She looks downright tired throughout (an intentional choice, I think). A different era and her career would have continued unimpeded but, at the time, very few female stars known for their sex appeal were allowed to transition into a successful serious dramatic actress. Too bad because she proved more than once she had the chops. The rest of the cast here is also good, with Dennis O'Keefe and Robert Keith both giving solid turns. It's well-paced with a gem of a script chock full of memorable lines. It's not perfect, though. One twist is telegraphed a little too early and the mix of humor with a gritty and cynical film noir is somewhat uneven. But still, it's a keeper. The gripping amusement park climax and Sheridan rattling off one-liners like bullets from a tommy gun make it a must-see.

mark.waltz Remember in "The Man Who Knew Too Much" where Doris Day listens to a symphony in agony, knowing that an attempted murder is about to take place? The gripping fear shown by Ann Sheridan while on a roller-coaster ride knowing that her on-the-run husband (Ross Elliott) might suddenly be killed for witnessing a murder is just as tense, and the carnival music and sinister laugh of a fun-house harpie makes that even more nail biting. This isn't your Warner Brothers "Oomph Girl" Ann Sheridan or even the perplexed military officer who finds out she's married to Cary Grant in drag, but a hard-as-nails, world-weary wife who all of a sudden finds her life torn upside down and revelations about what everybody thought was a perfect marriage to be not so perfect.While the killer only saw her husband's shadow, it was enough of a clue to reveal the husband's identity to him, and Sheridan, police chief Robert Keith and reporter Dennis O'Keefe are desperate to find him before its too later. O'Keefe befriends Sheridan with the intent of not only getting the scoop but perhaps getting the girl as well, and this takes them all over San Francisco, one of the great film noir settings (think "Dark Passage" and "Sudden Fear") although unlike Joan Crawford, Sheridan doesn't run up and down the hilly streets in her high heels.A bit convoluted at times, this is still pretty interesting for the twists and turns it makes (although the film never goes near the crooked Lombard Street), and Sheridan is an engaging heroine, both dark and sympathetic, and someone you don't quite know what to make of at first. Actor turned director Norman Foster, best known for helming many of the Charlie Chan features, keeps the suspense high, and as usual, this is a film noir with a surprise ending that won't leave you feeling cheated.