Donna in fuga

It's hard to go wrong with the great Ida Lupino. This thriller's no exception. Deborah's husband (McNally) is ungallantly trying to kill her so he can get his hands on the mill her dead father left her. But she crashes her car into a river trying to get away, and now everyone except hubby thinks she's dead. Cleverly, he offers big bucks to anyone with info on her whereabouts. So well-meaning Ramsey (Duff) thinks he's doing her a favor by contacting the husband with the info. What's a frightened Debbie to do since hubby is one mean, relentless dude.

The movie may not be anything exceptional, but it's got its share of chills, especially the tangled mill scene. That sequence is very well directed for action, and I really like the unexpected wrinkle with Monahan (Dow). Then too, those boisterous conventioneer scenes add noisy color that also proves lucky for Debbie. The woman-in-danger part is one tailor made for the expert Lupino, and she makes it unusually convincing. McNally too, makes a persuasive menace, especially when he's beating the bushes while she cowers beneath. But I do think the script could have come up with a better angle for Debbie & Ramsey's first meet-up since that newsstand gig seems much too tame for a macho actor like Duff.

Anyway, it's a super-slick production from Universal that gets a real lift from Lupino who would go on to film an even better woman-in-danger film the following year, Beware, My Lovely (1952).