My Brother's Keeper
My Brother's Keeper
| 19 August 1948 (USA)
My Brother's Keeper Trailers

War hero turned villain George Martin escapes from the police, but he is handcuffed to a naive young crook Willie Stannard. After using a clever plan to obtain railway tickets, and with the police and the press in hot pursuit, George has to find a way of breaking loose from Willie, and to make his escape.

Reviews
WillSushyMedia This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.
Roy Hart If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.
Roman Sampson One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.
Cody One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.
malcolmgsw Surely not you say.However before he was resurrected to play George Dixon,Warner often played villains as in this film.On the run from prison with a rather anaemic looking George Cole.He ends up commuting murder and quite happy to let poor George pay for it.There is a fairly exciting pursuit over the countryside.The finale is a sort of Cody Jarrett moment.Knowing that he is walking into a minefield he continues till he is blown up in the presence of his wife.David Tomlinaon in an early role as a journalist who is pressured into use his honeymoon to track down Warner.Bit like His Girl Friday.Anyway immortality was a waiting Warner.
Leofwine_draca MY BROTHER'S KEEPER is one of the earlier 'handcuffed together' type thrillers in which a couple of convicts elude the police and struggle to overcome their situation. This scenario has been done to death in the cinema with De Niro's MIDNIGHT RUN perhaps the best known of its type, but this low budget production is worth a look as the plot is an interesting and appropriately suspenseful one.The story boasts Jack Warner in a rare villainous turn as a murderer who finds himself handcuffed to a youthful George Cole, a simpleton whose performance reminds one of John Hurt in 10 RILLINGTON PLACE. The story plays out as you'd expect, but there are some memorable set-pieces dotted throughout, such as the hide-out in the wood or the fine climax. Alfred Roome was something of an inexperienced director but he acquits himself well here; he was better known as an old-hand editor who worked hard on the CARRY ON franchise in the 1960s.The cast is generally interesting, with Cole and Warner given the most screen time and thus coming off the best. David Tomlinson and Yvonne Owen play a newlywed couple whose spousal humour feels staged and shoe-horned into the story, so their presence is a detraction. Elsewhere, you get an unrecognisable Bill Owen alongside the likes of Maurice Denham, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Reginald Beckwith, and even Valentine Dyall in a cameo.
MartinHafer This is a low budgeted British film about two handcuffed prisoners who escape and are tracked throughout the film. One of the guys is a smart and amoral older crook. The other is a complete idiot who should have just stayed put instead of hopping off the police truck transporting them. Thrown into the mix is a guy on his honeymoon (David Tomlinson), as his editor insists he stop his canoodling and get the story!The film is an interesting portrait of the older prisoner. The younger guy is just too stupid to make him worth watching. But if you think about it, the plot is so much like the better American film "The Defiant Ones"--so why not just watch that instead? Especially since this British film is amazingly flat and dull at times considering the subject matter.
JohnHowardReid I have two reviews for this one in my files. First, let's have my original review from the late 1950s when I saw the movie on TV: This film does not generate the excitement promised by the title and the cast. One drawback is the normally welcome David Tomlinson stuck in an unproductive role as a harassed reporter on his honeymoon. First strike against this assumption is that the screen Tomlinson is such a fumbling idiot, there is no way any girl would marry him – let alone a peacherino like Yvonne Owen! His scenes generate neither laughs nor tension. All they do is waste our time. In fact, the screenplay tends to be far too talky. Fortunately, the action spots are well handled.Now, here is my second review, based on the excellent Beyond DVD: Comedian Jack Warner is surprisingly cast as the villain – a ruthless if ingenious killer who can turn on the charm when he wants to – and does a superb job in this well-made thriller directed by Alfred Roome. Warner is ably supported by fellow comedian George Cole (also in a straight role) and Jane Hylton. Less impressive are Raymond Lovell who has two large a role as the hapless Tomlinson's editor and Wilfrid Hyde White (billed as Wilfred Hyde White) who has far too small a part but still manages to make an impression in first big scene even though he has only one or two words of dialogue. Director Alfred Roome makes excellent use of his locations.