Recently demobbed Kenneth More has just enough screen time to stumble across deserter Derek Farr now posing as the barman at a pub in a sleepy coastal village. (Don't worry, there's no salmon poaching, bell ringing or escaping spies and stolen documents involved in this film...) More threatens to blackmail Farr, who flees to London. Jumping forward 4 weeks, Farr is behind on his rent and decides to sell his service revolver. Unfortunately, just as he pulls the (empty) gun to sell it at the jeweller's, two gunmen (one with an Australian accent and without the tops to his middle two fingers on his left hand) burst in on a raid. The jeweller sets off the alarm which hails a policeman who gets killed by one of the robbers. Farr flees the scene and goes on the run.
Later that day, Farr is in a pub and gets involved in a fight after being falsely accused of pickpocketing. Unfortunately, the gun is seen, so Farr escapes and forces himself on a woman who lives round the corner. She, played by Joan Hopkins, hears Farr's story. He served 4 years and deserted because the army wouldn't extend his compassionate leave as his family fell apart. Feeling sorry for Farr and, missing her own late husband, Joan decides to help him. She tries to get rid of Farr's gun but, instead of dropping it in the river, it lands on a barge for the bargee to take into the police. A policeman stops her and asks to see her identity card thinking she is trying to commit suicide.
Joan smuggles Farr out to her friend's B&B in Suffolk and they spend time together falling in love. The police are soon on to Joan when they put the gun and the sighting of her on the bridge together. Back in London and just before they call her in, she spots a man answering the description of the tall, thin guy with the missing fingers and the Australian accent. She follows him to a flat and manages to get the information to Farr who goes out there to confront them. They, deserters too, manage to steal a car and get Farr out to a pub on the river to get rid of him just as Joan is taken in for questioning where she eventually tells all. Missing the men at the flat, the police manage to trace the stolen car to the pub where there is a shootout. The robbers are arrested.
Farr is court marshalled for desertion and is sentenced to a year in prison. Joan promises to wait for him.
With quite a similar premise to Troubleshooters, this film is allowed to breathe a bit more, although there are still a few leaps of faith as far as the storyline is concerned. Farr's reason for desertion is, of course, more honourable, but it does seem to be a film to highlight the plight of apparently 20,000 deserters after WWII. Again, the police help out our antihero in the end.
Despite Kenneth More's fleeting appearance and a very young Lawrence Harvey trying to be smouldering as a police constable, the redeeming feature of Farr and Joan as the leads is that they still steal the film despite their ordinainess. They could indeed be you or I. The moral of the film is redemption. Not only that, but that each person's story is different and individual, and that, even with a little help from friends, it is ultimately up to us to get ourselves out of trouble and to do the right thing.
Later that day, Farr is in a pub and gets involved in a fight after being falsely accused of pickpocketing. Unfortunately, the gun is seen, so Farr escapes and forces himself on a woman who lives round the corner. She, played by Joan Hopkins, hears Farr's story. He served 4 years and deserted because the army wouldn't extend his compassionate leave as his family fell apart. Feeling sorry for Farr and, missing her own late husband, Joan decides to help him. She tries to get rid of Farr's gun but, instead of dropping it in the river, it lands on a barge for the bargee to take into the police. A policeman stops her and asks to see her identity card thinking she is trying to commit suicide.
Joan smuggles Farr out to her friend's B&B in Suffolk and they spend time together falling in love. The police are soon on to Joan when they put the gun and the sighting of her on the bridge together. Back in London and just before they call her in, she spots a man answering the description of the tall, thin guy with the missing fingers and the Australian accent. She follows him to a flat and manages to get the information to Farr who goes out there to confront them. They, deserters too, manage to steal a car and get Farr out to a pub on the river to get rid of him just as Joan is taken in for questioning where she eventually tells all. Missing the men at the flat, the police manage to trace the stolen car to the pub where there is a shootout. The robbers are arrested.
Farr is court marshalled for desertion and is sentenced to a year in prison. Joan promises to wait for him.
With quite a similar premise to Troubleshooters, this film is allowed to breathe a bit more, although there are still a few leaps of faith as far as the storyline is concerned. Farr's reason for desertion is, of course, more honourable, but it does seem to be a film to highlight the plight of apparently 20,000 deserters after WWII. Again, the police help out our antihero in the end.
Despite Kenneth More's fleeting appearance and a very young Lawrence Harvey trying to be smouldering as a police constable, the redeeming feature of Farr and Joan as the leads is that they still steal the film despite their ordinainess. They could indeed be you or I. The moral of the film is redemption. Not only that, but that each person's story is different and individual, and that, even with a little help from friends, it is ultimately up to us to get ourselves out of trouble and to do the right thing.