The Getaway (1941)

• Directors
  • Edward Buzzell
  • Richard Rosson(uncredited)
• Writers
  • Wells Root(screenplay)
  • W.R. Burnett(screenplay)
  • J. Walter Ruben(story)
• Stars
  • Robert Sterling
  • Charles Winninger
  • Donna Reed

  The Get-Away is a remake of 1935's Public Hero Number One, using generous amounts of stock footage from the earlier film. Robert Sterling, Donna Reed and Dan Dailey (billed as Dan Dailey Jr.) fill the roles originally played by Chester Morris, Jean Arthur and Joseph Calleia. In order to get the goods on mobster Sonny Black (Dailey), G-man Jeff Crane (Sterling) has himself thrown into prison, where Black is currently doing time on a lesser charge. The FBI's plan is to arrange a jailbreak for Crane and Black, then lie in wait as Black makes his way back to his old gang, the better to capture the whole bunch. Complicating this scheme is the fact that Crane has fallen in love with Black's sister Maria (Reed). In an attempt to update this 1935-vintage yarn, it is emphasized that Black's crimes include the robbing of US defense payrolls.