Monday, February 25, 2019

Escape by Night (1937)

Nick Allen (William Hall) is a rather naive ex-miner who ends up getting drawn into a gangster war when he stops crime boss Capper Regan (Dean Jagger)'s gangster moll Jo Elliott (Steffi Duna) being kidnapped by a rival gang. Capper's gang end up on the run from the police and holed up in an empty house.

Nick discovers a neighbouring house owned by a blind man Pops (Charles Waldon) and his daughter Linda (Anne Nagel). They end up moving into that house and slowly learn the error of their ways amid the rural idyll and the purity of country life. Nick and Linda also fall in love. However when Capper returns for his gang things get heated...

It's all rather sentimental and naive (though not as naive as Nick is). The film is fairly enjoyable though meanders like a country stream once the gang hit the sticks. Duna has the best role as the cynical moll who wants to change her life but feels it's too late.