Saturday, September 15, 2012

Escape from Broadmoor (1948)


Police are trying to track down a man called (I believe) Pentecost who escaped from an asylum years before because its feared that he may attempt to get the man who's testimony sent him away. The police are trying to do this by following a man named Jenkins who is bringing Pentecost food. Jenkins is getting annoyed since Pentecost hasn't been paying him for the food. A deal is struck and Jenkins agrees to help Pentecost on his next job. Jenkins is unaware of his partner's past and so is unprepared for where the job takes them.

This is a neat little movie that is perfectly paced for its short running time. I don't think there is a wasted moment in the whole movie as writer/director John Gilling cranks up the suspense and send the story spinning off in interesting directions. As the movie cross cut between the police, the criminals and the frightened victim I found that the film drew me into the story in ways that many longer films never do. It also comes to a satisfying conclusion and leaves you feeling as if you've seen something of substance when its over.

Definitely worth seeing if you run across it, this is a neat way to spend 40 minutes of your time. A word of warning, if this should show up on a TV station with commercials tape it and then zap through the nasty advertisements since the film's structure will be destroyed by any real interruptions.

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