In the 1940s British country police were often portrayed in the visual media as slow & witless and "Escape"(1948) is no exception, what we in Britain called "Plod".They were portrayed as "yokels" working for underfunded constabularies by central government, when local police could only give chase on bicycles to criminals driving stolen cars.They made illogical assumptions that a man & woman in a vehicle "must be Americans" without checking the facts.The heroine Peggy Cummings' character comes over as too naive and too ready to believe Rex Harrison's (RH) story even suggesting to her sister they should let him use their car to escape!There is a pathetic shot of RH trying to fly off in a monoplane which then crashes and which only causes RH a sprained shoulder!In one scene he causes criminal damage by setting the monoplane alight.In another scene RH compounds the offence by assaulting George Woodbridge (who plays an armed farmer) as he attempts to evade justice.
However, we viewers do have some sympathy for RH's character for being found guilty of manslaughter and being sentenced to 3 years in Dartmoor prison.Towards the end of his escape he tries to obtain medieval sanctuary meeting Derick de Marney who plays a priest (and who played a similar role as RH in Hitchcocks 1933 "Young & Innocent).Derick proceeds to talk theology and philosophy to RH in the hope RH will surrender to the police.Peggy Cummings enters the church having previously unbidden told RH of her love & belief in him.With the police threatening to obtain a search warrant and before the priest can comment on RH's whereabouts, RH volunteers to surrender to law & order and is promptly driven back to Dartmoor, presumably to finish his sentence with I presume greater length added for all his further misdemeanors committed.The producers therefore leave moral questions in the air, just posing them.My rating just 6/10
