The Silver Screen Oasis

Paris, mostly at night...foggy...wet streets and sidewalks. Eddie Roback, since deserting the U.S. Army, is the most wanted criminal in France. He escapes from police custody and eludes capture by his formidable wit, aid of his girlfriend Denise, help from a U.S. reporter, and police incompetence. Denise is torn between being with the violent demanding criminal Eddie with whom she has a history, and the reporter who will sacrifice anything for her. That is until Eddie is cornered as he tries to reach the Belgian border (with the assistance of Denise and the reporter) and has a shoot-out with wave after wave of police who, in a final bit of irony, could pass for stock footage of German infantry.

Full of hard-boiled dialogue and love triangles (Eddie-Denise-reporter; police inspector-Denise-reporter; Eddie-Denise-"antique" dealer/stoolie) and violence, this little gem is film noir.

Starring Dane Clark and Simone Signoret, it was directed by Frank Tuttle (THIS GUN FOR HIRE) and photographed gloriously by the great Eugen Schufftan.

Released in France as TRAQUE and in Canada and Great Britain as GUNMAN IN THE STREETS, it was never released theatrically in the U.S. In the '70s, it appeared in U.S. TV syndication as TIME RUNNING OUT. Definitely worth searching for.

Sounds very interesting. Where did you get a line on this one?

Heard of it, but have never seen it. Your description of it is far more intriguing than others I've read in the past! I look forward to catching up with it someday.

This is a strong film, along with the several other Dane Clark entries from the HAMMER NOIR series. This one isn't a part of that series, apparently, but somehow I must have gotten lucky (probably to marry my great wife, who probably kept ordering all the Dane Clarks she could find)!

Ark asked:

Sounds very interesting. Where did you get a line on this one?

While at Facets killing time before going to the class I'm taking (Cinema and Surveillance -- sound familiar? Grrrr), I was perusing the Film Noir section for the unfamiliar. Looked at this one's cover and it said: Cinematography by Eugen Schufftan. 'Nuff said.

I confess that I was stunned by how the rest of the movie was as good as the cinematography.

Ollie: This was a France-U.S. production, not from Hammer Films (Dane must have slipped across the Channel).

"...must have slipped across the Channel..." Ain't that the truth-! (But I've done that a few times myself.)

Yes. She vaguely remembers the enjoyment of the Hammer Noir series and kept looking for other Dane Clark films, and it's shocking and disappointing that this film has quickly gone out-of-print AND is selling at exhorbitant prices.

The Hammer films aren't great wonders of cinema, but do help reinforce my notion that actors, given the other elements needed in a good film, can rise above their usual Hollywood offerings. And GUNMAN does this even better, and certainly deserves more fans than a $45-50 bid on its DVD will get.

Nice Ollie!