Escape in the Fog (1945)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Budd Boetticher

Writer:

Aubrey Wisberg (original screenplay)

Release Date:

5 April 1945 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir

Tagline:

"Slipping Silently Out Of The Fog Came MURDER!" (original one-sheet poster)

Plot:

A nurse recovering in a hospital from a nervous breakdown keeps having dreams where she sees two men trying to murder a third...

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Macguffin | Nightmare | Golden Gate Bridge | Grandfather Clock

Cast

Otto Kruger	...	Paul Devon
Nina Foch	...	Eileen Carr
William Wright	...	Barry Malcolm
Konstantin Shayne	...	Schiller
Ivan Triesault	...	Hausmer, Schiller's Henchman
Ernie Adams	...	George Smith

Runtime:

65 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Goofs:

Factual errors: The film opens with an establishing shot of the San Francisco Bay Bridge, then shows Eileen Carr (Nina Foch) standing on a bridge walkway and being accosted by a policeman who asks if she's there to kill herself. The Bay Bridge has no walkway and is not known as a suicide site; scenarist Aubrey Wisberg probably had it confused with the Golden Gate Bridge, which does have a walkway and is famous as a suicide bridge.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Budd Boetticher: A Man Can Do That (2005) (TV)

quintessential Columbia B

A woman dreams of a man being murdered, and later she experiences the scene in real life. Before he made his name with the Ranown series of Westerns, Boetticher churned out a skein of low-budget programmers for Columbia and Monogram, many of them well above average. This mystery, while no masterpiece, nicely illustrates what Andrew Sarris called "the beatitude of the Bs". With typical B movie non-logic, the intriguing dream-coming-true angle is taken at face value and never explained. There are a couple of clever escape scenes, and the stylish 40s wardrobe (wide lapels, pin-striped suits, floppy hats) rivals the sartorial splendor of a Hawks movie. Second-string stalwart Nina Foch, more alluring than usual, gives another intelligent performance despite the plot holes. An even finer second-feature from the same director, Behind Locked Doors, has recently received mainstream video release.